Ossipee ? August 19, 2010 ? Where was everyone on Saturday? It?s likely many friends and neighbors in Ossipee and Freedom were at the Ossipee Lake Alliance public forum on the so-called ?410 Rule? for Ossipee Lake, where more than 200 people jammed the Ossipee Town Hall on a hot and sunny Saturday morning, Aug. 14.

At the forum, state officials said they were open to study and possibly adjust the 410 mark, that they would collect data and tour the lake this fall after the drawdown, and get back to the public by January 2011 with an assessment.

Organizers and participants alike marveled at the heavy turnout, which by some accounts was more than the number that regularly attends town meetings. All 100 of the town hall?s metal folding chairs were filled and it was standing room only for those who hovered on the sidelines or in the rear of the hall.

The free coffee offered at the rear of the auditorium was long gone by 9 a.m. Residents, no doubt many or most were shorefront property owners, attended to discuss a controversial interpretation of how much Ossipee Lake shorefront property is owned by the State.

The state owns the water bodies in New Hampshire, and sets a mean high water mark to delineate state from private property. The problem with this little known benchmark, emerged last fall when the NH Department of Environmental Services denied several permits for shorefront property owners to perform shoreline maintenance work, such as repairing septic system.

The 410 rule subsequently created confusion over tax liabilities and whether a property owner had the right to sell the property.

The panel seated at the front of the forum included Freedom Selectmen Scott Cunningham, Les Babb and Neil Boyle; Ossipee Selectmen Harry Merrow and Morton Leavitt; , Jim Gallagher, the Chief  Engineer for the state?s Dam Division; and Rene Pelletier, assistant director of the NHDES Water Division.

Other guest speakers included Bob Reynolds of the Ossipee Lake Alliance, State Rep. Mark McConkey, R-Freedom, and Alliance President David Smith. In the audience were State Senator Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and State Rep. Susan Wiley, (D-Sandwich).

Reynolds, of the Ossipee Lake Alliance, was himself a perfect example of worse case scenario since his entire property lies within the 410-foot line. He said a three feet difference from mean high water mark to a typical water level of 407.25 (the line currently being applied by the state for permit applications) is ? along way up your shoreline.?

?This has also had a chilling affect on real estate sales,? he said, reporting anecdotal information of a 50 percent dip in sales. Buyers may wonder ?if I?m buying this property, do I own it or not,? Reynolds said.

He said the towns also collected millions of dollars in shorefront property taxes, which in many towns equals more than half of the tax revenues. Furthermore, he said the state couldn?t seize property without compensation. If the property beneath the 410 line falls within state property it would be untaxed and towns would lose millions of dollars.

?There?s evidence that the 410 line is wrong ?we?re all on the same side here. Let?s just fix the issue,? said Reynolds.

Chief Engineer Gallagher concurred that the state is working with residents and officials. He also clarified a major point, that the state is not using the 410 line any longer as the buffer line for shoreline work, but rather the 407.25.

He said the ?mean high water mark? for inland waters is the highest line on a water body that is usually delineated by physical features such as shelving visible when the lakes are lowered.

?It?s kind of like a ring around a bathtub.?

Those physical features were used at one time (but it was unclear as to exactly when or why) to set the mark on Ossipee Lake at 410.

?We need to take a look at this,? he said.

A dam installed back in 1878 may have also affected the mean high water mark. Gallagher said during a reconnaissance tour of the lake in the spring, officials did now see a ring, or shelving, at the 410 line.

?The environment has been altered by the dam,? he said. ?We?re continuing our investigations.?
He said there is evidence to support the 407.25 line and in the fall, ?we?ll look harder.?
?We?re going to have to look at physical evidence,? he said.

Gallagher said by the end of this year, the state should have enough data to make a decision on the line. No doubt, he added, line clouds the ownership issue. However, the state has no interest in seizing property. The land that it does own under the lakes is owned in public trust.

One attendee asked what if any benefit the higher 410 mean high water mark holds for the state.
?None, the state has no incentive whatsoever. The state wants to determine what (the line) is,? replied Gallagher. Later he added, ?we?re not here to defend the 410 line ? it is what it is. We?ll come up again this fall and come up with a documented decision.?

From the audience, about a dozen residents provided the officials with information, feedback and data on why they thought the 410 line should be lowered. Selectman Merrow added that he?s found some grave and bridge abutments under water ? no doubt evidence that the water level has risen over the years.

Several officials expressed a desire to avert a lengthy and costly legal battle over the line. State Rep. McConkey said he was encouraged by the meeting and was concerned for homeowners
?The towns should not have to spend good money to plead their case in the courts,? he said.
However, legislators could submit place-holding legislation this fall in the event that lowering the lake high water mark would require a legislative solution.

Resident Neil Boyle urged the officials ?not to take the easy way out.?
?Make the decision to put it back to 400 feet ? and don?t throw it back to the courts,? he said, eliciting laughter from the crowd over his ?400″ foot line.

Assistant Director Pelletier said the information supplied by the towns thus far has been very helpful. He complimented the crowd, and said, ?This has been a very accommodating group.?
He assured the public that the department will come out with a decision by January if not sooner. ?We want to do the right thing,? he said.

The Ossipee Lake Alliance, town and state elected officials, and those from the State?s water division and dam bureau deserve a huge round of applause for pulling off a   successful, very well attended public forum regarding the so-called 410 rule.

More than 200 people attended the forum, held Saturday, Aug. 14 at Ossipee Town Hall. Who would have expected more citizens to show up for a meeting on a beautiful Saturday morning than for a typical Town Meeting?

The issue, in the eyes of shorefront homeowners, are property rights and unfair taxation. Some of the homeowners, like Bob Reynolds of the Ossipee Lake Alliance, own property that lies completely within the state?s 410-foot mean high water benchmark for Ossipee Lake. Reynolds? home is on stilts.

Ossipee Lake shoreline homeowners argue that the state?s ownership of New  Hampshire lakes sets the mean high water mark at 410 feet, an arbitrary line with no clear cut basis in fact or history.

The public forum was widely publicized in this newspaper and on the Ossipee Lake Alliance web site and e-newsletter, which is distributed to several thousand recipients.

Select board members from Freedom and Ossipee have been actively involved in efforts to lower that mean high water mark several feet so that ownership issues could be resolved and people could buy or sell lakefront property and/or repair septic systems and docks and such without fear that the state owns their property.

Property rights? Taxation without representation? Sounds like issues from the American Revolution. What could have been a tension filled meeting jammed with angry property owners turned out to be a civil exchange of questions, answers and viewpoints between state officials like state Chief Engineer Jim Gallagher of the Dam Bureau and Rene Pelletier, the assistant director of the NH DES Water Division.

Nobody cried, cursed or carried a fiery torch. In the end, state officials set a clear deadline (January 2011) to determine or change that 410 line. They will return this fall after the usual fall dam releases lower the lake levels. Homeowners are invited to participate in providing information and evidence to the state, (contact Ossipee Select Board Chair Harry Merrow).

The meeting was productive. Attendees were civil, polite and articulate. In these days when we attend many sessions where people are just plain mean and angry, the vibe of this forum was refreshing. Now if everyone who attended this session would also show up to the annual town meetings (or remember to get an absentee ballot) that would be marvelous.

3 Responses to ?Hundreds Pack Ossipee Town Hall for Public Forum on Lake Level?

1.   Frances Lebel at 4:24 pm on August 19th, 2010
Did it ever occur to the writers of these articles that most of the people attending the meeting were property owners on the Lake, many for over 50 years, but not residents. Don?t we wish we were able to vote!!!!!!!!

2.   KR at 5:23 pm on August 19th, 2010
I am also a shoreline owner and not only were the attendees civil, polite and articulate. I found the people representing the state, in particular, Jim Gallagher as very polite, articulate and a fine representative for the state. He clearly seemed to be interested and working towards the truth in this and he seemed to have serious doubts about the 410 mark though he is still investigating.
I left that meeting very satisfied that he, and others are making a very sincere effort to look at the evidence of where the correct height should be labeled at.

3.   Don at 10:59 pm on August 19th, 2010
Until I saw the words ?Taxation Without Representation? in the Carrol County Independant Editorial I thought the issue at hand was the 410 rule. Why did that inflamtory verbage appear in the editorial? It?s the equivalent of picking at a scab. The meeting was amiable because it did not focus on Taxation Without Representation. Hats off to the out of state property owners who pay most of the local towns taxes, that cannot vote, cannot speak at town meetings without special permission, and have to sit in the non-resident part of the hall at town meetings if they attend. They stayed focused on the issue at hand ? the 410 rule.

Ossipee ? August 6, 2010 ? The summer has been sunny and hot, and that?s meant a lot of boats on the lake with plenty of them anchored at Long Sands, the informal name for state-owned Ossipee Lake Natural Area.

Thanks to unique rules established two years ago by the state agency DRED, boaters once again have the option of using a section of the shoreline that?s designated for public access, or anchoring offshore and recreating from their boat at the popular big lake site.

While compliance with the property?s management plan has been high, there have been pockets of resistance by a minority of boaters ? resistance that has resulted in stepped up law enforcement.
?We are issuing citations this summer to individuals unwilling to comply with the rules,? said Captain Bryan Nowell of the Forest Protection Bureau, the DRED department that?s working with Marine Patrol officers to enforce the state?s regulations at the site.

Nowell says 20 citations have been issued to boaters so far this year for trespassing on the parts of the Natural Area that are closed to protect rare plants and historic resources. Much like a traffic ticket, a citation for trespassing results in a court process that can be costly and time-consuming.
Officials are also investigating the destruction of a fence that divides the public access shoreline from the closed portion of the property. If apprehended, the vandals could face a Class A misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $1,200.

For the past two seasons, a Working Group of state officials, local organizations (including the Alliance) and boaters has worked diligently to create awareness of the management plan rules, whose aim is to permit a balance of recreation and preservation at the site.

By all accounts, the management plan has been a success and cooperation has been high. But after two seasons of hanging signs, handing out pamphlets and speaking with boaters, state officials believe anyone caught violating the rules at this point is likely doing so on purpose.
Boaters who want to see the management plan succeed agree.

?It?s a small number of bad apples causing the problems,? said one boater who spends almost every weekend at Long Sands.

?Some people think the rules don?t apply to them and the state isn?t going to enforce them anyhow. It makes all of us look bad.?

In fact, boaters were among those who reported a series of incidents to state officials that occurred over the long 4th of July weekend and resulted in the increased enforcement.
At the public access portion of the shoreline, a group of between 25-30 people pulled their boats onshore and unloaded a cooler of glass bottles. After being approached by a fellow boater, the group pulled their boats back into the water but defiantly kept their bottles onshore.
?What can you do after you?ve politely asked someone to comply and they won?t?? asked one boater who witnessed the encounter.

In another incident, boaters from five boats pulled onshore at an isolated western section of the preserve where they drank beer directly under a large ?No Trespassing? sign and were observed using the woods to relieve themselves.

Boaters who reported the second incident said they were reluctant to approach the group because of its size and because of the heavy drinking that was involved.

State officials said the boaters made the right decision, adding that the Carroll County Dispatch number should be used to report violations at the Natural Area just as it?s used to report accidents. County Dispatch will then notify the person or agency best able to respond based on who is on duty and where they are patrolling.

The number for Carroll County Dispatch is 800-552-8960.

Alliance director David Smith said incidents like the ones reported this summer were expected and in no way reflect on the success of the plan.

?A small group of people promised they would defy the state and they have. It?s not a surprise,? he said.

The real story is that a majority of boaters are working to make Long Sands a model for how recreation and preservation can co-exist on a major state lake. The level of cooperation is pretty impressive.?

3 Responses to ?State Steps Up Natural Area Enforcement?

1.   joe at 6:33 pm on August 6th, 2010
i wonder if marine patrol was busy pulling over families and checking for whistles and life jackets?

2.   lupa gunt at 8:14 pm on August 6th, 2010
The first thing one notices when boaters are preparing to take their boats out is the large cooler. It is a sure bet that the cooler is packed with beer. Then there are those who ignore the NO WAKE signs. So why should these same boaters comply with the conservation/preservation/no trespassing signs?
Citations should mandate a heavy fine/prison term. Unless you have connections like the lady who killed her friend in the boating accident/incident. She barely served a fraction of her jail sentence as her father owned a marina!!!
Laws are made to be broken, agreed?

3.   Bob at 8:31 pm on August 6th, 2010
the boaters are now starting to anchor in front of our homes at long sands? some have even tied up to our moorings. Everyone has a right to the lake but please respect our homes and property and anchor in the public area. I don?t know where these folks are relieving themselves but the idea of a few hundred people in the water all day gives me the idea it?s the lake. There are Ecological concerns as well?what will the effect be on the fresh water clams that purify the lake and keep it viable if so many people relieve themselves in the water. Living here for seven years I have seen the number of boaters increase along this shoreline and I have had to clean the trash at my dock that washes up.I believe there are a lot of people who love the beauty of this area and respect it but there are a certain number of people who will ruin it for all boaters. Perhaps access to this shoreline should be available to boaters who purchase a ?Permit?, with a limited number of permits produced?this may help with the overcrowding issue.

Heard there was a tornado warning at the lake wednesday evening. Any damage around the area?

I miss the weather info link that used to be on the home page, it was very convenient!