There are many stakeholders that would have an interest in the water-level management of Sebago Lake. Maine people fish, boat, swim, sell cottages, rent cottages and spend their vacations here.

Standish, Windham, Raymond, Casco, Naples and Sebago derive great benefit in tax revenue and business income from Maine’s deepest and second-largest lake.

Additional Photos

A reader asks why nobody sought public input on a plan to allow Sappi to generate power by removing the minimum limit on the level of water in Sebago Lake. 2011 File Photo/John Ewing

A little history: There has not been a “natural” level for Sebago Lake since the dams were built in the 1800s.

A deal was struck in 2000, after much debate, that set seasonal goals for the lake level and the water outflows to the South African Pulp and Paper Industries (Sappi) dam. It was a compromise; from June through August, the level is required to be 265 to 266 feet above mean sea level.

Now: That deal is being quietly eliminated! This means Sappi can get electricity by dropping the water levels in Sebago Lake. There will be no minimum level!

Shallow areas of the lake will dry out, and lower lake levels will greatly increase the areas of the lake susceptible to invasive weeds. Boaters, rental cottages, marinas, all will be negatively impacted.

Sappi has been given freedom to derive electricity (read: money) by throwing out a longtime public agreement, and there is no limit on how low the lake level will be. There is no plan for public input and no goals that accommodate users, other than Sappi.

This is a great plan for optimizing power generation for Sappi, but it completely ignores the needs of other stakeholders, boaters, shoreland owners, and, of course, our fish stocks. So Sappi can do whatever makes money. The new plan is already in place.

Why was there no public input from the various stakeholders, the people of Maine?

Joseph McMahon

Sebago

I-295 project did little to improve bridges, roads

It has been an observation of mine, since I travel the road daily, of the wonderful paving work that has been accomplished throughout the Portland area on Route 295.

The 17-plus bridges all have the same uneven pavement that they had prior to the start of construction.

Obviously, it was a serious concern of mine that we would lose the uneven bridge abutments, but lo and behold, once work was completed, we are so fortunate that we still have the same bumps at each of the bridges, including the one just north of the city.

Thanks for the wonderful expenditure of our taxpayer dollars on a job that cost in the millions to complete.

A concerned taxpaying citizen,

Jim Belknap

Bath

Praise for rifleman who won’t join advocacy group

This week, I joined a community vigil to honor the victims of the Tucson shooting a year ago. This event hit close to home when two Portland women spoke about how their lives have been changed forever by gun violence.

One lost a daughter to a shooting in a home invasion. The other lives with a lifelong injury caused by a shooting at her workplace five years ago.

Lois Reckitt of Family Crisis Services reminded us of how many Mainers have lost their lives in domestic violence shootings during the past year. Others underscored the need to strengthen Maine laws by requiring universal background checks so that criminals and people who are mentally ill can no longer have easy access to weapons through means such as Uncle Henry’s.

As we stood on the steps of Portland City Hall and observed a moment of silence, I gave thanks for Warren Roos, a man who I have never met.

Mr. Roos has been a member of the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club in Cape Elizabeth for more than 20 years. This year, he will leave because of a new club rule requiring all members to join the National Rifle Association.

The Portland Press Herald reported last month that Mr. Roos disagrees with the NRA’s lobbying to block laws that would restrict high-capacity ammunition magazines and semi-automatic guns.

Most Americans want stronger gun laws. But few take the time to contact their elected officials and express themselves on this issue. That’s why the NRA, with its powerful lobby, prevails so often in Congress and at our own State House.

Thank you, Mr. Roos, for having the courage to stand up for your beliefs. I hope others will follow your example.

Shoshana Hoose

Portland

Promising statistics hide real economic problems

It has been said “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.”

Somehow, 8.7 million jobs wiped out vs. 200,000 hired (many seasonal temps) equals a lasting upswing? The record numbers of commercial bankruptcies reduced equals a positive commerce indicator?

Increased hiring of low-paid part-time employees to service-sector jobs without benefits equals job creation? Department of Labor statistics based on state reporting of unemployment claims equals a surge in hiring?

In these tough times, there is record unemployment; business downsizing, outsourcing and failure; an assault on so-called entitlements such as food assistance, medical and other assistance to the elderly, disabled and children; record homelessness; growing resentment of immigrants documented or undocumented, and a virtual war on the disappearing middle class.

Statistical manipulation is cold comfort indeed. Lies? You can take them to the bank!

William Hobbs

Falmouth

Now is the time to develop alternative energy sources

Gov. LePage thinks the development of alternative fuel sources is too expensive and the state can’t afford it.

Folks in the western part of the state don’t want their ridge-lines topped with wind turbines. Folks on Cape Cod find the visibility of last couple of feet of them objectionable.

And just about no one likes ethanol, because it adds a few cents to the price of a gallon, gums up air-cooled engines like lawn mowers and outboard motors, if you don’t add yet another additive to it, and it has run up the price of food.

Everyone who dislikes alternative energy sources is right. They are also all wrong!

This sphere we call Earth is not hollow. It is filled with a variety of materials, some solid, some liquid and some gas. There is a limited amount of each substance, including petroleum. One of these days, the wells are going to run dry.

However, everyone can find an excuse for not developing alternative energy sources. But when gas gets to $4 per gallon, everyone moans and starts to trade in their SUVs. What will happen when it hits $6, $7 and $8, as it surely will, or when the next power outage is forever?

Now is when we and the rest of the world should develop alternative energy resources, not turn away from them or cry “not in my backyard.”

N. Daniel Dunitz

Saco

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