OTISFIELD – Selectmen implemented a five-minute rule for residents’ questions and comments during their meeting Wednesday night.

The rule limits each speaker to five minutes total during the public-comment portion of selectmen’s meetings. Residents attending the meeting Wednesday were not permitted to speak after the public comment period unless asked by selectmen.

The rule was originally adopted 15 years ago.

Selectmen Chairman Lenny Adler explained that the rule was originally adopted in reaction to a town official who would talk about parking issues at the beach for an hour and a half.

Adler said five minutes “gives ample time for each person at the meeting to speak and allows the board to get the town’s business done in a reasonable amount of time.”

Residents at the meeting again asked about a large development proposed on Saturday Pond. Plans for a year-round camp housing up to 400 residents were submitted to the Planning Board by Manasseh Inc. The nonprofit group purchased 156 acres on Saturday Pond for the project.

The first development in the proposed youth camp/retreat would house 200 residents and dining space. The completed project would house 400 campers or residents.

Adler received a letter from the town attorney about the development. He said the letter will be given to the Planning Board because it is in charge of development in town.

Adler said road construction for the project was allowed to continue on advice from the lawyer.

Residents raised concerns about the effect of the large development on the shallow pond. “We are also very concerned about the impact on the pond,” Adler said. “But we are not the body to address this with. You need to meet with the Planning Board.”

John Nicosia asked Adler to outline what the town attorney wrote in the letter. Adler said shoreland zoning applies if the development falls within 250 feet of the pond. He also said that, according to the town attorney, the development is not a subdivision because there are only two structures proposed.

The proposed development falls under site plan review because it is an institutional structure, Adler said, referring to the attorney’s letter.

Planning Board member Dan Peaco noted that a completed application for the proposed development has not been submitted to the board.

In other business, Gordon Chamberlain asked selectmen about concerns he raised in March about large areas of refuse on private land. The board said that property owners had been contacted and expressed confidence that areas owned by Camp Arcadia would be cleaned up quickly.

On a third privately owned parcel on Oak Hill also reported by Chamberlain, the board said code enforcement officer Rodney Smith had sent a letter to the owner and has not heard back.

“We will give him the same opportunity to clean it up and if he doesn’t, we’ll take action,” Adler said.