OTISFIELD – A bill that would give Maine’s inland communities with bodies of water more control over the appointment of harbormasters has moved from the state House to the Senate.

After a work session Wednesday, the Marine Resources Committee gave the bill a thumbs up with only two dissenting votes, according to Mark Cyr, chairman of the Otisfield Board of Selectmen, who attended the session. The committee also requested that the legislation be reviewed by Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for its input, Cyr said.

The bill, LD1697, sponsored by Sen. David Hastings, R-Fryeburg, on behalf of the town of Otisfield, was proposed to resolve language in the current law that requires inland towns to appoint a harbormaster even if they receive only one request for them to do so and that request need not be made by a resident. The new language states that a town “may” appoint a harbormaster.

Hastings was unable to be reached for comment Wednesday evening. The issue stems from a request last September by an Otisfield homeowners group to appoint a harbormaster to regulate mooring privileges for Silvaqua residents on the west shore of Thompson Lake. The group told the board that additional moorings were being sought by backlot property owners, and it was their hope that a harbormaster would help avoid potential problems.

-Heather McCarthy and Kerri Pepoy