The Committee to Save Saturday Pond has started a petition to limit the horsepower of the boats that use Saturday Pond in Otisfield to no more than 75 horsepower. Boats with as much as 500 horsepower (yes, 500 horsepower) are way over the top for a pond the size of Saturday Pond (177 acres).

After much research and many meetings with people who have similar concerns on their small ponds, members of the committee decided to petition the state of Maine for a horsepower limitation. Normally, the state will not go more than a 10 horsepower limit, but we feel as though there should be another reasonable option. To say it should be 10 horsepower or nothing somehow doesn’t seem reasonable to us.

There will be a hearing on Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Otisfield Community School. The committee hopes others who are concerned with this same problem on a small body of water will attend this very important open meeting and help us to find a reasonable solution to a growing problem in Maine’s small ponds and lakes.

George Lobb, Otisfield

Member, Committee to Save Saturday Pond