Cigarette butts are seen Tuesday evening, Aug. 2, at Brettuns Pond beach in Livermore. Officials are considering implementing an ordinance or policy regarding beach use and researching which will have the most clout. File photo/Livermore Falls Advertiser

LIVERMORE — While no decisions were made, Selectpersons Tuesday night, Aug. 16, took another step towards enforcing rules at Brettuns Pond beach.

Selectpersons charged Administrative Assistant Aaron Miller with determining which has more clout, a policy or an ordinance regarding beach usage. Some Selectpersons were hesitant to create another town ordinance but all agreed something more has to be done concerning issues at the beach.

Selectperson Mark Chretien researched area towns with public beaches, all have ordinances, Selectperson Scott Richmond said. “We can’t enforce, we don’t have an ordinance, we have got to look into it,” Richmond added.

Turner has a two-page ordinance, Hartford is working on updating theirs, Chretien said.

Selectperson Brett Deyling suggested looking at those as a guide for one in Livermore.

An ordinance could be voted on at the annual Town Meeting in April, Richmond said. “There’s no rush,” he noted.

Miller noted any changes to an ordinance would have to go before the legislative body for approval, a policy wouldn’t. He wondered which would “have more bite.”

“The last thing we want to do is shut that beach down,” Selectperson Randy Ouellette said.

There have been issues throughout the years with people not cleaning up after themselves, hypodermic needles and feces found on the beach. At the last meeting, Selectpersons considered closing the beach after more complaints were made.

Last year beach use by residents and taxpayers only was approved by the Board.

Selectpersons were invited to the Brettuns Pond Association annual meeting to talk about the beach and the dam on Wednesday, Aug. 24, by Association President Churchill Barton. He said he would seek the formation of a committee then to help keep the beach cleaned up.

“Don’t be afraid to step up,” Barton told the Select Board.

One issue currently at the beach is nuisance Canada geese, he noted. Barton said there were five or six while Deyling thought it was 12.

Nuisance geese have laws separate from other waterfowl, Barton said. Camp owners can harass the geese which includes hitting them with sticks, chasing them with dogs, and applying for a special permit to shoot them then dine on them, he stated. The state has a list of hunters who have been through hunter safety courses, the state is trying to shift control of problem geese to lake associations, he added.

Cameras owned by resident Chris Hobbs show people spending the night at the beach. He said he has had to pick hypodermic needles out of his yard and police have asked him about shining lights on the area. “That’s not my job,” he stated. He doesn’t want to post his property, another suggestion made by the sheriff’s department.

Deyling suggested asking Central Maine Power to install a street light, possibly one that could be activated by motion.

There used to be two lights there, Hobbs said.

“If we put lights up, (people) will just go further up (the road),” Ouellette said.

Another issue is loose dogs on the beach. “So many people let their dogs go,” Hobbs said noted.

Deyling said he has watched, many people don’t pick up after their dogs.

“We see less and less respect in this culture, there is more and more trash,” resident Dave Dion said. At Round Pond it was people from Auburn, at Brettuns it is people from all over, he noted.

If the town had an ordinance or policy, anyone driving by seeing something could call the police and report it, Deyling said. It could help shut down night activities, he noted.

Richmond spoke of the mowers picking up two bags of trash at the beach on a Friday and being called with new complaints the following Monday.

“That’s terrible,” Dion said.

Richmond said after the recent newspaper article he has seen people picking up trash early in the morning.

Fencing areas off or moving rocks were other suggestions shared. Deyling spoke of how volunteers are used at National Parks to enforce rules. Allow someone to park at Brettuns for the summer in exchange for monitoring the beach, he offered.

“It is a hard problem to solve,” Deyling said.

In other business the Board by consensus agreed to a waiver for the town attorney with Bernstein Shur to review the solar array contract with ReVision Energy Inc. The towns of Jay, Livermore Falls and Wilton have all signed contracts with ReVision for the project in Waldoboro that will help reduce town electrical costs.

Bernstein Shur represents ReVision on another matter, unrelated in nature, Miller said. “I didn’t feel comfortable waiving that, wanted to discuss it with [the Board],” he said.

There should be an opinion on the contract at the next meeting, Aug. 30, Miller said.