Tall Woods Condominiums had a problem.
“Every time we got heavy rains there was serious erosion,” said Larry Plotkin, president of the Sebago Lake-side condominium association.
Sections of their road as well as their boat launch were gradually being washed into the lake. The association members knew they needed to do something to correct the situation but weren’t even sure where to start.
But one of the members had obtained a flier on watershed property consultations (WPC) put out by the Portland Water District so they contacted Mary Gilbertson, PWD water resources specialist, who visited their site to evaluate the damage.
This free consultation, available to any property owner in the direct Sebago Lake watershed, identifies both existing and potential runoff and erosion problems for features that include driveways and parking areas, roads, footpaths, landscaping, buffer vegetation, shorefront, roofs and steep slopes.
When the evaluation is complete, the property owner is given a packet of materials with suggestions for remediation of existing problems and ideas to prevent potential future problems. This WPC then allows the property owner to apply for a matching grant from the PWD to implement some or all of these ideas for improvement.
Grants are available of up to $1,000 for individuals or $2,500 for groups to match property owners’ expenses dollar for dollar for approved projects. The grants can be used to offset costs of materials, contractor fees, or even the property owners’ labor.
When Tall Woods decided to commit the funds to the PWD’s recommended improvements, they relied on Gilbertson to put them in touch with reliable contractors to make the necessary repairs. “She’s my favorite person,” said Plotkin.
When Gilbertson realized the extent of the association’s erosion problems and the amount of money that would be required to correct them, she petitioned her superiors to lift the ceiling on the amount of the matching grant so the repairs could be completed in one season.
Gilbertson also coordinated with P&K Sand and Gravel to do the roadwork, which spanned almost a quarter mile of the association’s roadways. They turned the deeply rutted, muddy surfaces into hard-packed gravel that solved, Plotkin estimates, 98 percent of the problem.
Now, when it rains, their roads stay firmly in place, not only preventing severe erosion and runoff but also providing a welcome passage for drivers and runners traveling along them.
Gilbertson would like to get the word out about this beneficial program. Although more than $70,000 has been awarded since 2000, she says that the amount PWD allocates yearly for grants is not always used because not enough people apply.
To find out more about this program, or to see if you qualify as a Sebago Lake watershed property owner, contact the PWD’s Water Resources Department at 774-5961. You can also stop by the Sebago Lake Ecology Center at the corner of Routes 35 and 237 in Standish.
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