BELGRADE -- Town Manager Dennis Keschl refers to the Belgrade Lakes as the economic engine of the region.

That is why Keschl is behind an effort to strengthen code enforcement in the watershed. He sees it as a critical step to preserving an invaluable resource.

"If our towns get together through 'inter-local' agreements," he said, "we can increase code enforcement of our lakes and make it more proactive."

Keschl said Kennebec Valley Council of Governments has taken the lead on examining what measures, including code enforcement changes, might strengthen protection of the Belgrade Lakes.

MacGregor Stocco, KVCOG's point person on the initiative, said he has met twice with officials -- both elected and professional staff -- from Belgrade, Rome, Sidney, Oakland and Smithfield to discuss the issue.

"One of the points made at these meetings," Stocco said, "is water quality in all the Belgrade Lakes is degrading. That is a fact. There have been numerous studies through last 15, 20 years that have clearly demonstrated the degrading water quality, and this is lake water shared by all of these towns."

Stocco said participants at the meetings also agreed that strengthening code enforcement, however the method, is not a panacea for water quality concerns.

"That is not going to solve our problems," he said. "The problems go beyond code enforcement."

Meeting participants also pointed to mitigation as an essential tool in protecting the lakes, Stocco said. This is so, he said, because existing developments often are to blame for degrading water quality.

Mitigation, he said, can take the form of conservation efforts as well as changes in development regulations.

Towns "also need to update and improve the ordinances they have," Stocco said, "and by improve I mean make the ordinances stronger environmentally."

Peter L. Kallin, executive director of the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance, said his organization is one of the participants in the effort.

The Alliance, he said, supports taking a regional approach to code enforcement for the lakes but also sees the need for adopting tougher land-use regulations, and not just for developments next to bodies of water.

"Most of the rules that we have in Maine are pretty strong on shoreland zoning," he said, "but not so strong once you get away from the water."

The problem, he said, is that inland developments can have just as much negative impact on lakes and rivers.

Not everybody, however, is enamored with the idea of a regional code enforcement officer. CEO Gary R. Fuller, who works full time for the city of Augusta and part time for Belgrade and Sidney, is critical of the initiative.

He fears a regional code-enforcement officer would likely be stretched too thin, unable to give any single town the service it deserves.

Such a scenario might be avoided if more code enforcement officers are hired.

But Fuller argues this would be an unwise move given the struggling economy. He said building permits are down 50 percent in Sidney and Belgrade.

That means less work for CEOs and less revenue for towns, he said.

Keschl said his view of regional code enforcement has evolved over the last year. He said rather than an inter-local agreement among several towns, he would like to see independent water shed organization created that has water quality preservation and improvement as its sole responsibility.

Kallin shares Keschl's view, although he said such a concept, being unfamiliar to most people, is not something that could happen in the short term. Still, Kallin said he is encouraged that officials across the region are beginning to have formal discussions about better protecting the lakes.

"We need to get tough," he said, "and have stronger land development ordinances that are consistent across the water shed and that are above the bare minimum that exists now. The existing situation is not sufficient to protect the quality of our lakes."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com