Canton votes to pursue dam grant

CANTON — Residents voted unanimously Thursday night to apply for a $500,000 grant to build a new dam on Whitney Brook, which drains Lake Anasagunticook.

Voters also approved borrowing up to $200,000 as a match for the Community Development Block Grant. The Canton Water District is applying for the money because the lake is the source of town drinking water. Neither the towns of Canton nor Hartford could apply for the $500,000 grant.

The lake lies in both towns.

In a public hearing before the special town meeting, Malcolm Ray, chairman of the Dam Core Committee, compared the cost of building a new dam to repairing the old one, and the expense of meeting Maine Emergency Management Agency requirements.

He said the cost of building a new dam would be $653,500; repairing the old one, $699,000; and repairing the west bank to satisfy MEMA requirements, $355,000. Just doing the MEMA requirements is not an option for the water company because the lake must be kept at an optimal level to keep the intake pipes from freezing and to assure purity of the water, said Debbie Hutchins of the Canton Water Department.

With the possibility of $500,000 from a CDBG, there would be $153,000 for the town to raise. But $25,000 of that has already been raised and the Lake Association expects more fundraisers and private donations.

Hartford initiated the contact with Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, which helped set up a possible CDBG grant.

The Dam Core Committee is also pursuing other small grants and loans.

"I don't really expect this to impact the taxpayers unless other avenues of funds don't happen," Ray said. He also explained that the estimate for the new dam has a 30 percent cushion built in and that the actual cost could go down.

In other business, the agreement with Hartford on operation and maintenance of the dam was also unanimously approved. Some questions arose on why Hartford has a 50/50 say in the agreement because it has more taxpayers on the lake. Selectman Scotty Kilbreth said Hartford has been involved in the entire project and the dam is in Canton.

Mike Ranhoff, a lake resident, said Hartford didn't have to do anything. The lake is a resource and revenue for Canton. "We're lucky to get Hartford to go 50/50," he said.

The agreement does not go into effect until the dam is built and in operation, which according to Ray, may not be for a couple of years.

Mary Standard photo

Dr. Malcolm Ray, chairman of the Canton Dam Core Committee, explains how a new dam would be built to a crowd of about 50 people at a special town meeting Thursday night.

- Mary Standard photo