POLAND – A special town meeting on Thursday will give voters a full public hearing on a proposed public-private partnership for water exploration, said David Corcoran, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

Voters will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the issue and three others at 7 p.m. at Poland Regional High School.

Former Selectman Ike Levine and his company, Biological Services Inc., propose to lease the water rights on town parcels. The company would put in wells with the intention of finding markets to sell the water. The town would share in the profits.

The proposal drew criticism at a selectmen’s meeting Aug. 19.

Frank Juliano, a nonresident who owns several properties in Poland, threatened to sue if one of several town properties that abuts his land is used for water exploration. Levine said there would not be any interference with an easement held by Juliano.

Joe Cimino, a Poland man who is in the water business, also objected to the town entering into a contract with Levine. Cimino said he would like to bid on a contract for a water business partnership with the town.

Town Manager Richard Chick said Monday he didn’t know how many people to expect at the meeting. “That’s certainly going to be an item of interest, but whether that’s going to translate into a large turnout, I’ve got no idea,” Chick said.

The three other articles on the warrant call for the acceptance of an extension of Pulsifer Road into the Bailey Hill Subdivision and the establishment of non-lapsing reserve accounts for funds derived from the town’s broom and roll-off trucks, so that the funds in the reserve accounts would not lapse at the end of fiscal years.

The non-lapsing reserve accounts “would allow us to expend the proceeds at the right time to replace equipment,” Chick said.