Water service has been restored to Northern Spring Trailer Park.
POLAND – Residents of the Northern Spring Trailer Park have running water now, but town officials plan to follow up on the most recent complaints of unattended holes several feet wide and deep that are a potential danger to children.

“There are two holes near my trailer, and there’s pipe running across the land, not buried or nothing,” said John Ramsey. “I’ve got a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they should be able to play in their own yard.”

Ramsey and fellow resident Sheila Varney appeared before the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday for the second time this month with complaints about plumbing at the park. The board first took up the issue when four families complained about not having water for six weeks.

Two days after the initial public airing of the problem, residents had running water again, said Ramsey. Park owners Linda and Orrin Welch attended the first meeting to explain the progress they were making in getting the water flow back.

However, the couple did not attend Tuesday’s meeting and were unavailable for comment.

Poland Code Enforcement Officer Art Dunlap told the board that contractors had dug holes while looking for breaks in the waterlines. Workers found the break, and the current water pressure of 30 pounds per square inch exceeds the minimum requirement of 20 pounds, said Dunlap.

The code enforcement officer said he was unaware of problems with unfinished work or hazards in the trailer park but would visit the site.

“There’s still work to be done,” said Varney. “The landlord just keeps telling us that there’s no more money to finish the job. A yellow ribbon around the holes isn’t going to keep kids out.”

Previously, the Welches told the board that they had bought the 30-lot trailer park two years ago and spent about $18,000 just on getting full water supply and pressure back into the mobile homes. They also asked the board for help because of their lack of finances.

Board member Patricia Nash volunteered to accompany Dunlap this week to follow up on complaints.

Other board action Tuesday included:

• Tabling action on a barking dog ordinance revision to an unspecified date. Selectmen changed the wording in the proposed revision and agreed to post the latest version for another public hearing. The primary changes from the current ordinance adopted in 1992 addresses the definition of nuisance to mean continuous barking for 20 minutes or intermittent barking for one hour and that dog owners found guilty would be responsible for the town’s legal fees.

• Requesting information from state Rep. Lois Snowe-Mello on the status of Poland’s effort to limit personal watercraft on Upper Range Pond and New Gloucester’s participation in the restriction.

• Establishing minimum hours per week for full-time and part-time employees, with respective health benefits to be addressed at Saturday’s town meeting.

• Agreeing that spouses of candidates should not be allowed to count votes to a avoid conflict of interest, but that they shouldn’t be disqualified from a two-year general list of potential election workers.