OXFORD – Selectmen tried to quell a growing disagreement over management of the Welchville dam Thursday, even suggesting that it may be time to have the state settle the dispute.

Louis Staples and Norman Foster questioned whether it was proper to have Tom Cushman, a member of the Municipal Facilities Committee, oversee the opening and closing of the dam on the Little Androscoggin River.

Staples and Foster are members of the Welchville Dam Commission. Cushman said their committee was dissolved, but both men dispute that.

At issue is recent flooding of land below the dam. At least one selectman has suggested the flooding can be tied to recent rains, but Staples and Foster disagree.

“Welchville bog is almost destroyed. It’s so thick you can’t get a canoe into it,” said Foster. “My property is flooded every year. The dam has been mismanaged.”

Foster said the commission put together a plan to manage water levels back in the mid-1990s that was approved by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Selectmen asked the men to meet later with Town Manager Michael Chammings to provide information on the commission’s work.

“It’s too bad it’s become so politicized,” said Foster, referring to the dam’s management. He said environmental concerns should come before any other concerns.

Selectman David Ivey said some people living above the dam have concerns that their wells are depleted when the dam’s gates are left open for too long.

Complicating the picture, selectmen said, is the need for repairs on the dam. Selectman Scott Owens said the two issues should be dealt with one at a time.

Chammings said he is talking to state officials about the best way to secure funding to study repairs to the dam.