NEW GLOUCESTER – The first steps toward establishing a public water supply for Upper Gloucester Village were outlined by the Zoning Committee at a recent workshop.

The town has no public water or public sewer systems.

Bob McKinnon of the Yarmouth Water District and geologist Matthew Reynolds of Drumlin Environmental of Portland talked about the steps required to determine if the former New Gloucester Fairgrounds on Bald Hill Road has an adequate water supply for roughly 60 properties in the village. About $55,000 is needed for that.

The 31-acre fairgrounds and training track for race horses borders the Royal River.

New Gloucester voters purchased the property several years ago, and efforts are under way to make it a community recreational area. A test at a well there showed the presence of E. coli, Code Enforcement Officer Deb Parks said recently.

A business and economic study this summer favored the Upper Gloucester/Route 100 area for commercial development, and the Zoning Committee is spearheading efforts to set the village boundaries, which would need voter approval.

In the late 1980s, Upper Gloucester’s water supply was endangered from leaking underground tanks at a gas station and salt from town sand pile. The tanks were replaced, and studies and cleanup efforts were discontinued in the late 1990s.

Reynolds said steps to take include:

• expand the water study;

• get water yield information from Wayfarer Village’s well, which is near the fairgrounds;

• test the water for salt, gasoline and nitrates and bacteria;

• install monitoring wells;

• install an eight-inch diameter well to check the fluctuation of the water supply over several days before declaring the site suitable for consideration; and

• conduct sewer treatment system feasibility studies at the same time.

The plan will be forwarded to selectmen to review and approve.