CANTON – Anasagunticook Dam Core Committee Chairman Malcolm Ray told members Monday night the town can avoid one state regulatory hurdle and its resulting costs if it builds a temporary dam under 6 feet tall.

“By building the dam 5 feet, 11 inches it will save us money,” he said, because the Maine Emergency Management Agency doesn’t regulate structures under 6 feet.

The dam plan will still have to be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Ray said he has received no reply to the town’s application to put a temporary dam on Whitney Brook at the outlet of Anasagunticook Lake to raise the water level.

The town took over the broken dam this summer after the previous owner failed to comply with a state order to repair it.

The committee completed work on a draft letter to the DEP and MEMA laying out the plans and objectives they developed to resolve the water level management and dam safety problem. The letter will be sent to the Canton Water District and selectmen from Canton and Hartford for their signatures before sending. The lake lies in both towns and serves as Canton’s drinking water.

The draft letter addresses water management objectives on dam safety, summer lake water level, winter drawdown, drinking water protection, environmental protection and lake access. The plan discusses natural embankments, dam height, location and cost.

Following the committee meeting, an inter-local committee met to approve a draft agreement for dam management. That agreement will be sent to Canton and Hartford selectmen for approval. Hartford has 11.6 miles of shoreland on the lake; Canton 10.1 miles. After the draft is signed the towns will have to approve.