CANTON – The chairman of the Anasagunticook Dam Core Committee told members Monday night to focus on finalizing an agreement between Canton and Hartford on maintaining the dam, not on pending state legislation.

Malcolm Ray said he didn’t want to see the committee sidetracked by LD 208, which is scheduled for a hearing Thursday in Augusta. The bill, which has raised considerable discussion in both towns, would require that the cost of a municipally owned dam must be shared between municipalities that share a lake. The cost to each would be based on the linear feet of shoreline, or according to an agreement between the towns.

Ray said 44 percent of Lake Anasagunticook’s shoreline is in Canton and 66 percent is in Hartford. He said he didn’t think the committee should take a stand one way or another on the bill but should focus on the pending agreement and building a new dam.

At Ray’s suggestion, the committee decided to hold a hearing on the agreement the first weekend in March.

The agreement establishes a committee to manage and maintain the dam on Whitney Brook. The town took over the dilapidated structure after its owner failed to maintain it and as a result the lake level dropped.

Ray reported that the cost of a temporary dam with sandbags was increasing due to more restrictions from the state Department of Environmental Protection. He proposed to put in a stop log dam at the old bridge abutments on Whitney Brook, which requires no permit. He estimated the cost at approximately $500 and would be constructed with volunteer labor.

The log or wood dam would not disturb the sand or soil, which was an issue with the DEP over a sandbag dam. The temporary dam would be for spring and summer.

The preliminary cost of constructing a new dam is estimated to be $700,000.

Rep. Sheryl Briggs, D-Mexico, said she had spoken to U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, about the possibility of grants and has set up a meeting with him Feb. 23. Several members of the Core Committee will attend.

The full committee will also meet that day.