JAY – There is still no ordinance to protect Parker Pond, an alternate public drinking water supply for people in Jay and Livermore Falls, and no public access to it.

Access to the pond, also known as Parkhurst Pond, via a dirt road off the East Jay Road is allowed with written permission from a landowner.

The issue has been ongoing since 2003. People want to recreate on the pond and the Livermore Falls Water District wants an ordinance established to protect it.

Jay Town Manager Ruth Marden told selectmen Monday that the bottom line is the Livermore Falls Water District is not interested in giving access to the pond if there is no ordinance to protect the public drinking water source.

Selectmen have been reluctant to take away the rights of people who own land around the pond, Marden said.

Resident Billy Calden told selectmen Monday that it’s not that he doesn’t want to work with the district, it’s that some of the rules the district wants to establish are frivolous and unreasonable. Calden owns property near the pond along the privately-owned access road, and a seaplane, which he lands on the pond. Calden said other drinking water sources allow swimming, boats and planes.

However, those sources are much bigger than Parker Pond, Livermore Falls District Superintendent Doug Burdo said Tuesday.

Parker Pond is an alternate water drinking source to Moose Hill Pond in Livermore Falls, and at times, depending on conditions, is the primary source. Parker Pond water can be pumped directly to the district’s filtration plant or pumped directly into Moose Hill Pond. Both water bodies are about 100 acres each.

The district serves about 1,300 customers in Jay and Livermore Falls and about 500 more through an interconnect agreement with the Jay Village Water District, Burdo said.

The Maine Public Drinking Water Source Water Assessment Program recommended that steps be taken in 2003 to find a way to protect Parker Pond and its watershed, according to a report released that year. The program also recommends that there be no activities within 1,000 feet of the pond’s water source intake.

The district also has the right to enforce a state law to protect the intake to the public water supply, if an agreement cannot be reached on an ordinance, Burdo said.

According to state law, any water utility or municipality is authorized, after consultation with the commissioners of state departments and after conducting a public hearing in the affected town, to protect the intake of a public water source by prohibiting activities in a radius of up to 400 feet with violators subject to penalties.

The district owns about half the shoreland surrounding the pond, including where the private dirt access road leads to the pond. It also has a right of way on the road for installation and maintenance of water lines.

The district wants to protect the pond but is open to allowing some recreation on it, Burdo said.

“We’ve actually made some headway,” Burdo said. “Initially, we wanted no power boats and now we’re talking about horsepower with no refueling allowed on the water.”

Initially, when he approached Jay selectmen in 2004, he requested an ordinance similar to the one that protects Moose Hill Pond.

That ordinance prohibits power boats, powered augers, swimming and domestic pets in the water.

Though everything is at a discussion level, Burdo said, the horsepower limit could be 10 to 15 horsepower.

Jay Selectman Thomas Goding said Monday that eventually he would like to see it get worked out so everyone can use the pond.


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