BETHEL — Planners continued work Wednesday night on the proposed 15-lot Otter Brook Subdivision before tabling discussion to allow its owner time to review an unanticipated fire protection recommendation.

On Sept. 17, Bethel fire Chief Michael Jodrey wrote that the fire department reviewed the Otter Brook plan and recommended that a 10,000-gallon cistern be installed in the subdivision to ensure a dependable water source for fire suppression.

 East Bethel Road LLC, incorporated this year by Michael Stevens of Bethel, has proposed to build single-family homes on 14 of the 15 lots on 59 acres along East Bethel Road. One lot will be retained by the owner. Lot sizes range from just over 1 acre to 13.36 acres.

The company, of which New Hampshire contractor David North is a principal, was represented Wednesday night by Rick Dunton of Main-Land Development Consultants Inc. of Livermore Falls.

Jodrey said the Otter Brook Subdivision is 8 miles from the fire station, 2 miles from the intersection of Route 26 and East Bethel Road, and 2 miles from the nearest dry hydrant located in the area of the Intervale Road intersection at Countryside Acres Subdivision.

There are three nearby ponds: Goss Pond, which isn’t accessible for fire equipment; and private ponds on the Jerome Holt and Neil Olsen properties.

Jodrey said both private ponds have no dry hydrants. Additionally, they haven’t been surveyed to determine usable year-round capacity or accessibility.

“The fire pond at Countryside Acres has been in question in recent years as to its ability to be a reliable water source,” Jodrey said.

After thanking Savage for alerting the board, Chairman Allen Cressy suggested tabling discussion on the letter to give the applicant time to review it.

Dunton thanked the board, saying that his client wants to ensure that all other options are investigated before settling on a cistern. He said Main-Land’s precedent has been to go with public or private ponds if they can be used adequately by fire departments.

Cressy said he didn’t feel that was an option. “I’m reading this letter as being loud and clear that he’s recommending a cistern.” 

In related business, Dunton satisfied concerns from the board’s Sept. 9 meeting about the possibility that sludge materials on a spread site north of the proposed subdivision may have seeped into the Otter Brook aquifer.

Dunton answered that with a Sept. 14 letter from Ike Goodwin of Goodwin Well and Water Inc. of Turner.

Goodwin said he didn’t have specific information about the spread site but didn’t consider it a threat to the project.

“Groundwater naturally flows within a sand and gravel aquifer from higher to lower elevations, just as water in a stream flows from high to low elevations,” Goodwin said.

“Accordingly, it is clear that the natural flow of water in this particular sand and gravel aquifer generally flows in a northerly direction, down valley, towards the Androscoggin River,” he said.

He said that meant any contamination in the aquifer from the sludge spreading site would be moving north, away from the subdivision.

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Using a map of two watersheds at the Bethel Planning Board meeting Wednesday night, Rick Dunton of Main-Land Development Consultants Inc. of Livermore Falls, explains south to north storm-water management flows for the topographic area which indicates the proposed 15-lot Otter Brook Subdivision.