CANTON — The Anasagunticook Dam Advisory Committee met Monday night to review the progress on the proposed dam on Whitney Brook.

Chairman Malcom Ray told the committee that the Natural Resources Protection Act permit application is going out soon. The lengthy application process may take as much as three months to review because the Maine Department of Environmental Protection sends it out to several state agencies to review and comment.

Ray reported that the DEP has approved the compensation plan for the stream bottom. The amount of the stream being used for the new dam will be compensated for by the plans to remove the old dam and the temporary dam.

The town has received the environmental clearance that was necessary for the release of a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant.

Committee Secretary Judy Hamilton said they have also applied for a $200,000 federal grant to aid in cleaning up the area around the dam. Hamilton said they are waiting to hear from the Environmental Protection Agency on the status of the grant.

Ray said the latest information from the boat launch project, which is proposed upstream from the new dam, was that Kleinschmidt Consultants, an engineering firm, was interested in designing the ramp. Ray said that conversations between Leon Bucher from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Kleinschmidt have taken place.

Kleinschmidt is the engineering firm for the dam and, according to Ray, construction of the launch and the dam could be done together.

Ray said it could be possible to see the dam completed by late fall if all goes well with the NRPA application. The new dam will replace the temporary one built in 2009 to restore the water level to Lake Anasagunticook.

The old tannery dam was condemned in 2007 and the state required the gates to remain open, thus lowering the water level. This impaired boat use on the lake and threatened the water supply for the town.

Ray showed the committee several drawings of what could be done to develop the area around the dam. These ideas include selling property to developers and using some of the land for a park. The location of the proposed dam is in downtown Canton.

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