MINOT — Fire Chief Dean Campbell told selectmen Monday that he would check  two fire ponds that reportedly are inadequate to serve two housing subdivisions.

“I’ll take a walk around, take a few pictures and come back with what I find,” Campbell said.

One fire pond is on Highland Drive, a subdivision off Center Minot Hill Road, and the other is at Summit Drive off Grange Avenue.

The Highland Drive pond was seen as filling in a bit but the Summit Drive fire pond was seen as more problematic. Campbell said it tended to dry out pretty quickly and only has water in periods of heavy rain.

Selectman Dan Callahan said it appeared to be too shallow and questioned whether it could ever hold the 30,000 gallons, under the ice, that is called for.

Both serve subdivisions which, when they were approved, were supposed to set up homeowners associations for the specific purpose of making sure the fire ponds were property maintained.

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Selectmen said they feared that no such associations were ever formed.

“People in the subdivisions probably don’t know that they should have one,” Callahan said.

Selectmen noted that ignoring the problem is not an option, given the possibility that if a homeowner lost their house in a fire because of lack of water, they might sue the town.

Town Administrator Arlan Saunders suggested that, in the absence of associations, the town should step in, do the work and bill the subdivision lot owners accordingly.

Contacting the subdivision developers was also discussed. The board agreed to hold off action until Campbell reports back with a more detailed assessment of the situation.

In other business, Selectman Steve French reported he met with Greg Winters to check the condition of the arsenic filtering system on the town well that supplies the Minot Consolidated School.

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French said the the system was in good operational order and that Winters flushed the filters and retested the water.

The test showed the school’s water has an arsenic level of 8.6 micrograms per liter, an amount just under the 10.0 microgram per liter that is allowed for public water systems.

While the result technically met standards, and was better than the 14.0 micrograms per liter reported in an earlier test, French said the decision was to have the filters replaced now.

New filters have been ordered, French said, and should be installed within a couple of weeks.

Selectmen approved a request from Harold Brooks to issue a catering permit and temporary liquor license for the Redneck Blank Pig Roast and Music Festival being held July 28 to 31.

Lisa Cesare was appointed to serve as one the Minot’s two representatives to the Regional School Unit 16 facilities committee, which will begin meeting this August to work on plans for the proposed expansion of the district’s Whittier Middle School in Poland. Selectmen are still looking for a Minot resident to serve as its other representative.


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