CANTON — Selectmen voted Thursday night to sell three parcels in the Village Ridge property for $101,000.
The decision followed an executive session. Amnet Realty of Turner will handle the sale of the five- eight- and 19-acre lots.
The 30-acre property on Edmunds Road was purchased by the town after the Androscoggin River flooded in 2003, causing about $2 million damage to scores of homes, businesses and buildings along routes 140 and 108. The fire station and Town Office were relocated and dozens of ruined homes were purchased and demolished. Village Ridge was cleared to build new homes, all with $5 million from state and federal governments. Financing was approved in 2004 and later rescinded three times by voters.
In other business, town officials are accepting nominations for the Boston Post Cane, an award given to the oldest resident of Canton. It was most recently held by Bernard Adams Jr., who received it in August 2015. He died Feb. 1 at the age of 102. His is the grandfather of Selectman Russell Adams.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, selectmen set elections for Tuesday, June 9, and the annual town meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday, June 11. Both are in the meeting room of the Town Office on Turner Street.
Nomination papers for two selectmen for three-year terms will be available March 2 at the Town Office. They must be returned by April 15.
The terms of Selectmen Carole Robbins and Russell Adams end in June. Adams has served two terms and Robbins one. Neither has said definitely if they will seek re-election.
The board appointed Town Clerk Carol Buzzell as deputy treasurer and Jennifer Blodgett of Rumford as deputy clerk. Vernice Boyce of Orr Island was appointed town treasurer and will work from home about 15 hours a month.
Town Office hours will change March 1 to Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon.
In other business, Jon Blancato, a 30-year resident of Canton and a member of the Androscoggin Lake Association board, gave a presentation with Jeff Stern, a consultant from the Androscoggin River Watershed Council. The council was hired by the association to study the health of Lake Anasagunticook.
Blancato described the nearly 2-mile long lake that straddles the town line with Hartford as “an ecological, economic and recreational gem.” He said in 2019, 16% of Canton’s property valuation was in the lake’s watershed with 7% along the shore.
“Keeping the lake clean is essential to the town tax base,” Stern said.
In the late 1990s the lake had a “quick algae bloom,” he said, caused by phosphorus. Algae ruins all forms of recreation, wildlife habitat and water quality, which lowers the tax base, he said.
Stern asked if the town would participate in an application for a grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to stop erosion from carrying phosphorus into lakes. The town would have to provide a 40% match.
Selectman Brian Keene said he would need “a lot more information in terms of what’s getting done, where it’s getting done and what our involvement is.”
Selectmen Carole Robbins, Don Hutchins, Scotty Kilbreth and Russell Adams agreed.
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