LISBON — The Town Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve an agreement to remove the remnants of the dam just upstream of Webster Road on the Sabattus River.

The Department of Marine Resources is aiming to remove all man-made materials and restore the stream to its natural state, according to Casey Clark, DMR’s resource management coordinator.

The water level on the river dropped roughly 3 feet after the dam was breached in 2012, he said. Removing the remnants could lower the water level up to an additional 6 inches.

Clark said that by removing the remnants, residents and businesses along the river could see a decrease in their flood insurance costs once the Federal Emergency Management Agency updates its flood maps to incorporate the reduced flood zone.

Removal could start in one to two weeks, he said. St. Ann Street will be the primary road affected by the work.

The state has been in conversation with town officials and residents about the project over the past couple of months. On July 20, the town held a public hearing about the dam removal. According to Clark, 15 residents attended to ask questions about the impacts of the removal.

The council additionally voted 7-0 to approve a resolution to expand the Ferry Road improvement project to include the Village Street area at an additional cost of about $482,000.

According to the resolution, residents approved the issuance of a bond for up to $2.8 million to complete the Ferry Road construction by a referendum vote held Nov. 2, 2021. The project will renovate 2.5 miles of Ferry Road from Marshall Road to the river bend area.

It is more cost effective to expand the Ferry Road project to include the Village Street construction rather than consider it as a separate project in the future, according to town officials.

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