Newport
“Given the situation we are in, we won’t be tapping the public water supply,” Chairman Jeff Kessler said about the drought that has gripped much of the region since summer.
The board discussed the issue at its meeting Monday night.
Kessler said the estimate is that 20,000 gallons would be needed to get the rink on the common ready for skating and that is just too much water, especially since the board approved a water restriction ordinance Monday night, which carries heavy fines for violators.
Kessler said even if there were a sudden increase in rainfall to raise the water level at Gilman Pond, the town must consider the long-term forecast for the rest of winter and next summer.
Recent rains have stabilized the water level and the town is also using a well in Pollards Mill but that is not enough, he said.
“Gilman Pond has not come up to the point where we feel comfortable,” he said
Recreation Director P.J. Lovely said trucking in water or building a rink at a location closer to the Sugar River present a whole new set of challenges, including transporting the warming hut, where rented skates are kept, and hooking up electricity.
“It is just not practical,” Lovely said, adding that they are in the process of coming up with different games and activities at the site where skating has been held every winter for as long as most in town can remember.
The water restriction ordinance that were approved Monday night includes a warning and up to a $100 fine for the first violation, $500 fine for the second violation and between $1,000 and $10,000 and loss of public water service for the third violation, Kessler said, citing the maximum amount allowed under state law.
Under the ordinance, which follows the board’s issuance of mandatory water restrictions in October, prohibited water uses include washing vehicles, sidewalks and driveways, watering landscaping or filling swimming pools.
In other business, Kessler said they are still working with the Department of Environmental Services to obtain the required permits for a town-owned firing range at the former ash landfill off Route 11-103 near the Claremont line. The range would only be used for police training and testing of firearms by Sturm Ruger.
The board is also putting off forming a committee to search for a new town manager until after the first of the year, Kessler said.
Former Hartford Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg is serving in that role now on an interim base, replacing Shane O’Keefe, who abruptly resigned in September, a little more than a year after he was hired.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
