NEWPORT — With water levels at the town’s main drinking water source, Gilman Pond, well below normal due to drought conditions, the town’s recreation department will not be flooding the common this winter for skating.
Instead, the town will accept an offer to use a pond at Newport Golf Course off Unity Road south of downtown.
The course’s owners agreed to allow skating on one of the ponds dotting the course, Recreation Director PJ Lovely told the Selectboard Monday night.
The pond measures about 100 by 60 feet, is only about 6 feet at its deepest point and ice is about 16 inches thick now, Lovely said.
“It feels like the best option,” Lovely told the board.
Ice skating has been held on the town common for decades and draws skaters from around the area because of its size, which in a good year could be close 200 feet in length. Initially, it requires about 75,000 gallons of water to put down 30 coats on the surface of the common so it is thick enough for skating, Lovely said.
Depending on use and temperatures, more water is usually needed during the season.
This year, the town cannot afford to use its regular water source. The town is still in a drought situation in spite of the early season snow, Newport Town Manager Kyle Harris said at the start of Monday’s discussion.
“The water levels at Gilman Pond (in Unity) are historically low,” Harris said. “We are 26 inches below the outfall of the pond, which is double what we were last fall.”
The process to create skating on the common is not efficient because water is poured on the ground until it freezes and if melting occurs, the process has to start over, Harris said.
“So it requires a significant amount of water to establish a skating surface,” Harris said, “The recommendation I am getting from our water superintendent and public works director is we still need to conserve water.”
Another option mentioned by Lovely would be to truck water from the Sugar River to the fire department’s large holding tank then spray the common from the tank. However, Lovely said it would be “a lot to juggle logistically” with hoses and people to do the work. Further, if the weather warmed up the ice would melt and that would require more water to be trucked in.
The board agreed the golf course option was the best choice presented by Lovely because it would be the least expensive, require less manpower and could be ready fairly soon if the weather cooperates.
On Tuesday, Lovely could not say when the golf course pond would be ready as he had to meet with the golf course owners to discuss the plans and work out the details.
Though the mobile warming hut used on the common will not be transported to the golf course, there is a nearby pavilion that is heated. Additionally, portable lights might be brought to the golf course pond for night skating. The department also will try to schedule special skating events for children and families, but what those would entail still needs to be determined, Lovely said.
The town hopes the golf course pond will be available for the annual Newport Winter Carnival, which starts Feb. 11.