WEBSTER, N.H. (AP) -May’s floods drained it, now voters’ money may help refill it.
Save for one small stream running through it, Pillsbury Lake has been dry since last spring’s floods. But the 45-acre lake could be full again by fall, after a 112-38 vote Saturday authorized lake district commissioners to spend up to $481,500 on dam repairs.
Engineers estimated that’s how much it would cost to fix the dam, but one commissioner expected the district would spend less, once federal and state help is applied. Money may also be available from the town.
Commissioner David Klumb said assessors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency already have declared the site eligible for funding, but haven’t said how much. State aid won’t be available until the next legislative session.
Uncertainty over how much repairs will cost – not whether restoring the lake is a good idea – dominated discussion at Saturday’s outdoor meeting.
“My opposition to this whole article is, we don’t know who much it’s going to cost,” said Dan Shapiro.
Others called restoring the lake the right thing to do, and said its loss had hurt the community. Wildlife has disappeared and so have visits with neighbors who used to see each other everyday on their boats, said M.J. Turcotte.
“A lot of the community is gone,” she said.
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Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com
AP-ES-08-07-06 0830EDT
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