07/30/2025
This is an update from Eric Gagnon - Town of Wales board of Selectman. If you know anyone in the town of Greene, please please please reach out and have them vote this SATURDAY against withdrawing from the dam commission! This is critical to saving the dam project/ lake.
Subject: Dam Project Update & Greene withdraw question
Good evening all,
Just wanted to give an update on the Dam project. Attached are a few pictures I took today while I was on site for the project meeting. There have been a few changes due to the dam not extending as far as thought, a severe "belly" in the wall that will result in more concrete and a slight move of the fishway which will require some resurvey. These extras should be offset by a credit we are receiving for changing the grating length and material (stainless to galvanized). This is the most technical part of the project and we anticipate that once everything here is ironed out it should be straightforward work after.
They have started drilling rebar and anchors into the dam for the new concrete overlay. The coffer dam is in place with a 30 inch culvert that is maintaining the necessary flow down stream for Sabattus Sanitary. The gate mechanism is removed and the gates are disconnected. The pipe will be plugged and some removed for gate area demolition to occur in the next week or so. The onsite pump will them be used to maintain minimum flow.
After so much work it is great to see this project underway. This excitement gives way to disappointment in learning that Greene's town meeting happening this weekend and they have an article to withdraw from the commission. Due to the interlocal agreement if they withdraw the Dam Commission needs to meet within 7 days, close business and hand everything over to the Town of Sabattus. This would cause the project to stop as the contract for the project is with the Commission. How quickly things could be modified is unknown and the pond could potentially be left drawn down until attorneys can figure it out and get the project restarted. With this work only allowed during certain times of the year the pond could remain empty through next year. If you live in Greene get to the meeting to support the Dam Commission, or if you know someone in Greene please make sure they know how important this tri-town interlocal agreement(Dam Commission) is and encourage them to go and support the project and the continuation of the Dam Commission.
Casey from Department of Marine Resources sent me a follow up email with his concerns about Greene potentially leaving and what that would do to this project. Following is a piece of his email. "From an impact perspective, if Greene votes to leave the commission now and that leads to the commission dissolving before the sleeper dam work is completed, it could lead to the lake being left drawn down until Sabattus or DMR could get a new contract with HE Callahan in place. That would cause a disruption in work at the site and, if it took more than a couple of weeks, could lead to the lake being drawn down for longer than just this summer. This is nearly the worst case, but is a realistic possibility."
If anyone has questions about the project or why the Town of Greene should support it (additional tax assessment/revenue for waterfront property) send them my way.
Respectfully submitted,
Eric L. Gagnon, CSP, AAS
207-576-5471
Chair, Wales Board of Selectman
Treasurer, Sabattus Pond Dam Commission
Executive member, Maine Waste to Energy
