Dam repair plan praised in Newport Resident’s 25-year-old idea accepted

NEWPORT – Local inventor and marine expert Thomas Hart volunteered his services Wednesday night to construct flashboards atop the North Street Dam that will more efficiently control the level of Sebasticook Lake.

Hart waited 25 years for town officials to accept and recognize the worth of his idea.

He first proposed the moveable flashboard system before the town hall was even constructed, when meetings were held in the fire hall across the parking lot.

Things had changed a lot, however, when Hart presented his proposal Wednesday night.

Hart said he would build the flashboards for free, with the town paying only for materials. He illustrated three possible plans using models he created.

Flashboards sit on top of dams and can be raised or lowered, usually using a hydraulic system, to allow water to spill over or be held back. Flashboards were originally intended to be on the new dam when it was reconstructed after the 1987 flood and $25,000 was in the budget. They were never put on, however.

Since then, town officials use the dam gate to raise or lower the water level. That system is causing wear and tear on the expensive gate system.

“This will be infinitely better than what we have,” Hart said.

He suggested either a curved or flat flashboard and said the existing motor on the dam could be used to power the hydraulic system. He said the entire system could be built for less than $2,000.

Town Manager James Ricker said he has learned during recent litigation regarding a drowning death at the dam that nothing at the dam will be done without a licensed engineer. “We should hire an engineer to look over his plans for our own liability,” Ricker said.

“However, Tommy Hart has an excellent idea and he’s crafty enough to do it,” he said.

Ricker said the dam budget is already $2,400 in the red because of a recent repair but the town could begin investigating creating the system now and fund it in the 2007 budget.

“This could save us lots of money,” Selectman James Brann said.

“It’s a great idea,” Chairman Al Worden added.

In other business, the selectmen were presented with a statement signed by more than 60 Newport residents asking that the former creative playground on Grove Street be reconstructed.

Chuck McKay said he believed funds were appropriated at town meeting and wondered why the playground had not been constructed.

Worden explained that the money to construct the playground was to have been borrowed and voters approved that last March. However, voters did not approve expanding the town’s overall debt, so the playground project could not be bonded until after June, which would make the first payment due in 2007.

Ricker promised McKay that the financing package could be completed in 60 days. “We have already done the preliminary work,” he said.

Ricker said there is a possibility the new equipment could be installed this fall but it is more likely to be in place next spring.