Well protection measure ready for vote

HOULTON – After more than two years of work by town officials, the planning board and Houlton Water Co., the Town Council next month will consider adopting an ordinance that officials say will further protect the McPartland Wells, a major water source for the town.

The council will take action on the document during a public hearing on Jan. 22.

The planning board has worked on the ordinance for several years.

John Clark, general manager of Houlton Water Co., told councilors Monday evening that the document was a “well put together, straightforward ordinance.”

“We drafted this ordinance for the health of the community and to protect a water source that we have,” he said.

The McPartland Wells are located on U.S. Route 2 neighboring the Meduxnekeag River. There are several homes and a gravel pit in the area of the wells.

Officials are most concerned about protecting the water source from contamination such as from a fuel or gasoline spill.

The McPartland Wells were added in 1960 to supplement the Burleigh Well, once a high-capacity well for the municipality.

Around 1975, however, the Burleigh Well was shut down because of an increasing threat of contamination from the old town landfill.

The regulations that guard the water in the McPartland Wells under the proposed wellhead protection ordinance are “very restrictive,” according to municipal attorney Stephen Nelson.

No action in Zone 1 of the protected area can be undertaken without a permit, although there is a provision that allows for uses that are in existence at the time that the council adopts the ordinance. Those who live in the protected zone must fuel their vehicles and equipment off-site.

Violators will face escalating fines for each incident, said Nelson.

Councilor Walter Goodrich told the group he recently attended a public hearing that the planning board held on the wellhead protection ordinance. The councilor said that several area landowners were present and there were no major problems.

Galen Hogan, president of the Houlton Water Co. board of directors, said the ordinance represented “a huge amount of effort” on the part of everyone involved in drafting it.

“We hope you’ll help us in putting this in place,” he told councilors.