Antrim Select Board members agreed Nov. 28 to accept a $991,000 federal grant for rehabilitation work on the Gregg Lake Dam.
In June, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announced that $35 million of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding was approved for necessary repairs to state-owned dams. A rehabilitation/removal grant program for municipally owned high hazard dams was established with this funding.
Eleven state-owned dams identified by the NHDES Dam Bureau will receive $30 million of the ARPA allocation for rehabilitation, while the remaining $5 million will fund the grant program for municipally owned high-hazard dams. According to NHDES, this will encourage the rehabilitation or removal of municipally owned high-hazard dams that are considered to be in poor or unsatisfactory condition according to state dam safety standards.
“They’re telling us the dam is in dire need of repair and their providing most of the money,” Select Board Chairman John Robertson said. “It’s hard to pass it up. We need to do it ASAP.”
Antrim Town Administrator Russell McAllister said grant requests could not exceed $1 million and that remediation plans were required for the proposal.
“Antrim had already [made plans], so I think we were ahead of a lot of municipalities in that respect,” he said, adding that the board’s acceptance will go to the Executive Council for final approval.
Under state law, towns have the right to accept and spend unanticipated money from a state, federal or other governmental unit. When the unanticipated amount is $10,000 or more, the selectmen or board of commissioners must hold a prior public hearing on the action to be taken.
According to McAllister, a follow-up meeting with engineers Quantum Land Consultants LLC, who will be responsible for the work, will be done in the coming months.
“People have had questions about loons nesting there,” he said. “I don’t think it will be while they’re nesting.”
Work on the dam will begin in 2023, and the town has until Dec. 31, 2024, to complete the project McAllister said.
The board agreed that an informational hearing to discuss the plans more fully would be held at a future date.
Library provides budget update
Library Board of Trustees Chair Rick Wood provided the Select Board with an update on the library’s budget. Overall, the library has had a 4.9 percent increase over previous years, which Wood attributed to salary increases.
“We felt the director and staff deserved, both on COLA and merit, a 6 percent raise,” he said.
Health benefits amounted to a 9 percent increase. Money for an upgrade to the library’s phone system was also included in the budget.