Wiscasset selectmen will face a decision next year on what if anything to do about the Montsweag Dam, part of a 22-acre parcel Central Maine Power gave the town in 2013.

 A natural resources study of the site was delivered to the town office Dec. 1. The report now awaits the review of the Conservation Commission that meets on Dec. 28.

Stockwell Environmental Consulting of Southport was hired in May to help develop a management plan for the property known as Montsweag Dam Preserve. Lauren Stockwell headed the natural resources study.

The forested property surrounds a small lake created by the dam. It was given to Wiscasset on the condition it be used for conservation and recreation and with the stipulation that the town adopt a management plan approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. A draft of the management plan was released in fall 2015.

The property came with a gift of $100,000 from CMP to be used for stewardship including monitoring of the dam. The $2,870 for Stockwell’s work came from the stewardship account, which is managed by the board of selectmen.

Town Planner Ben Averill told the Wiscasset Newspaper Dec. 2 the Conservation Commission won’t be making its recommendation to selectmen until sometime in the new year. “They’ll need to thoroughly read the Stockwell report and discuss it among themselves first. The study is primarily focused on the bio-diversity of the preserve but the report may help in determining whether the dam undergoes repairs or is removed,” he added.

Reached for comment Dec. 5, Commission Chairman Anne Leslie said the report will be a key part of the preserve’s management plan. “(The) report doesn’t get into the specifics of the dam. There is still some research to be done on that, but yes, I hope and expect that we'll finish the management plan and then update the selectmen at some point in the first part of 2017,” Leslie responded in an email.

“Whether we can make an outright recommendation I don’t know, but we will at least try to lay out the facts for the selectmen as clearly and fully as possible so they can make an informed decision,” she added.

There are a number of observations contained within the report. “The land use in the vicinity has remained remarkably constant since the turn of the last century,” it notes, adding, only a few homes have been built along Mountain and Bradford roads. “Most of the area has remained forested since the 1940s,” it states.

“Despite being a short drive from busy Route 1, the feel of the property is of relatively undisturbed wilderness,” the report continues.

The report references a letter from John Perry, environmental review coordinator with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Within it Perry states, the state agency had not mapped any “essential and significant wildlife habitats in the vicinity of the Montsweag Dam Preserve.”

Perry’s letter goes on to state, MDIFW data bases haven’t revealed the presence of state-listed “endangered, threatened or special concerned species” within the preserve but added no formal surveys have been conducted. However, Perry adds it was possible several rare species may be present including one or more of the eight species of bats known to inhabit Maine, great blue heron, the spotted wood turtle and rare species of migratory birds.

No rare plants were found on the preserve. Other then the lake created by the dam no wetlands were found on the property. Wildlife inventories were outside the scope of the study but the preserve is a known habitat for deer.

The roughly triangular-shaped property runs parallel to CMP's transmission grid and stretches from Bradford Road to Freedom Song Lane. Averill said several acres of the preserve are in Woolwich. The concrete dam is off a right-of-way at the end of Freedom Song Lane. It was constructed in 1941 as a backup water source for the former Mason Station power plant. The plant was decommissioned in the early 1990s.

The Stockwell report notes, “The dam on the property does represent an obstacle to fish passage. Restoring fish passage and stream connectivity is a goal of the National Marine Fisheries Service and many conservation organizations including local ones such as the Midcoast Conservancy.” The dam serves as man-made barrier to migrating salmon, American eels, alewives, sea run brook trout and brown trout, it adds.

During the summer of 2013, Wright-Pierce Engineering of Topsham was hired to inspect the dam and spillway. The report included an interview with Tony Fletcher, the state's dam safety inspector, who rated Montsweag Dam as a “low hazard facility.”

Wright-Pierce offered a number of recommendations. The most significant cost involved concrete repairs estimated to run $30,000 to $45,000. The repairs are needed to address “deep cracking found in the downstream face of the spillway.” The report also recommended replacing the dam's wooden stop logs, lifted to release water from the impoundment (lake). Two options were given: replacing them with wood or fiberglass for an estimated $12,000; or with steel, $26,000.

The engineering firm recommended the town restrict access to the steel pedestrian bridge on top of the dam until the 50-foot span was upgraded to meet safety codes. No price estimate was included for the walkway's upgrade. Wright-Pierce estimated the removal of the dam at $136,000 to $206,000.

According to town documents, the Wiscasset Fire Department has gone on record as being against the dam’s removal because the lake provides a water source for fire protection. This area of Wiscasset has no access to public water.

A recreational trail system is eventually planned for the preserve for low-impact public use including a small parking area off Bradford Road where the preserve’s entrance will be located along with an informational kiosk.