WINDHAM — The Town Council Oct. 16 unanimously approved an amendment to the town’s fire codes to exempt some structures from sprinkler requirements.

Now exempt are agricultural buildings, barns, carports, grain silos, stables, livestock shelters, detached private garages and greenhouses.

Before the amendment, all new buildings of at least 7,500 square feet either served by public water or located near a Portland Water District hydrant, with the exception of single- and two-family dwellings, were required to have an approved automatic fire sprinkler system in all areas of the building.

“I appreciate not having to sprinkle my chicken coop,” Councilor Rebecca Cummings said after the vote.

Council Chairwoman Donna Chapman added, “I think it’ll save some of the farmers money.”

On Oct. 2, the council voted down another amendment to the fire codes to remove residential sprinkler requirements from homes on dead end streets and to clarify when additional water storage capacity for firefighting purposes is required in subdivisions.

Currently, the ordinance requires all dwellings on dead end streets over 1,000 feet to have a monitored sprinkler system.

At an earlier council meeting Oct. 9, the council approved the expenditure of $3,000 from the Planning Professoinal Services account to the Highland Lake Association to remediate the Swan Road right-of-way and Highland Shore Road, an area called “the Hill,” in an effort to improve the water quality of Highland Lake.

According to a memo dated Sept. 23 from Rosie Hartzler, president of the Highland Lake Association and chairwoman of the Watershed Protection Grant Committee, both areas were identified in the Watershed Survey completed in May 2018 as sites that negatively impact the water quality of the lake due to erosion.

While the association had already acquired the necessary funding to address the Swan Road site, it was $3,000 short of its goal for The Hill site. The total necessary funding is $22,000. The association had already received $6,000 from a Watershed Protection Grant, a match grant that the association more than met with $7,000 from residents, and $6,000 from Stormwater Compensation Funds.

The money will go towards the cost of paving The Hill. Hartzler said at the Oct. 2 council meeting that “paving is the best mitigation strategy in the long run, although it’s expensive.”

These two sites are “the worst of the worst,” she said. When she visited The Hill site, she added, you could “visibly see the plume out into the lake as a result of erosion.”

With the decision to pave, Hartzler said, “this is going to be a fix that’s going to last.”

Jane Vaughan can be reached at 780-9103 or at jvaughan@keepmecurrent.com.

The Windham Town Council listens to a discussion about Highland Lake water quality at a meeting earlier this month.

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