TOPSHAM

Selectmen expressed support Thursday for plans by the owner of the hydroelectric dam between Brunswick and Topsham, to use signs and fencing to create a barrier from hazards along Androscoggin River.

Selectmen took no action following the discussion and the exact details are still in the works of where and how Brookfield Renewable Power will create a perimeter around a roughly half-mile stretch of the river bank. Selectmen stressed the board must focus too on giving its police the power to enforce any signs that go up.

Steve Michaud, the senior operations manager for Brookfield, which owns 95 percent of the projects in the Androscoggin River, said the company has a very strong safety culture.

“Public safety is the reason we’re here tonight,” Michaud said. “As some of you probably know, there’s been quite a few public safety incidents along the Riverwalk of the Topsham side of the river, from the walking bridge up along the railroad bridge.”

The company sought selectmen’s support to address the unauthorized swimming areas along that walking area.

While the river may look calm and peaceful, Michaud said “as soon as you get out into the depth of the water a little bit, the current is actually very strong. Recently within (the last) two weeks we had someone jump off the Swinging Bridge that I’m sure your fire department had to assist Brunswick to rescue.”

He said, “we also have to look at the emergency responders responding to an incident on the river,” which in this area is rough with a very swift current. He asked for the board’s blessing to put up signs in unauthorized swimming areas and maybe fencing in areas that pose a risk to public safety.

Tom Mapletoft is the director of water resource management for Brookfield, which acquired the dam about a year and a half ago, and oversees the integration of public safety. Brookfield has established perimeters in other projects along the river — using fences, boater buoys, signs and other devices “to make sure it’s clear to people where the safe places are and the hazards they need to avoid.”

The property being talked about is owned by Central Maine Power Co. which the town has a lease with, and stretches from the Black Bridge to the Swinging Bridge, to the actual dam.

There is an area upstream and downstream where the hydropower operations impact the river — in this case impounding water a certain distance — and anything inside this project boundary designated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is Brookfield’s responsibility to maintain public safety, Mapletoft said.

Brookfield can install boater buoys about a halfmile up river from the power house on the Brunswick side of the river, so if someone was to get caught in the current, “they could get trapped up against the facility fairly easily, especially in high flow or even low flow if the flow changes quickly,” said Mapletoft.

“What we’re proposing is getting signs up there to show where the areas are that people really should not be accessing,” as well as fencing off the hazardous areas either due to river flow or steep drop areas, Mapletoft said. He recognized there may be some areas the town doesn’t want fenced for aesthetic purposes.

Don Russell asked if the town would be responsible for the cost of any of this work. Mapletoft said at one of its other projects, Brookfield funded the cost of the initial instillation of fencing and signs and the town agreed to maintain the fencing if there was damage or vandalism, “so that was kind of the agreement we were hoping to set up.”

“I certainly think that it’s necessary to address the safety issues out there,” Russell said, but town officials need to get a handle on what may be involved and what it might cost the town for that maintenance.

If there ever was a huge capital expense, “we could work something out as far as cost,” Michaud said. They’d be looking for the town to cover everyday maintenance costs. “I don’t want you to think we’re going to install all these safety barriers and then walk away. We’re going to be here for a long time so we want to become part of the solution.”

Brookfield will come back to show selectmen where they want to install what kind of fence, and why. They need selectmen’s approval for any fencing, Michaud said.

“This has been a longterm problem,” selectman David Douglass said. “I think we’ve got to not only do this but give the police department some authority,” to ensure they can enforce these measures — an issue selectmen Ronald Riendeau said “we should work on sooner than later.”

All agreed there is a percentage of people who will ignore signs and jump over a fence. The success in curbing unauthorized access can only be measured by number of public safety incidents Brookfield officials said.

Douglass said when he worked at Brunswick Fire Department, in three-week during his shift he pulled 11 people from the river, “so there’s quite a lot that can be determined,” regarding the impact these measures will have.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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