Spaniard’s Bay council won’t offer dry well remedies this summer

By Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some Spaniard’s Bay residents may be up a dry creek without a paddle when it comes to future water shortages.

At the regular monthly council meeting in March, Deputy Mayor Gerald Sheppard announced council had decided it will not supplement the water supply of residents on well services this coming summer.

“The reason being that we have many, many wells that go dry all over town,” said Sheppard, “and the price would be astronomical.”

Sheppard’s motion to adopt the policy was seconded by councillor Ann Marie Singleton.

The decision means the Town will not provide water supply lines as it has in years past.

Last year, many Tilton residents faced a lack of water, leading the Town to supply temporary water lines.

“That was on a trial basis,” said Mayor Tammy Oliver. “They were all aware of that. It was an extremely dry, exceptional year. We’re hoping not to have that issue this year, but we did have a lot of wells go dry.”

Oliver said that while the Town did what it could to help at that time, it will not be able to provide enough lines for the number of dry wells.

“It’s just impossible for the Town to run everybody their own line,” she said. “As you know, when everybody applies for an application in an area that’s not serviced, it’s clearly stated on the application that they must be responsible for their own (water).”

Oliver said council wanted to make its decision public early enough to give residents more time to figure out a secondary water source that they can use if needed.

Sheppard’s motion passed unanimously.