Riverfest

I don’t know who will be sitting in the Selectmen seats when the Great? dam is removed , but I imagine them all in one raft descending the Great! Falls to open the inaugural Great! Falls Exeter Kayak Race. There will be a significant waterfall at the site. The computer generated side view you may have seen does not show the drop. The imagined Falls should have been shown from a down river or String Bridge perspective. It will be beautiful, and loads of fun in Spring.

River side seating at the restaurants on Water Street was sold out for weeks in advance of the event. It was wild downtown, all over Town.

Gilman Park was the main staging area , the Swasey too was mobbed . Kayaks were transported, for a small fee, back to Gilman Park for those wanting another run. Great kayaking and canoeing, fishing, swimming. I cannot fathom why there is even a question before us on this . The 3 Selectmen were wrong to vote no after all the years of study.

I have been writing about dam removal for many years and I have no problem with saying that if this does not happen it is a complete and utter failure of our local government. The fact that there are those that are nervous that a new Board will somehow screw with the vote if it’s a yea,is ludicrous. If that happens any other fix will be on your dimes, lots of them. There is no grant money for a slapdash fix. So just vote yes and let’s move on to the next project.

Once we do the right thing, the smart thing, and vote yes to remove the old dam we will reap the benefits. I don’t think I have heard anyone but opponents use the words “tear down the dam”.

Oh the emotion.

That was funny at the Candidates Forum , Matt describing a block party with his neighbors watching the River roar through their basements. The approximate drop in flood levels with the Dam removed on Franklin St will be 5 feet.

There is no question the dam should come down and come down now, especially with the prospect of funding of the lions share in our reach. We will never have to worry about it ever again.

Worry.