Resident urges New Durham commission to push back on DES dam plan, warns of tax and health impacts

Russell (Russ) Weldon, who identified himself as a resident of 318 Merry Meade Road and a representative of Merry Meade Marina, told the New Durham Conservation Commission that the Department of Environmental Services (DES) intends major work at the Marymeeting Lake dam that could draw the lake down roughly 22 feet and take “6,000,000 gallons a day” through a fish hatchery.

“WMUR this week ... said that they were preparing an expose to announce that Marymeade Lake is now the cleanest lake in New Hampshire,” Weldon told the commission, and he said DES’s proposed rebuild would nonetheless require multi-year drawdown and rebuilding that risked exposed stumps, rocks and expanded aquatic weed growth. Weldon said the association obtained two draft designs — one he described at about $8,000,000 and one roughly $1,000,000 less — and urged the commission to examine less intrusive alternatives such as driving pilings or tying a new spillway into bedrock.

Weldon linked the dam work to town finances, saying lake property values supply a large share of New Durham’s tax base and that substantial abatements tied to lower lake levels could shift tax burdens to other residents. He also raised public-health concerns, warning of mosquito habitat and related disease risk if exposed lakebed persists for years.

Weldon said the lake association had hired engineering and legal support (GZA and a land-use practitioner) and retained a Concord lobbying firm to press the town’s case; he told commissioners lawsuits were likely and asked whether New Durham would join or otherwise support the lake association’s efforts. The commission asked for the draft plans and agreed to review them at the next meeting.

Weldon framed many assertions as his group’s view of DES’s plan and motives rather than as settled facts. “They’re working on overtime trying to get it done,” he said of DES; the commission collected the association’s documents and scheduled additional review and a possible agenda item next month.

The commission did not take formal action during public input; Weldon offered to provide monthly updates and documents to commission members.