Town officials in Bow accepted responsibility and apologized Wednesday night to neighbors for failing to communicate better before a beaver pond on public land was drained by members of a local snowmobile club.

“I apologize that we didn’t have some kind of other notification out to you and it’s our fault that we relied on how we historically dealt with beaver dams,” said Bruce Marshall, chair of the Board of Selectmen.

More than 25 people crammed into the Select Board meeting in Bow on Wednesday night to address the removal of the beaver dam along Page Road. It has been a while since the town meeting has had such a sizable turnout.

The episode felt like a breach of trust, between the town and its residents, said Page Road resident Nick Watson. The town’s biggest investment is in its people, he said.

“Your people rely on you and you should rely on the people. If you’re not communicating clearly and transparently, then you’re not building any bridges,” said Watson “You’re just tearing them down.”

The town-owned pond nestled behind homes on Page Road, Pepin, and Pine Crest Drive served as a wildlife habitat for frogs, birds, turtles and beavers who had constructed dams.

The beaver dam had caused the pond’s water level to rise over time, which left the Bow Pioneers Snowmobile Club, concerned about potential flooding that would harm the bridge that connects to the main trail system. The club asked the town for permission to trap the beavers and clean up the debris around the pond’s drainage system. Selectmen agreed in September by a 3-2 vote.

On Oct. 29, club members cleared away debris and a portion of the dam after receiving consent and confirmation from the board. The beavers were trapped and killed and the pond was drained.

Abutters and residents were not just upset about losing their recreational area, they were equally offended by how it was done.

On behalf of several neighbors, Kevin McCahan who lives on Pine Crest Drive, laid out two main concerns – the lack of oversight of the snowmobile club’s actions and a failure to communicate with neighbors.

Unclear intent

McCahan asked board members if they were aware the dam was going to be removed and the pond drained since it wasn’t included in the meeting minutes from Sept. 27, when the approval was given.

Board members, with the exception of Marshall said they did not realize that clearing the debris also meant removing the dam. Marshall said he had been assured that the club would follow the state’s Fish and Game regulations when they remove the dam and beavers.

Selectmen acknowledged that the verbiage in the minutes did not clearly distinguish between debris and dam.

“What happened exceeded what I thought was going to happen,” said selectman Angela Brennan. “I did not understand that it was going to be a removal of the entire dam.”

To prevent confusion in the future, McCahan said the town must implement a formal, standardized procedure for evaluating requests from volunteer organizations.

“It seemed like the due diligence was a bit lacking,” said McCahan. “Simple questions like ‘what is the scope of work’ and ‘what regulatory requirements apply’ could have been asked.”

Lack of communication

In 2016, two weeks before a meeting to discuss the installation of a beaver deceiver, a device to maintain the water level in the pond, the town sent written notices to each abutter. It gave them an opportunity to come to the meeting and give their input. But this time, residents said that they were kept in the dark and were unaware of what was going on until they noticed the pond being drained.

Others asked about possible punitive action against the snowmobile club.

“If I asked you for an inch and I take a mile, what is my repercussion for doing that?” resident Eleana Colby said.

Board members voted to form a committee to look into pond restoration and future beaver pond management in light of the beaver dam removal on Page Road. It will be adopted as a subsidiary of the conservation committee.

Selectman Christopher Nicolopoulos said the committee will involve the town’s people and make recommendations when a beaver issue comes up.

“When somebody comes and says they want to deal with beavers, you know what to expect from us and people know what is sufficient and how we’re going to deal with them,” said Nicolopoulos on the committee’s role.

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