Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said the Maine Department of Environment Protection would issue an order prohibiting drilling water wells in the Hooper Sands Road area due to detection of carbon tetrachloroethylene, a known carcinogen, in the aquifer.
Old Mill resident and Town Council candidate Abigail Kemble also raised concerns about elevated arsenic levels in her water supply, according to notices from the South Berwick Water District.
A level of 10.58 ppb is the safe threshold for this heavy metal.
In other business Ellsworth said due to extenuating circumstances it is unlikely a sewer line can be implemented in the Route 236 TIF district.
Specifically, a Maine Department of Transportation right of way would not be large enough to allow access to a sewer line.
Councilors learned a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on a proposed medical marijuana storefront was postponed because the ZBA chairman lives near the proposed store.
The chairman’s absence meant the lack of a quorum to rule on the appeal, which led Council Chairman Jack Kareckas to urge more citizens to serve in town government.
The council later approved residents James Mundy and Maya Bog as new ZBA members.
Both were rejected due to the town’s current moratorium on such establishments.
The council appointed Ellsworth to manage two funds that benefit the town library.