By a narrow margin, the Conservation Commission approved a permit for dredging Bare Hill Pond near the town beach late this year, assuming various state agencies also give the go-ahead. The state permitting process, however, can take several months, according to Gary Hedman of the Horsley Witten Group, an environmental firm hired by the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee to develop a proposal for the dredging operation.

At the commission's Oct. 6 meeting, Hedman presented plans for a concrete-block barrier to contain the dredged material in the pond parking lot until the material is dry enough to be removed. Commission Chairman Paul Willard noted the barrier used in 2009, which was made of hay bales, was not adequate; it allowed dredged material to leak out into the parking area.

Selectman Bill Johnson, liaison between the Pond Committee and the Board of Selectmen, acknowledged that the design of the earlier barrier had been "an error."

Disagreement arose over repairs to the boat dock and the drainage around it. Willard asked when the boat ramp would be fixed. Johnson responded that he wanted to work with the Conservation Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission on a longer term plan for this boat-launch area.

Mark Mandozzi, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said that his group was not ready to proceed.

"We have been hearing that for years," Willard said.

Both Willard and Conservation Commission member James Breslauer said that the Pond Committee had previously told the commission that the two projects—dredging and repairs to the launch area—would be done at the same time.

Johnson denied that the commission had been told that.

"Do you want to do a quick and crappy job or be thoughtful about it?" he asked.

"You are being disingenuous, at best," responded Willard. Later, he added, "I want somebody to put into writing when the damn thing will be built."

Commission member Wendy Sisson asked when the work on the launch area would be done, if not at the same time as the dredging.

Johnson said it would be done during the following drawdown, which would be November and December 2012. He noted that the grant the Pond Committee has received requires that the work be done by June 30, 2013. The grant offers "more than adequate funding" to design and build a better launch area, he said, and he suggested that Parks and Recreation should take the lead on the project.

On a motion to okay the dredging process as designed by Horsley Witten, three members (Sisson, Charles Gorss, and Janet Waldron) voted in favor. James Breslauer voted against. Two members (Willard and Patrick Doherty) abstained.

Breslauer later explained his vote against the project: "We were assured that these repairs [to the boat launch area] would be done, and commitments need to be honored."

Doherty said he abstained because too much was unclear about the project.

Timing for the entire dredging operation, however, remains in doubt, according to Bruce Leicher, chairman of the Pond Committee, who was not at the meeting. In a later telephone interview, Leicher said that all the state agencies involved had done a site walk at the beach on Sept. 30, which went well. Still, he said, there is no guarantee that the state permitting process will be completed soon enough to do the work this year.