Dear Editor:

My wife, Marie Rose Ruffalo, and I are relatively new to Boothbay Harbor. We moved here five years ago from La Jolla, California.

Amazingly, we discovered B.H. and our future home online by accident, and fell in love with its small town ambiance that featured fishermen, local businesses and quaint attractions. So we were not at all surprised to learn – when we announced to friends and acquaintances of our exit from California and our new destination – that many of them were already very familiar with B.H.’s charm.
Nevertheless, after moving here, one condition we were unprepared for was the absence of people and closure of local businesses/attractions during the off-season. And we found many year-rounders and business people who shared this concern as well.

I believe one obvious way to improve this situation is to provide year-round town water (YARTW) to those citizens who are not currently being served. It’s truly an anomaly that local homeowners unconnected to YARTW out number those who are. Their inclusion in YARTW could inspire them to spend more time here and/or at least have the ability to better utilize their property (e.g. rental income, etc.) during that six months forced shutdown that presently exists.

Note that the seasonal water is a high maintenance system, resulting in the users effectively paying double the water rate of those on YARTW; that’s in addition to full year property taxes.
And unfortunately, simply digging a well on your property as an option to YARTW is expensive ($5,000+-) and requires periodic testing for water quality. Many local wells, including our own, have high concentrations of radon, a carcinogenic, requiring specialized equipment ($5,000+-) to mitigate; as well as many other pathogens.

However, I realize that funding for the expansion of YARTW to seasonal users is certainly an issue. But this question could possibly be resolved with federal, state and regional grant money. There is currently a great deal of political support at all governmental levels to spend money on infrastructure, especially in the rural areas. A perfect opportunity for local government to consider pursuing an unsolicited proposal to provide YARTW to all of its home owners.

Jerry Hull

Boothbay Harbor