Granby Conservation Commission opens hearing on Forge Pond Dam repair

GRANBY -- July 8, 2025, Granby Conservation Commission opens formal wetlands hearing on a town-proposed $500,000 Forge Pond Dam repair. Commission Chair Bill Shahane presided over the July 8 hearing, with town consultant Dave Leonard and remote consultants Scott Jordan of Ecotech and Chris McClure presenting the project, which involves a new concrete dam face, retaining walls along Bachelor Brook, and removal of a deteriorated barn and shed. The state Office of Dam Safety declared the structure unsafe roughly five or six years ago and ordered it repaired or removed; Leonard noted dam removal was previously studied and rejected after it was found it would lower the water table enough to threaten private drinking wells throughout the Forge Pond neighborhood. The project qualifies for a 75 percent state grant through the Seawall and Dam Repair Program, with a 25 percent local share required; a construction funding application is expected in late 2025, with a final town meeting appropriation vote likely in 2026. The commission also continued a hearing for the Redfire Farm barn project at 34 Carver Street to August 12, pending a 100-year stormwater model from engineer Jeff Squires of Berkshire Design Group, and reclassified the farm's permit fee to category 3B at $1,500.