By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

To show the need for improvements to the Lynchville/Danis Park section of town, resident Tom Gurski brought a glass of water to the Oct. 23 selectmen’s meeting.

The water was the color of iced tea, with particles swirling inside and a murky layer of sediment settled at the bottom.

The liquid came from the faucet at Gurski’s Bay Street home.

“There’s a lot of little houses very close together, with a very high water table,” Gurski said of the neighborhood that sits on the banks of the Piscataquog River. “This is the kind of (tap) water you get.”

Gurski’s demonstration came as selectmen hosted a pair of public hearings that could lead to a block grant for neighborhood improvements.

A handful of residents turned out for the meeting and spoke of the need for water and sewer improvements in the neighborhood known as “The Parks.”

“I can’t believe the conditions of the water,” said Cove Street resident Linda Shannon. “How do you let people live there? It’s like a Third World water supply.”

With no water or sewer lines of its own, the neighborhood has long lobbied for a connection to Manchester’s system. Repairs to the road and drainage infrastructure in the area are also causes of neighborhood concern.

Estimates for a complete renovation to the neighborhood’s water, sewer, road and drainage infrastructure put the total cost at $10 million.

Monday night’s hearings laid the groundwork for the first grant applications for neighborhood improvements.

To apply for a $500,000 community development block grant, the town must first commission a feasibility study to show local income levels make the area eligible for a block grant.

The deadline to apply for a feasibility grant arrives on Oct. 30, while the block grant application deadline comes on Dec. 30. Both grants would be funded through the Community Development Finance Authority.

The feasibility study, to be conducted by a consultant, would cost approximately $7,200, said Director of Public Works Carl Quiram.

Before applying for the feasibility study grant, selectmen first had to approve a housing and community development plan drafted by Town Planner Steve Griffin.

Selectmen approved that plan unanimously, and also voted 5-0 to apply for the feasibility study grant.

The subject of the Lynchville/Danis Park neighborhood came up a second time in the meeting, when Town Administrator Sue Desruisseaux updated selectmen on the status of some residents still living in RVs while repairing their homes from damage incurred in the May floods.

The town’s participation in the national flood insurance program requires residents to be out of RVs six months after the flooding event, and selectmen had set a deadline of Aug. 30 for residents to move out of their RVs.

Residents still living in RVs will not jeopardize the town’s participation in the flood insurance program as long as the vehicles are ready for highway use, Desruisseaux said.

Of the three families still living in recreational vehicles, all are expected to be in permanent housing by mid-November, Desruisseaux said.