MEREDITH — The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) has awarded the Lake Winnipesaukee Watershed Association (LWWA) two grants to assist property owners in the Lake Waukewan watershed with the cost evaluating, repairing and replacing septic systems.
Pat Tarpey, executive director of the LWWA, said that effluent from failing septic system has been identified as major risk to water quality throughout the Lake Winnipesaukee watershed by management plans developed for Lake Waukewan, Meredith Bay and Sanders Bay. Since little of the watershed is served by public sewer, she said that addressing the risks of aging and failing septic systems is a concern for many communities, particularly Meredith, where Lake Waukewan is the sole source of municipal drinking water.
The grants were awarded on the heels of a health regulation bearing on septic system within 250 feet of Lake Waukewan, which the Board of Selectmen adopted in December. The regulation requires that some 26 undocumented septic systems, designated as high risk of failure, be evaluated within two years. By providing financial assistance to those who would incur expenses to comply with the regulation, the grants address one of the concerns raised by its opponents.
Tarpey explained that the grants complement the implementation of the regulation while offering assistance to property owners in Meredith, New Hampton and Center Harbor within 250 feet of the lake. The first grant, awarded through the Source Water Protection Program and amounting to nearly $12,000, will help to fund the evaluation and certification of septic systems by reimbursing property owners for half the cost up to a maximum of $250. Tarpey indicated that priority would be assigned those systems deemed to pose the highest risk.
The second grant, awarded through the watershed assistance program, makes some $40,000 available to property owners for the repair, improvement or replacement of their septic systems. Although all properties within the Lake Waukewan watershed are eligible, Tarpey said that priority will be given to those within 250 feet of Lake Waukewan and Lake Winona at greatest risk of failing. The grant will defray one-third of the cost of repairing, improving or replacing a system up to a maximum of $4,000.
Tarpey said that LWWA will administer the grants and expected both programs would be offered by April or May. Those seeking more information should contact the Lake Winnipesaukee Watershed Association at 581-6632.

TILTON — Last night's discussion about a full day kindergarten program for the Winnisquam Regional School District came just a day after the school board decided against bringing the $230,000 program before voters for a second time.
But the issue still resonates with Tilton, Northfield and Sanbornton residents, 42 of whom took part in a Lakes Region Listens community conversation last at the Winnisquam Regional Middle School and and whose composition appeared to somewhat approximate the 103-91 split which saw the warrant article defeated at the annual school district meeting last year.
Kindergarten is currently offered as a half-day program in the district, which is what is required by state law. Attendance in not manditory.
The format of the meeting called for small group discussions on the value and cost of full day kindergarten led by trained facilitators and was questioned before the session even got underway by David Court of Northfield, who said he didn't see the need for the complex structure of the meeting or why it was even necessary at all when voters could stand up at the school district meeting and express their own opinions.
''What you're doing is politics,'' said Court, prompting Ed Engler of the Lakes Region Listens Steering Committee to explain that Lakes Region Listens had no stake in the outcome of the full day kindgerarten issue and had simply been asked by the school board to conduct a community discussion on the subject.
A report on the meeting will be presented to the school board at its February 19 meeting and the board had originally indicated it would wait for the report before making a decision on whether to place a warrant article before voters.
Many agreed with Court's assessment that the meeting was not needed, including Gregg Hill of Northfield, who said that he thought there were other priorities that the board should be pursuing.
But Stacey Haggett of Northfield said thay she welcomed the chance to have a conversation about all day kindergarten. She said that as a working mother she feels that two and a half hours a day isn't enough time and that a full day provides not only a stronger academic component but also has value for the social interactions it provides, which are often more important than the the academic skills developed.
Peg Graham of Sanbornton observed that full-day kindergarten isn't for everyone because children develop at different paces. She also questioned the cost to the district, noting that she hadn't had any raises in three years and neither had many other taxpayers.
Christina Bradbury of Northfield, who reported for her group, said that one of the major concerns raised at her table was whether or not parents should ''have some skin in the game'' by paying a fee for full-day kindergarten.
Copies of a Head Start effectiveness study which was recently released and concluded that many of the benefits of early education programs for 3 and 4-year olds were largely lost by the third grade were circulated at at least two of the six discussion tables.
Several of the comments during the wrap-up session reflected material from the Head Start report, which Alan Robichaud, one of the Lakes Region Listens facilitators, noted was based on data from 2002, before the No Child Left Behind Act was implemented.
The Winnisquam Regional School District is one of the few in the Lakes Region which does not have full-day kindergarten. Laconia, Gilford, Franklin, Moultonborough and Holderness all offer full day kindergarten while Plymouth does so by lottery. Belmont offers half-day kindergarten.

GILFORD — A plan to remove virtually all the toxic coal tar dumped and buried on land along Lower Liberty Hill Road by 2015 was outlined by state environmental officials and an environmental engineer at a meeting attended by town officials and members of the public Wednesday evening.
An estimated 99.8 percent of the contaminated soil currently beneath four house lots will be removed over the period of two years under the plan now being considered, according to John Ash, vice president of GEI Consultants Inc., a Massachusetts-based geotechnical consulting firm. GEI has been retained by Liberty Utilities which now owns the properties at 69, 77, 83 and 87 Liberty Hill Road, and is the latest corporate successor to the gas utility responsible for the dumping of the coal tar in 1952 in what was then a sand and gravel pit. Ash said he expects 45,000 cubic yards of tainted soil will need to be removed in the multimillion-dollar clean-up.
He said the actual removal is expected to begin in the spring or summer of 2014 and would take two construction seasons to complete. No work will take place at the site during the winter of 2014-15, he explained.
Michael McCluskey, an engineer with the state Department of Environmental Services' Waste Management Division, said DES's goal is to remove the contaminated soil "to the greatest extent practicable."
"We are talking about moving ahead with something that will be of benefit to the community," he told the audience of about 30 people.
Mary Casey, environmental program manager for Liberty Utilities, said it was still too early to project exactly how much the clean-up would cost the utility. But she noted that a few years ago some were estimating the cost could reach about $13 million.
Ash said the first phase of the three-year project should begin in March when 50 additional test borings will be drilled around the supine figure-eight-shaped site in order to give scientists and engineers more precise data on the location and concentration of the coal tar deposits. Once the results of the test borings have been analysed, permits will be applied for some time during the summer. Barring any problems in the permitting process, work to select contractors to do the work will take place next winter. A pre-construction public meeting will take place during that time and the actual removal work will being in the spring of 2014.
"This project is not that simple," Ash said. He expected that heavy excavation equipment will need to dig as deep at 55 feet in some spots to get to some of the coal tar deposits. Removing 45,000 cubic yards of material will entail several thousand dump truck loads and Ash predicted that because of all the truck traffic Lower Liberty Hill Road "will take a beating."
John Regan, supervisor of hazardous waste remediation for DES, said the project is one of the largest to be undertaken in the state.
Ever since the buried contamination was discovered in 2005 the Board of Selectmen has insisted on the removal of 100-percent of the coal tar. But Ash said that to accomplish that would require removing an additional 36,000 cubic yards of soil from the site. "That would involve (removing) a big volume of soil to remove a small amount of contaminant," he said.
However, Dan Morrissey, an engineering consultant being retained by the town, said that leaving any amount of contaminated soil in the ground raises concerns about possibility of pollutants getting into nearby Jewett Brook in the future. Morrissey also said that the town should have its own representative on site during the removal process.
Reiterating that point, attorney Tupper Kinder, who is representing the town on the Liberty Hill clean-up, said, "The selectmen want an independent third party monitoring that the project is handled properly and thoroughly."
McCluskey said that DES would be responsive to the town's concerns.
Kathy Lacroix, who lives at 98 Liberty Hill Road, diagonally across the road from the contaminated properties, said she was pleased with much of the clean-up plan, including steps that would be taken to minimize dust and odor from site. But she was worried that pollution would have long-term harm on property values in the area, making it difficult for existing residents to sell their homes and making banks reluctant to underwrite mortgages for potential buyers.
Town Administrator Scott Dunn said that selectmen realize that property values in the area have been hard hit because of the contamination and as a result the have selectmen been insisting on a full clean-up. "Selectmen want the neighborhood to come back and the stigma removed. But it's a slow process," he said. He added that the town intends to meet with officials from Liberty Utilities about future uses for the properties that will be cleaned up – "something that will contribute to the values of the neighborhood."