Water wells at Robbie Mills will have to be 'fracked'

By RICK GREEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — It's not like they hit a dry hole, but workers who drilled two wells at the Robbie Mills Sports Complex found they are not producing enough water.

They will have to be fracked.

Water will be injected at high pressure to fracture rock in the hole and clear access to underground pools. Fracking was first developed for use in oil wells, where a different kind of liquid is injected.

Robbie Mills, home to the Winnipesaukee Muskrats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, has been without water service since late April.

While the latest complication was always a possibility, it represents another in a series of delays and leaves open the possibility the team will go a whole season without irrigation or indoor plumbing. Their final home game is July 28.

On the bright side, a rainy spring and summer has kept the ballfield's grass green.

Kevin Dunleavy, Laconia’s director of recreation and facilities, said he doesn't have an estimate for when water will be restored.

The field at 15 Eastman Road had previously depended on a water tower that is part of the former Laconia State School campus. A water main serving that tower failed in late April.

Rather than make expensive repairs, the state, which is under no obligation to provide water to the city's field, opted to serve its facilities by tying into a water main on Route 106. That roadway is close to the state's property but a good distance from the ball field.

The city's solution was to dig two wells at a total cost of $47,000. The City Council approved the expenditure, but Laconia still needed to get the state to sign off on the plan. The state required another City Council vote, attesting that City Manager Scott Myers was authorized to sign relevant documents.

Also, there was a change in plans on the location of the wells. At first they were to be placed on state land outside the sports complex.

Myers said a decision was made to place the wells in the sports complex, as the city has greater control over that land.

Although the sports complex land is owned by the state, it has been leased to the city for 99 years at nominal cost.