A Danvers-owned dam is unsafe and could cause death or severe property damage in the event of a failure, according to a state report issued this week.
The Curtis Pond Dam, constructed in Middleton but technically owned by the town of Danvers, is among 100 critical dams requiring immediate repairs, the state auditor's office found.
Danvers Town Manager Wayne Marquis, however, insisted the town already has a plan to fix the dam and that the area is safe.
"There's no significant risk by any stretch," Marquis said. "We've had our own assessment done. You have to see to realize it's a small waterway."
The state auditor's office claims the 90-year-old dam is in disrepair with no evidence of maintenance, and while public officials have some idea of what to do in an emergency, there is no written plan.
Some 75 percent of the 627 municipally owned dams across Massachusetts pose either a high or significant hazard, the state auditor found. But the 100 dams highlighted in the report, including the one in Danvers, have "substantial structural or flood routing deficiencies," according to the report.
Marquis said the problems are being addressed.
Town Meeting has already approved money to upgrade the dam, and the town expects to go out to bid on the project by the end of the fiscal year, he said.
Currently, the town is in the middle of performing $350,000 in repairs to the Mill Pond Dam by Sylvan Street, he said.
"It'll be done in about a month," Marquis said. "That's a higher priority. ... We've addressed the dam matters as they come up."
The Curtis Pond dam is near Peabody Street in Middleton, though Danvers bought it decades ago, believing it could be used to augment the water supply, Marquis said.
"But it can't be," Marquis said.
It was the only dam on the North Shore named in the report.
"In the meantime," Marquis said, "it's not a significant risk."
Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salemnews.com or on Twitter @ChrisCassidy_SN.
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