CANTON — Selectmen on Thursday accepted Fire Chief Sherman Bradeen’s letter of resignation and appointed volunteer firefighter Jason Vaughan to replace him.

Bradeen wrote that he and his family are moving to Carthage so he would not be able to give 100 percent of his time or dedication to the town or Fire Department. He said he has had a “successful two-and-a-half years as chief” and thanked townspeople, selectmen and firefighters for their support and a “great experience.”

The board heard a proposal from Cindy Wardwell and Carl Witas to purchase lots in the town’s Village Ridge development, create a subdivision, add homes and sell them.

The development off Edmunds Road was established about 10 years ago to replace homes lost when the village flooded in 2003.

Selectmen told Wardwell and Witas that they would provide them with subdivision maps and an estimated purchase price at their second meeting in April.

The town owes $38,000 for the property, Selectman Don Hutchins said.

In other business, selectmen approved the use of the Community Garden field on Route 140 for a charity event June 24. Pat White of Canton, a member of United Bikers of Maine, said all proceeds would be donated to Dew Haven zoo and animal rescue farm in Mount Vernon.

“We’re kind of trying to mix the car community with the bike community,” White said. “We take none of the money, every penny that we earn goes to whatever the charity is. We even try to go out and get donations for prizes and 50-50s.”

The board also heard from Lake Anasagunticook Association member William Atwater about the health of the nearly 2-mile-long lake that straddles the Canton-Hartford line.

“The long-term trend is up for temperature of the lake, which is not a good trend to have, but for the last seven years the trend may be down a little bit, which is good. So we’re going to call the lake stable and healthy with those numbers,” Atwater said.

The clarity of the water has been declining since 1999, he said, “but not too much. We are above average for clarity on Maine lakes.”

Among the conditions Atwater said are being monitored are:

• Invasive Chinese mystery snails. “We’re monitoring them. Usually on the Fourth of July weekend we have a snail-gathering event for the kids on Canton beach,” he said.

• Invasive plants. “We found 23 different aquatic plants. All should be found in Maine, and we found no invasives at all,” Atwater said.

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net

Jason Vaughan attends the Canton Board of Selectmen meeting Thursday night when he was appointed fire chief. The volunteer firefighter succeeds Sherman Bradeen who resigned because he’s moving to Carthage. (Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times)