At the heart of the issue is a dam at the pond which no longer functions. Chatham Supervisor Jesse DeGroodt reported that a water drain in front of the damn, which is decades old, has eroded and developed cracks that now allow water to drain at the base of the pipe instead of at the top of the pipe. A major crack at the base this summer, combined with the construction of a beaver dam in the stream that feeds the pond, caused the pond to be nearly dried up except after heavy rains, when it retains water for a while before it drains down to the level of a stream.

  
This situation has given a new meaning to the firefighting term "dry hydrant." A dry hydrant in the pond had in the past provided of the Tri-Village Fire Department quick access to water in the event of a fire in the hamlet. Dry hydrants—so named because unlike street hydrants they are not connected to a water main—allow firefighters to pump water needed to fight a fire out of a water body—in this case, the pond.  Now, because the pond is essentially dry, the dry hydrant installed there no longer functions.

Addressing Ryan’s concerns, Tri-Village Fire Chief Brandon Goold told ccSCOOP that there is a backup plan in place, but it relies on a pair of ponds—one near the Powell House on County Route 13 and another near Ford Road, also on County Route 13. "Right now everyone in our fire company is under the agreement that if there should be a confirmed fire in the area, tankers will be called immediately" to pump water from those ponds and supply it to the scene. He noted, however, that this is a "big distance" to travel and relying on distant water sources is not optimal when fighting a fire.

 
Old Chatham Country Store owner Brian Albert, said the disappearing pond has been an ongoing concern for residents for "a couple of years." At one point, he said, a petition was circulated seeking town action to repair the dam.

 
DeGroodt said repairing the dam is not a fiscal possibility at this point. "Quite frankly, it comes down to finances. We have a couple of bridges that we need to replace, and we are already looking at a budget with a 29 percent tax increase," DeGroodt said. The supervisor said an engineering firm asked by the town to examine the dam before it gave way last summer had estimated repair costs to be between $600,000 and $800,000—an amount that represents at least 20 percent of the entire town budget. "My first concern has to be to take care of the roads and ensure the safety of the people driving them," he said.

 
DeGroodt noted that the issue is made complex by the fact that while the town owns the dam, the pond is privately owned and when the pond was at its "normal" levels, neighboring properties sometimes sustained water damage from flooding. "It's a real dilemma," he said.

Tomma von Haeften, the owner of the pond, said she is not in a position to make the repairs and believes the town should take responsibility. "The fire department always filled their trucks there,” she said. She thought that “would be reason enough" for the town to make the repairs, she said.

Von Haeften noted that she and others did attempt to repair the dam and drainage pipe before the problem worsened this summer, but they halted their efforts after someone placed "yellow police line tape" around the area.