GREENE – The Allen Pond Improvement Association has told the town that it’s abandoning the pond’s dam.

The group will hold a hearing on the abandonment later this month, as required by the state. A state report released last month confirmed that the dam is leaking and at risk of a blowout.

Rather than take on the repair work, the nonprofit pond association sought a way to take the financial costs and liability responsibilities off its shoulders. Only about 30 of the 200 lakeside property owners are members of the pond association, according to Allen Pond landowner David Casavant.

If the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife or the state Department of Environmental Protection decline a request that they maintain the dam, the state could breach the barrier. Removal of the dam would cause the pond level to drop by between 3 and 4 feet, but it would still be pond-like, Selectman Kevin Mower said.

“People would have more beach, that’s for sure,” he added. He said property values around the lake would probably fall as well.

A public hearing slated for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the fire station was originally scheduled as an informational meeting. However, Town Manager Charlie Noonan said this week that the pond association now intends to use the session to fulfill its requirement to hold a public hearing so it can petition the state to abandon the dam.

The state report issued in July said the 10-foot-wide dam is consistently leaking. The dam’s stonework with a patchwork of concrete fill has developed cracks.

The pond association owns the dam.

The town can’t spend money on it or accept it as a gift without voter approval at a town meeting, selectmen have said.