From the “You can’t make this stuff up” department: In a blatant attempt to usurp the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection, Kelley has taken his efforts to confuse, complicate, and obfuscate matters to new, stunningly bizarre heights: he’s gone and imposed Restrictive Covenants on himself (and any future owner of the dam) benefiting Aquafortis Associates LLC (or any future owner of their property) such that no more than 50 cubic feet per second of water may be discharged through or over the Clary Lake dam. Ever. These covenants shall run with the land in perpetuity (that’s forever folks). Failure to comply with the terms of this declaration shall be grounds for an action against the dam owner by Aquafortis Associates LLC or their successor in interest. In other words, the owner of the Clary Mill building can now sue the owner of the Clary Lake dam if they let more than 50 cubic feet of water per second flow out of the lake. Words escape me.
The document is signed and dated July 31st 2013 and was recorded at the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds barely 2 days ago, late on Monday afternoon, the 5th of August. The whole document is 12 pages long and includes copies of the deeds of the affected properties. It is 4.2 megabytes and a real mouthful if you’re on a low bandwidth connection. The relevant parts are contained in the first 6 pages. I’ve provided links to both the full document and one with just the first 6 pages:
- Declaration of Restrictive Covenants (pages 1-12, 4.2 megs)
- Declaration of Restrictive Covenants (pages 1-6 only, 2.0 megs)
For now I just want to get this posted. You can bet I’ll have more to say about it when I’ve had a chance to mull this over. For now, I’m speechless.
One comment about this from a friend of mine who is a lawyer: “Oh, for christ’s sake, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.” Another friend of mine (who also happens to be a lawyer) couldn’t stop laughing long enough to tell me what they really thought. There are however deeply troubling aspects to this latest development despite the obvious humorous implications of Kelley filing restrictive covenants on himself.
Just been reading the covenants more closely:
If any of the covenants, restrictions or other provisions of this Declaration shall be unlawful, void or voidable because of the Rule against Perpetuíties, then such provision or provisions shall continue only until twenty-one (21) years after the death ofthe last survivor of the now living descendants of Elizabeth II, Queen of England.
Huh?