With the rate at which the lake has been falling lately, it’s a wonderful thing when the downward trend reverses, even temporarily, as it did this morning. Last night’s thunderstorm dropped 0.95″ of rain in a few short hours- a real splasher. This morning the lake had risen 0.07′ (0.84″) since yesterday morning even while it fell 1.2″ in the same period. If we’re lucky runoff will allow this water level to hold for one more day. A good soaking rain is forecast for the end of this week. Is it too much to ask Paul Kelley to close the dam gate to try and keep the water level at a reasonable level for the summer?
I’ve been re-reading the 198 pages of hearing testimony from last August’s public hearing in preparation for diving into my Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law which are due in a little under 2 weeks. I had started work on them when the transcript was first released late last September and I got some ways in to it before the PPM motion to dismiss brought everything to a sudden halt but there’s still a lot to do to finish. Ms. Parent’s denying my motion to supplement the record with additional material has actually made my job easier, and I’m grateful; considering what has got to get done by July 8th, easier is better and I can do plenty of damage with what’s already in the record.
The outcome of these proceedings is certain and there is nothing Kelley can do to delay things further. Once our closing arguments are in, DEP will begin deliberating. If they are sufficiently motivated, and I have a feeling they are, they could wrap things up in a month’s time and draft a water level order well before the end of August.
Presiding Officer Heather Parent has issued the Department’s Procedural Order #7. It was sent to the service list (along with an updated service list) by Beth Callahan a little before 4 PM today. First and foremost, the order addresses the recent Clary Lake Association motion filed by Robert Rubin, Association Counsel, calling for a prompt final date for closing arguments:
A short and sweet article in this week’s Lincoln County News by Shlomit Auciello about the Clary Lake Association’s short and sweet motion to set a deadline for submission of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. 
The Summer 2013 issue of the Clary Lake Clarion, the newsletter of the Clary Lake Association, is going in the mail tomorrow morning. As usual it’s being mailed to all Clary Lake shore owners as well as a number of other interested parties. I’m a firm believer that every organization, no matter how well represented digitally, really needs to put out something tangible once in a while to stay firmly in touch with their membership. The plan has been to prepare 2 newsletters per year but in for the past few years it’s been all I could do to get one out in time for the Annual Meeting. And so it is again this year.
Tony Fletcher, State Dam Inspector did in fact inspect the Clary Lake dam last Tuesday morning as 
The Whitefield informant network is alive and well- little can transpire in the town of Whitefield that isn’t observed by at least one person who spends at least part of the day hanging out at the Whitefield Superette, drinking coffee and holding office. According to several reports, there was a gathering of folks at the dam for a couple of hours yesterday morning, from about 9 AM to a little after 11 AM. Paul Kelley and Richard Smith were there, and one or more people “from the state” judging from their description. They were reportedly standing on the road and pointing at the dam when observed by one passerby.
Many of you have no doubt seen the recent articles in the Newpapers (Portland Press Herald, KJ, etc.) about DEP’s alleged “speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil” approach to environmental regulation these days as in “looking the other way”, “sitting on their hands and doing nothing”, and generally “dragging their feet” on various issues. The allegations mostly involve land use and chemical industry issues with Big Money behind them. The highlight of the first article is how DEP failed to meet a deadline for submission of documents related to water levels associated with a hydropower licensing action on Long Falls dam on Flagstaff Lake, to the decided detriment of the town of Eustis. DEP claims it was an oversight. Here’s part 1 and 2 of a 3 part series:
The water level chart update mechanism is broken. I’d hoped to get it fixed over the weekend but I guess I have to write a new script and I really don’t have the time right now. Sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll fix it when I get a chance. In the meantime, if you want to know what the water level of the lake is, go out and take a look!
Robert J. Rubin, counsel for the Clary Lake Association has filed a motion with the Department of Environmental Protection requesting the Hearing Officer set a “prompt final date for submission of the proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law of the Public Hearing from August 17, 2012.” The Association feels that these petition proceedings have gone on entirely too long and it’s time for some substantive action on the part of the Department. It is hoped this short and sweet motion will spur the Department to move quickly and decisively in the right direction on this matter.
Paul Kelley has submitted a revised response to Procedural Order #6 along with a typically confusing, profusely-footnoted cover letter explaining what the error was in the original copy. Rather than stopping there however, which would have been fine, he continues on in excruciating detail to explain WHY the error occurred and he has the gall to rest the blame with the Presiding Officer herself, for making him do it:
After having his request for an extension denied, I expected Paul Kelley to take things to another level but I did not expect him to lash out with an angry, hate-filled, indiscriminate attack against anyone and everyone. Nobody is above ridicule or scorn. Clearly, Kelley is losing this battle and he knows it, and this latest tirade is proof of that. For those of you who haven’t figured out what his response was all about, he’s appealing the Presiding Officer’s decision denying him an extension to the DEP Commissioner. That intent was contained in the last cryptic sentence on the very last page (the reference to 06-096 Chapter 3 refers to the Department of Environmental Protection’s rules concerning the conduct of licensing hearings, with section 4(D) being ruling appeals). The rest of the document is Kelley going postal: pure and simple spiteful vitriol or as the saying goes, “shock and awe”. That’s sure going to go over well with the Department. Not.
At 4:50 PM this afternoon (did I call that or what!) Paul Kelley posted his response to… Procedural Order 6? I thought today was the deadline for comments on documents released as an addendum to Procedural Order 5. Oh well. What do I know. I’m sure it will all make sense when I read it. Without further adieu:
I have submitted Petitioner’s comments on the Maine Emergency Management Agency material, with time to spare. If Kelley stays true to form, he’ll be posting his comments about 4:50 PM. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t planned on responding to the MEMA comments because… well, what is there to say? Nonetheless since Kelly is making such a big deal out of this, I thought I should say something:
Today is the deadline for submission of comments on the material distributed as an addendum to Procedural Order 5 back on 9 April. Comments were originally due on 9 May but on 7 May, DEP granted Paul Kelley a 30 day extension. Kelley requested another 30+ day extension late last week. That request was denied.