Tomorrow is the deadline for Paul Kelley to resubmit his revised Water Level Management Plan, originally submitted on May 2nd and found by the Department at that time to be “unsatisfactory” (see 03 June 2014: DEP responds to Paul Kelley’s Water Level Management Plan). However, Beth Callahan is currently on vacation and won’t return to work until July 11th so official Department review of the document probably won’t start until she returns. Nonetheless I expect to obtain a copy of whatever Kelley submits before then, perhaps tomorrow afternoon or more likely, given the upcoming long holiday weekend, first thing next week. When I get a copy, I’ll post it here.

It remains to be seen if what Kelley submits will be an improvement on the original water level management plan. I have my doubts since all he’s done so far is to thumb his nose at the DEP: why should I expect him start acting responsibly now? In just a little over 3 weeks on July 27th he has to resubmit his Water Level Survey (which was also deemed “unsatisfactory”) and then by August 1st he is supposed to have completed repairs to the dam, and installed a water level gauge. Mr. Kelley is going to have a busy summer.

Jay Clement of the Army Corps of Engineers has (wisely) cancelled tomorrow’s inter-agency, pre-application meeting with Pleasant Pond Mill LLC because he believes it is “premature” and a “non-starter” given that Mr. Kelley has so many “unresolved issues” with the DEP, not the least of which is pending litigation. This meeting was to be attended by agency representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Maine Historic Preservation Commission (MHPC), the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Adminitration (NOAA), the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (DACF), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Also planning to attend were Whitefield Select Board members Tony Marple and Sue McKeen and Assistant Attorney General Thom Harnett. That the meeting was cancelled does not surprise me. What surprises me is that they waited until the last minute to do it 🙂 I can’t imagine a more egregious waste of time, money, and resources than to have all these knowledgeable and important people sit in a room listening to Paul Kelley complain about how the DEP has done him wrong. Clearly, Paul Kelley isn’t going to get any help from the Army Corps of Engineers: Continue reading →

The second requirement of the Clary Lake Water Level Order is that the dam owner hire a Professional Land Surveyor to determine the “Historical Normal High Water Line of Clary Lake” and submit the results of that survey to the Department no later than the end of business, June 2nd. Just a bit ago I obtained a copy of what Mr. Kelley submitted yesterday afternoon and about all I can say is that he met the deadline to submit something. As for what he submitted, well not so much. He didn’t even pretend to try and comply with the WLO requirement. DEP must be getting really tired of this:

• PPM 02 June 2014 response to second WLO requirement

I’ll have some comments later.

The second deadline contained in the Clary Lake Water Level Order has arrived. Mr. Kelley is supposed to have retained the services of a Professional Land Surveyor to establish the “Historical Normal High Water Line” of Clary Lake and show that elevation on the Clary Lake Dam. Here’s the requirement from the Order:

4. The owner of the darn shall retain the services of a professional, licensed land surveyor to determine the historical normal high water line of Clary Lake. This line shall be surveyed and determined by using a baseline point such as visible Water stain markings, the MDIFW Route 215 boat launch, the Duncan Road boat launch, or the upstream face of the dam. Other points may be found in 38 M.R.S. § 480-B (6) which defines the normal high water line for waterbodies. A stamped, surveyed plan denoting a clearly defined normal high water line of the lake; a stamped, surveyed plan denoting the location of the normal high water line on the dam; and a narrative consisting of the methodology and equipment used for those determinations must be submitted to the Department for review and approval no later than June 2, 2014. If the owner of the dam is unable to reasonably retain a licensed land surveyor to determine the historical normal high water line, the owner of the dam may request the assistance of the Department in establishing this line no later than May l, 2014. The Department Will consider any such Written request when and if a request is submitted by the owner’ of the dam, but only after the owner of the dam has demonstrated that it has exhausted efforts to retain the needed licensed land surveyor.

I’m not aware of Mr. Kelley having asked the Department for assistance with this survey requirement, nor am I aware of any actual surveying work having taken place though I could be mistaken. It will be interesting to see just what Mr. Kelley submits. I’ll post more information when I have it. Stay tuned!