At their 21 May 2013 Special Town Meeting, Jefferson voters predictably voted not to accept ownership of the Clary Lake dam. Selectman Jim Hilton made a motion right off not to accept ownership of the dam, which was quickly seconded. He gave his reasons- basically that the Selectmen feel that the Clary Lake Association is the proper entity to own the dam and the town isn’t at all interested in being responsible for dam repairs and maintenance, and they don’t want DEP telling them they have to spend money. He also cited the letter they received today to the effect that Kelley’s petition is “deficient” and the town just doesn’t want to have anything to do with Kelley or the dam.

A number of Jefferson residents spoke up not so much in favor of the town owning the dam but to take an active interest in the proceedings and be supportive of the Association’s efforts to resolve this situation. Trudi Hodgkins specifically mentioned her support of a 3-way arrangement with the 2 towns and the Association. A Ms. Bond (didn’t get her first name) said she just wants a water level order on the lake! She said she was over at the boat launch and found it unusable. Ellis Percy spoke eloquently about the Association’s desire to own the dam and encouraged the town to “stay on board” with us.

Butch Duncan said he owns 3000′ of shore front mostly in Whitefield and spoke about how he likes the water low and that the dam should be removed.

As expected, the vote to not accept ownership of the dam was almost but not quite unanimous. The meeting was well attended. Paul Kelley was there. He didn’t say anything and wasn’t asked to speak.