I received a form letter from Paul Kelley today it being notice of his intent to file a petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance. Again. Those of you who have been paying attention will recall that back on May 17th of this year Kathy Howatt of the DEP sent Paul Kelley a letter notifying him that his petition was deficient because he failed to satisfy the statutory requirements for providing public notice of his intent to file. Ms. Howatt offered him the opportunity to withdraw the petition and refile it or alternatively, he could wait until the 180 day consultation period arrived and they would dismiss it at that time. Kelley opted to proceed as if the rules just didn’t apply to him.

Kelley’s original (insufficient) notice consisted of a notice in the Kennebec Journal on April 1st (auspicious date, no?) and the petition itself was filed on April 2nd. The statute provides for a consultation period with DEP no later than 180 days from the filing of notice. The 180 day deadline was coming up towards the end of this month. This new notice of intent to file could only mean one thing: that the DEP has made good on their promise to dismiss his original petition. Did Kelley think they were bluffing?

Now the whole process gets repeated including the public meetings by the towns of Whitefield and Jefferson.

For those of you who didn’t get one, here’s a copy of Kelley’s notice:

Pleasant Pond Mill LLC Notice Of Intent To File