Paul Kelley has just submitted a motion to the Service List requesting an additional 30 day extension for to the current comment period for party replies which ends on June 7th. This would make the new deadline July 7th. His reason for requesting this is two-fold:
- He has asked the Maine Emergency Management Agency to have State dam inspector Tony Fletcher inspect the Clary Lake dam; However Mr. Fletcher is on vacation until June 10th. MEMA staff have suggested they’ll schedule a dam inspection upon his return from vacation.
- Mr. Kelley has turned the Clary Lake Association’s request to get an engineering assessment of the dam into an opportunity to further delay these proceedings, citing ongoing negotiations with David Hodsdon. Kelley states in his letter that “Discussion of possible details of scope of work, scheduling, reporting and payment have been initiated, and a delay in these proceedings would facilitate those discussions, and a potential report.”
Pleasant Pond Mill LLC requests ANOTHER extension of June 7 comment period
Neither reason is sufficient to justify further delay of these proceedings. If the Department had wanted a dam inspection by the State Dam Inspector to be part of these proceedings, they would have ordered one.
As for his second reason Mr. Kelley is delusional if he thinks anyone in the Association including David Hodsdon will agree to further delays in the processing of this petition for any reason including “on going negotiations. Nice try Mr. Kelley. Negotiate faster, Mr. Kelley.
In his letter Mr. Kelley cites ongoing discussions with David Hodsdon. David Hodsdon is a long-time valued member of the Association but at this time he holds no elected position. He has chosen to spend his own time talking privately with Mr. Kelley on this matter to see what might be accomplished and while this is commendable, he has done so without the express authorization of the Board. Consequently, David Hodsdon does not represent the Clary Lake Association in this matter and I sincerely doubt that David will appreciate having his overture to Kelley used by him as a reason to delay these proceedings. In any case, I have also spoken to Ellis Percy, author of the original letter to Mr. Kelley requesting permission to have Kleinschmidt & Associates conduct an engineering assessment of the Clary Lake dam. To date, Mr. Kelley has not openly acknowledged receiving such as letter and Mr. Percy has received no written communication from Mr. Kelley on this matter at all. It came as a surprise to him to hear that the Clary Lake Association was engaged in negotiations with Mr. Kelley. Mr. Percy intends to officially withdraw the Clary Lake Association request in regard an engineering study.
I will of course be preparing a Petitioner’s Response to this motion for extension, strongly urging the Department deny the request.
Incidentally Beth Callahan will be will be out of the office from June 3 through June 12 and returning on June 13.
Well, at least Kelley has been jolted from his trance, and is actually beginning to talk about dam repair. Is it just more talk, though? Probably. His words are just so devoid of substance.
C
It’s just more talk Colin. The request from the Association for permission to get an engineering assessment of the dam required a “yes” or “no” answer. We’ve received neither. Kelley instead is using our request as an opportunity to manipulate the outcome. Not interested.