I just sent the following email to the Clary Lake water level petition Service List notifying everyone of what will inevitably turn out to be Kelley’s latest useless and futile move to hamstring the Department and usurp their authority. I also spoke this morning with Kathy Howatt, the DEP staff person handling Kelley’s petition for release from dam ownership. She was unaware that Kelley filed restrictive covenants on the dam property and she didn’t sound particularly happy to be finding out about it from me- grateful to be informed, but not happy. For Kelley, time is running out.

Hi Beth:

I want to bring everyone’s attention to a recent change in the legal status of the Clary Lake dam property representing Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s latest attempt to usurp the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection. Last Monday afternoon, August 5th, Mr. Kelley recorded a Declaration of Restrictive Covenants at the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds in Book 4696, Page 59. In a nutshell: these covenants restrict the owner of the Clary Lake Dam (currently Pleasant Pond Mill LLC) and benefit the owner of the Clary Mill building (currently Aquafortis Associates LLC) such that if the dam owner allows more than 50 cubic feet of water per second to pass through and/or over Clary Lake dam they can be sued by the owner of the mill building for damages, legal fees, etc. These covenants run with the land.

I trust these restrictive covenants will not interfere with the pending placement of a Department water level order on the Clary Lake dam but they do create an untenable situation for the dam owner, and warrant careful reading. Clearly they have compromised plans other parties have been making to take over ownership of the dam but this may turn out to be a more significant development regarding Mr. Kelley’s petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance. Mr. Kelley has managed to impair his own dam property to such an extent as to make it effectively no longer merchantable. This clearly was Mr. Kelley’s intention though to what end remains a mystery.

I have attached a copy of the recorded document. Attested copies are available from the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds for a small fee.

Respectfully,

George-
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George Fergusson <gsfergusson@gmail.com>
Petition Spokesperson
Clary Lake Water Level Petition
Whitefield, Maine 207-549-5991
“Dulcius ex asperis”

I can’t help but think that Kelley would have wanted to keep these covenants a secret for a while. Too bad for him they were brought to my attention less than 2 days after they were filed. Kelley is going to come to regret the day he filed those covenants; perhaps he already does; whatever he expected to accomplish with them is not going to pan out. Kelley is going to own the Clary Lake dam for a long, long time.