After having his request for an extension denied, I expected Paul Kelley to take things to another level but I did not expect him to lash out with an angry, hate-filled, indiscriminate attack against anyone and everyone. Nobody is above ridicule or scorn. Clearly, Kelley is losing this battle and he knows it, and this latest tirade is proof of that. For those of you who haven’t figured out what his response was all about, he’s appealing the Presiding Officer’s decision denying him an extension to the DEP Commissioner. That intent was contained in the last cryptic sentence on the very last page (the reference to 06-096 Chapter 3 refers to the Department of Environmental Protection’s rules concerning the conduct of licensing hearings, with section 4(D) being ruling appeals). The rest of the document is Kelley going postal: pure and simple spiteful vitriol or as the saying goes, “shock and awe”. That’s sure going to go over well with the Department. Not.
In his anger Kelly perhaps revealed a few things that a calmer, more cautious Paul Kelley would not have said. For example, I have suspected for a while now that his plan with the petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance (which he prefers to call “Clary Lake Dam abandonment proceedings”) was to try and stall the water level petition long enough to get a breach order from the State but of course he couldn’t come right out and say that because that’s not the purpose of the statute. He has to pretend he is looking for a new dam owner because to do otherwise would be to engage the State’s resources under false pretenses and make a mockery out of the system. Well he came right out and said in his response what the real deal with the petition for release from dam ownership is about, in footnote 6:
…”that the anomalies cited herein and in previous filings have largely triggered recent Clary Lake Dam abandonment proceedings by PPM – proceedings seemingly likely to lead to a formal (but superfluous) breach order by the Commissioner, which will supercede any Water Level Order which may issue from this proceeding.”
Caught in the act of playing both sides against the middle. Nice work Kelley, thanks for putting that bit on the record. DEP just loves to be played for a fool. Your chances of actually getting a breach order on the dam? Zero. Watching you try? Priceless.
I have a few other observations I’ll keep to myself for now. I have no intention at this time commenting on this response. There are several issues he’s raised (over and over and over) which will be adequately dealt with when we prepare our Findings of Fact. The DEP has their hands full for the time being. I see no sense in adding to the furor at this time.
At 4:50 PM this afternoon (did I call that or what!) Paul Kelley posted his response to… Procedural Order 6? I thought today was the deadline for comments on documents released as an addendum to Procedural Order 5. Oh well. What do I know. I’m sure it will all make sense when I read it. Without further adieu:
I have submitted Petitioner’s comments on the Maine Emergency Management Agency material, with time to spare. If Kelley stays true to form, he’ll be posting his comments about 4:50 PM. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t planned on responding to the MEMA comments because… well, what is there to say? Nonetheless since Kelly is making such a big deal out of this, I thought I should say something:
Today is the deadline for submission of comments on the material distributed as an addendum to Procedural Order 5 back on 9 April. Comments were originally due on 9 May but on 7 May, DEP granted Paul Kelley a 30 day extension. Kelley requested another 30+ day extension late last week. That request was denied.
Back on 31 May the Lincoln County News posted an article on their website by Dominik Lobkowicz about the Whitefield Public Meeting to consider and act on the issue of dam ownership. Somehow I missed it at the time. It looks like this article and an addendum by Shlomit Auciello appeared in this weeks paper. That has not appeared on line yet but I assume it will by later today. Here’s the 31 May article:
There’s an article in this weeks Lincoln County News authored by Shlomit Auciello and Dominik Lobkowicz which covers both the Whitefield Public Meeting held on last May 30th and DEP’s 04 June denial of Paul Kelley’s motion for extension to the existing comment period. The article, which does a good job of covering the details, hasn’t appeared in the online version of the paper yet. I expect it will be on the website tomorrow at which time I’ll post a link.
In a surprise move barely 30 minutes after Paul Kelley reiterated his desire for an extension, DEP issued Procedural Order #6 denying 
I have just submitted Petitioner’s response to Paul Kelley’s latest attempt to divert, delay, and stall the Clary Lake water level petition. I am of course referring to his 
Paul Koenig of the Kennebec Journal has written an article about the Whitefield public meeting last Thursday, 30 May 2013. I’m not sure what issue of the paper it appeared in but it is available online at the following link. I’ll download a PDF and post it in a while. It’s a good article. Could have used a picture. I had meant to post article sooner but I’ve been a little busy and it slipped my mind. Better late than never:
In a move that surprised no one, at the Special Town Meeting held tonight, voters voted not to authorize the Selectmen to pursue negotiations to accept ownership of the Clary Lake dam despite the fact that the article as worded did not commit any money or specific action by the town now or in the future. Had the article passed, the voters would have had another chance at some time in the future to vote on whatever proposal the Selectmen had managed to negotiate. Admittedly the article was poorly worded and there was some talk about amending the wording but no matter how it was worded, the sentiment in the room was clear: Whitefield voters want nothing to do with Paul Kelley or his dam.
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:
Not many people know about the 
This video, posted by David Chase on YouTube some years ago, shows logs being unloaded at the Clary Mill mill pond and towards the end of the video, the dam with water coming out of the center weir. Great video, but mostly I just wanted to test the ability to embed YouTube videos in posts 🙂
Another article by Paul Koenig has appeared in today’s Kennebec Journal (and presumably the Morning Sentinel and the Coastal Journal). The article is mostly about the 
The Maine Lakes Conference 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM Saturday June 22, 2012 at the Diamond Building, Colby College, in Waterville. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. The Clary Lake Association is a member of COLA so if you’re a member of the Association and would like to go you can sign up for the reduced price. Here’s a link on the Maine COLA site where you can find out more about the conference and sign up for it.
The Whitefield Selectmen have written a letter to DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho urging a speedy and proper conclusion of the Clary Lake water level petition. I got an advance copy of it which was to be approved and signed at tonight’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Whitefield Board of Selectmen (letter updated 29 May 2013):
I was in my driveway cutting wood about 11 am this morning when I happened to look up at a passing car and by golly if it wasn’t Paul Kelley, headed towards Jefferson. Only one thing would bring Paul to Whitefield on a nice day like this: to open the dam. So when I was sufficiently tired of chainsawing on my wood pile I took a drive over to the dam and sure enough, the gate was open again. I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky: the gate was closed for only 10 days and in that time the lake rose over 2 feet.