Category Archives: Association News

Posts about Clary Lake Association stuff.

10 October 2015: Realtime access to Clary WebCam video now available

I’ve set up the Clary WebCam video feed to be accessible for remote viewing in real time over the internet. I mean, why not? If it turns out bandwidth usage is prohibitive or other problems materialize, I’ll shut it off but I seriously doubt we’ll have a problem. I can’t imagine too many people will want to camp out at their computers watching video of Clary Lake on the off chance they’ll see a bird fly by, or a fish jump, but you never can tell. The current static image, updated ever 2 minutes, will still be available on the WebCam page if that’s all you’re interested in.

There are various ways to connect to the camera. Regardless of which method you use to connect, you’ll have to login to the camera with the username guest and the password 123abc. Two easy ways to connect are: Continue reading →

29 September 2015: Clary Lake Association sends letter of appreciation to Whitefield Select Board

CLA President and meeting moderator Malcolm Burson sits between State Representative Deb Sanderson and State Senator Christopher Johnson near the end of the August 26th meeting of Clary Lake shore owners and town of Whitefield representatives. Photograph by George Fergusson 26 August 2015

Clary Lake Association President Malcolm Burson, on behalf of the entire Association membership, has sent a short but sweet letter to the Whitefield Select Board thanking them for their recent letter to the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection. The Select Board’s letter did more than just voice support for the letter jointly written by Representative Deb Sanderson and Senator Christopher Johnson, they went on to describe in no uncertain terms the reasons for their concerns over the Clary Lake water level crisis, their dissatisfaction with the State’s failure to take enforcement action, and their hope that the State do everything they can to speed the process along. The Town of Whitefield Select Board which has always been supportive of the Clary Lake Association has now added their voice to the growing chorus of voices calling for a rapid resolution to this crisis:

CLA President’s Letter to Whitefield Board 09-28-2015

The Town of Jefferson has every bit as much at stake as Whitefield, and more, and we’re sincerely hoping their Select Board will take similar action soon.

11 September 2015: Representative Sanderson, Senator Johnson send letter to DEP

State Representative Deb Sanderson contemplating the Clary Lake dam during a site visit on August 10th. Photograph by George Fergusson 10 August 2015

As they promised at the town hall meeting held back on August 27th, Representative Deb Sanderson (R) and Senator Christopher Johnson (D), in an outstanding show of bi-partisan cooperation, have jointly drafted a letter which was sent earlier this week to the Department of Environmental Protection’s current Acting Commissioner, Avery Day. The letter, which included an 11 page attachment of captioned photographs and water level charts illustrating the low water conditions around Clary Lake, was also sent to Deputy DEP Commissioner Heather Parent, Attorney General Janet T. Mills, Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak, IF&W Commissioner Chandler Woodcock, and the Lincoln County Commissioners.

Representative Sanderson asked that the letter and attachments be embargoed and not be released to the general public until today. Later this morning I’ll be emailing digital copies of the letter and attachments to the towns of Whitefield and Jefferson, the Lincoln County News, the Kennebec Journal, and a number of other interested parties. They’re also being posted here.

I think the letter is outstanding and I have no doubt that being jointly written and signed by a Republican Representative and a Democratic Senator, this letter will raise eyebrows in Augusta and will be taken very seriously. Such bi-partisan cooperation by two legislators who normally don’t see eye to eye on much of anything is truly heartening, and I applaud them both for their willingness to put aside their ideological differences and come together on this most pressing matter. On behalf of the Clary Lake Association and the People of the State of Maine, I wish to sincerely thank Representative Sanderson and Senator Johnson for their help, regardless of the outcome of this effort.

The letter concludes with a request for “equitable relief” as opposed to enforcement action. Equitable relief is a legal term referring to a court-granted remedy and is not the same thing as enforcement.

At the town hall meeting, Sanderson and Johnson also offered to meet with Paul Kelley to discuss a possible resolution of the Clary Lake water level crisis. I understand that they planned to meet earlier this week, but I don’t know what, if anything, came of that meeting.

29 August 2015: Hanging out

Clary Lake shore owners Bob Rubin and his wife Cheryl Ayer hanging out on their dock on a nice August afternoon, kicking toes. For some reason, Bob doesn't look too happy. Neither does Cheryl. I'm pretty sure it's because of the lack of usable water front on their lake front property. Bob and Cheryl are both lawyers and Bob represented the Clary Lake Association during the water level petition proceedings. The water level when this picture was taken was -64" below the top of the dam. Photograph by George Fergusson 28 August 2015

Clary Lake shore owners Bob Rubin and his wife Cheryl Ayer hanging out on their dock on a beautiful August afternoon. For some reason, Bob doesn’t look too happy. Neither does Cheryl. I’m guessing it’s because of the lack of usable water front on their lake front property. Bob and Cheryl are both lawyers, and Bob represented the Clary Lake Association during the water level petition proceedings. Cheryl is currently a Clary Lake Association board member. The water level when this picture was taken was -64″ below the top of the dam. Photograph by George Fergusson 28 August 2015

28 August 2015: Wednesday night meeting to air grievances about Clary Lake well attended

CLA President and meeting moderator Malcolm Burson sits between State Representative Deb Sanderson and State Senator Christopher Johnson near the end of the August 26th meeting of Clary Lake shore owners and town of Whitefield officials. Photograph by George Fergusson 26 August 2015

Judging from the turnout (at least 61 people, maybe more) and the feedback (more than 31 people spoke, some of them more than once) I’d say last night’s standing-room-only meeting was a great success. The meeting, which came about as a result of discussions earlier in the month between Clary Lake Association (CLA) representatives and State Representative Deb Sanderson, was well-moderated by CLA President Malcolm Burson. In an outstanding show of solidarity, both State Representative Deb Sanderson (a Republican) and State Senator Christopher Johnson (a Democrat) ran the meeting together in a refreshing show of non-partisan cooperation. While the Clary Lake water level crisis is not a partisan issue, it was still refreshing and encouraging to see our two elected representatives completely aligned and working together towards a common goal. They will be working together to draft a letter to, and bring this matter to the attention of, the Department of Environmental Protection.

One of the main goals of the meeting had been to arrange for Clary Lake shore owners and other community members share their grievances with officials from both towns in the hopes of spurring them to take a more active role in support of the State’s defense of the water level order. To that end, Representative Sanderson had extended an invitation to both Jefferson and Whitefield officials to attend the meeting. While all 5 of Whitefield’s Select Board members were at the meeting, to everyone’s surprise, none of Jefferson’s 3 Select Board members decided to attend. This was an insult to the Jefferson residents that represented over 1/2 of the people that showed up and spoke at the meeting. Continue reading →

26 August 2015: Legislator to hear Clary Lake water level concerns at Whitefield meeting

State Representative Deb Sanderson contemplating the Clary Lake dam during a site visit on August 10th. Photograph by George Fergusson

A story about tonight’s meeting at the Whitefield Fire & Rescue building on Townhouse Road has appeared in today’s Kennebec Journal. KJ staff writer Paul Koenig interviewed Representative Deb Sanderson and several other people for the article. Representative Sanderson conducted a site visit to Clary Lake several weeks ago to view the current low water conditions. I think it is safe to say that Representative Sanderson was appalled by what she saw that day, prompting her to call tonight’s meeting to solicit input from Clary Lake shore owners and town officials from Jefferson and Whitefield.

A number of Whitefield Select Board members have indicated that they plan to attend the meeting, but the article suggests that nobody from Jefferson plans to be there. I certainly hope that is not the case: I stopped by to talk with Select Board member Robert Clark yesterday morning and he told me that the Board had discussed the meeting at their regularly scheduled Board meeting the night before and said that he would be unable to attend the meeting but that Select Board member Gregory Johnston planned be there. We will see. It would be unfortunate if no one from the Jefferson Select Board cares enough about the Clary Lake situation to bother attending the meeting.

The meeting is to be held at 6:00 PM and the public is welcome. The meeting was scheduled on relatively short notice and we’re still trying to get the word out. If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me.

Legislator to hear Clary Lake water level concerns at Whitefield meeting

The picture at upper left shows Representative Sanderson viewing the Clary Lake dam during her August 10th site visit. I’ll be posting some additional pictures from that visit shortly.

Clary Lake Sweatshirts For Sale

Somehow in the process of changing our treasurer this summer, I ended up with the (dwindling) stock of Clary Lake Sweatshirts. These are now living in a laundry basket in my back hall which was already pretty tight for space. These have been offered for sale at our Annual meetings for the last half a dozen years, for $15. I’m now offering them for sale here on the website for the same price plus $10 to cover shipping and handling for a total of $25. I’ve set up a page for the purpose with a form to fill out with name and address information which uses Paypal for payments. You can use your Paypal account or a credit card. Here’s the page: Clary Lake Sweatshirts For Sale. You’ll find a link to the page on the right sidebar of every page on the site, right under the Search box. If you want to avoid shipping charges and pick one up from me directly, give me a call.

At this time we only have left:

2 White Extra Large
6 Gray Medium
4 Gray Large

Email me for availability of a particular color/size combination before you order. Get `em while they last!

14 August 2015: Membership in the Clary Lake Association now open to the public

At the Clary Lake Association’s Annual meeting back at the beginning of August, we approved major changes to our bylaws including to the membership and voting rights definitions. The old definitions, in place since 2001, specified that to be a voting member of the Association you had to own property on Clary lake or have legal (deeded) access to it, and pay dues. This entitled you to one vote. Married? Good luck deciding which of you is going to vote! Multiple owners of the property? Sorry, still only one vote! Have you been a long-time supporter of the Association and recently gave the property to your kids? Sorry, no vote for you!

The new membership definition is in fact very much like the Association’s original (1975) bylaws language: ANYONE who supports the purpose of the Association and pays their dues can be a member, and this entitles them to vote on all matters put before the membership. Simple. One membership, one vote. Don’t own property on Clary Lake but still want to be a supporting (and voting) member of the Association? No problem! Married and you each want to be able to vote? No problem! You and your wife can both pay dues and vote. Your children want to be members too? No problem! They can each pay dues, and vote. The more the merrier!

There are 2 ways you can join the Association. You can download and print a membership form and mail it to us with your check, or you can securely sign up online using Paypal. Whatever works for you. Continue reading →

2015 Clary Lake Association annual meeting a great success

The 2015 Clary Lake Association Annual Meeting, and one of our better-attended meetings in recent years. Not sure of the exact head count but I think close 50 people showed up. The weather was perfect. That's Don Normam waving at the camera, Linda Gallion and the new treasurer-to-be Mary Gingrow-Shaw at the registration table counting money, and Butch Duncan standing next to Jeff French looking suspiciously at the camera. The meeting hadn't actually started when I took this picture. Photograph by George Fergusson 01 August 2015

The 2015 Clary Lake Association Annual Meeting, one of our better-attended meetings in recent years. Not sure of the exact head count but I think close 50 people showed up. The weather was perfect. That’s Don Normam waving at the camera, Linda Gallion and the new treasurer-to-be Mary Gingrow-Shaw at the registration table counting money, and Butch Duncan standing next to Jeff French looking suspiciously at the camera. The meeting hadn’t actually started when I took this picture. Photograph by George Fergusson 01 August 2015

The Clary Lake Association’s 2015 Annual Meeting was held on Saturday August 1st. The meeting was well attended, the attendees were engaged and attentive, our business was efficiently and satisfactorily transacted, the weather was fantastic, and the pot luck supper afterwards was outstanding. What more could we ask for? For those of you who couldn’t make it to the meeting, here’s a summary of what went down.

First off, minutes of the 2014 annual meeting and April 1st, 2015 Special Membership meeting were presented and approved, and have been posted on the website. There were also 2 main articles on the agenda to be voted on. Article 1 (with 2 questions) involved a number of changes to the Association bylaws and article 2 was a resolution to rescind a motion that had been passed at the 2013 Annual meeting. Both articles passed by wide margins with only 1 or 2 dissenting votes. The newly-revised bylaws have already been posted on the website. Of special note are the changes to the Membership and Voting rights definitions: Membership in the Association, formerly limited to Clary Lake shore property owners only, is now open to anyone who shares the goals and purpose of the Association and pays annual dues. Any member in good standing may vote on any matter brought before the Association. We believe that going forward this “inclusive” membership definition will better serve the goals and purpose of the Association and it’s members. Speaking of members, a number of people who have not been members before (or have not been members for a long time) have decided to (re)join the Association. Welcome, and thank you. Continue reading →

01 August 2015: Clary Lake Association Annual Meeting today!

I should have posted this a few days ago but better late than never: the Clary Lake Association’s Annual Meeting is today at 2:00 PM at the home of Ellis Percy and Joanne Tribby at 101 Old Madden Road in Jefferson. The weather looks like it will be hot, but dry. We have a very full agenda and would like to start on time, so if you haven’t already joined the Association or renewed your membership, please come early to avoid the rush. Also, there will be a potluck supper after the meeting so bring something to share, or just bring your appetite.

Here’s Page 1 of the agenda:

2015 Annual Meeting Agenda PAGE 1

If you have any questions feel free to call George Fergusson (549-5991) or Ellis Percy (549-7448). Hope to see you there!

21 July 2015: Lake level reaches a new high in lows

I don’t need to tell anyone that the lake level is low, that much is obvious. However the lake is now lower than anyone has seen it in more than 54 years judging from a picture taken back in the summer of 1961, and that seems like something worth telling people about. On April 21, 2012 the lake fell to a then-record low of -62.53″ but as of the other day, the lake level had fallen even lower than that, to -62.64″ below the top of the dam, where it sits now. I went over to the State boat launch with my camera to take yet another picture of how useless it is and found the water level had fallen off the end of the ramp. Continue reading →

08 July 2015: State files motion to dismiss with Lincoln County Superior Court

On Monday 06 July 2015 lawyers with the Maine office of the Attorney General on behalf of Maine DEP filed a motion to dismiss All of the Independent claims in the petition and All Claims raised by Petitioner Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM). This leaves claims raised by Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) as the only claims the State feels are worthy of the court’s time (i.e., counts I-V of the original appeal dated February 26, 2014). This motion to dismiss was made in response to the Court’s Procedural Order dated 02 June 2015 which gave the State 5 weeks to file their motion. The deadline to file was July 7th. The plaintiffs have 5 weeks to respond to the State’s motion.

While not a routine procedure, it is still relatively common for a respondent (in this case the State, representing DEP) to file a motion to dismiss part or all of a petition they feel is irrelevant, frivolous or outside the jurisdiction of the court and not worthy of appeal, especially when the plaintiff (in this case, PPM and AQF) has filed a petition that includes Heaven and Earth, including the kitchen sink. So that’s what this filing by the State is intended to do: get rid of the counts they feel are irrelevant and frivolous so the Court doesn’t waste its time on matters that aren’t relevant to the case.

Continue reading →

Summer 2015 Newsletter is in the mail

The Clary Lake Association’s Summer 2015 Newsletter is in the mail. It went out a little later than intended, we’d hoped to get it mailed towards the end of May rather than the end of June but better late than never I always say. The newsletter is sent to all Clary Lake shore owners regardless of whether they’re Association members or not. We added an extra page to this year’s newsletter to accommodate a larger than usual Clary Lake water level order update, necessary because of how much has transpired this past year. Also for the first time since I’ve been doing the newsletter that we have sold some advertising in an effort to defray production costs.

A few items that normally appear in our newsletters didn’t make it into this issue due to space constraints. These include information about the annual Maine Audubon Loon Count and a water quality update. This year’s loon count will take place on Saturday July 19th for 1/2 hour between 7:00 am and 7:30 am. Mary and Ernie Shaw will be doing the count though if the lake level doesn’t rise enough for them to launch their boat in the next few weeks they may be using my boat to do it. For up-to-date information about the water quality of Clary Lake, check out the Clary Lake Water Monitoring Data page which is updated roughly every 2 weeks during the boating season.

Summer 2015 Newsletter

The newsletter is sent to all Clary Lake shore owners, not just Association members. Our mailing list currently consists of about 140 names including some interested parties who do not own property around Clary Lake. If you’d like to be on our mailing list, send an email to info@clarylake.org and include at least your name and address and preferably also a phone number and email address.

17 June 2015: State Boat Launch unusable, still

The State boat launch with the water level 61″ below the top of the dam. The water has receded to the end of the ramp and there’s only a foot of water off the end of it, and exposed rocks 25′ out beyond it. Good luck trying to launch a boat. Photograph by George Fergusson 17 June 2015

The lake has fallen to 61″ below the top of the dam, a level we’ve seen only 3 other times in the last 4 years. As I was updating the water level chart this afternoon I noted that the level had reached the elevation of the end of the boat launch and so I decided to go over and take a picture. Even though I knew what I was going to find because I’ve seen it before, it was still surprising, and sad, seeing the ramp fully exposed like this. It was a beautiful day on Clary Lake with loads of sun and a light breeze, but there was nobody at the launch, no kids swimming, and no parked boat trailers. This was not surprising. The water level had indeed fallen to the end of the ramp; that condition and the exposed rocks beyond the end of it would no doubt discourage anyone from even trying to launch a boat here, or go swimming for that matter. The launch was designed to have a minimum of 2.3′ of water over the foot of the ramp and believe me, you need all of that to launch a boat. I’ve seen people struggle to get their boats on and off trailers when there wasn’t enough water to float them off, and I’ve done it myself. I’ve seen people pull in, survey the situation, and leave without attempting to launch their boat. And then I’ve see this.

I was talking this morning with someone at the store and the age-old question of how low can the lake fall came up. The lake level is currently at -61″ and falling about 1/4″ per day; Without rain, I think it can fall another couple of inches. You can’t get a kayak or canoe into the channel now, if you can even find it. So the lake is about bottomed out. I wrote about this back on 03 October 2014.

10 June 2015: Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Mediation Ends Without Resolution

Abigail Adams photo (click the image for the article)

There is an article about the end of mediation of the Clary Lake water level order in this week’s Lincoln County News. The article, by reporter Abigail Adams, is factual and accurate but I thought it put too much emphasis on the confusion surrounding the dissolution of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) and what effect, that will have on the Department of Environmental Protection’s enforcement of the water level order. As I understand it, despite various people speculating to the contrary, there is no reason to believe that PPM’s dissolution will have any impact at all on DEP’s ability to enforce the Order. Anthony Buxton, the PretiFlaherty attorney representing Kelley and Smith readily admits that State law allows PPM even after dissolution to serve as a petitioner in the appeal of the Department order but goes on to say that DEP’s attempting to force a dissolved company to comply with the water level order is a “metaphysical impossibility.” Time will tell. Here’s a link to the article:

Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Mediation Ends Without Resolution

Continue reading →

2015 Clary Lake Association Annual Meeting Scheduled

talking-heads-custom The Annual Meeting of the Clary Lake Association has been scheduled for Saturday August 1st, at 2:00 pm at the home of Ellis Percy and Joann Tribby. This is the same place we held the meeting last year and it worked out so well we decided to do it again this year. Their home is at 101 Old Madden Road in Jefferson. As a reminder, I’ve put a countdown timer in the sidebar right under the Weather widget showing the time remaining until the meeting. I’ve also updated the Meetings and Minutes page with the above information and will post additional material there as it becomes available.

We’ll be sending out the Summer 2015 newsletter in about a week which will include a membership form for the upcoming 2015/2016 membership year. Dues are still only $25 per year (the membership year runs from annual meeting to annual meeting) and we would encourage you to mail in your membership form prior to the annual meeting. Otherwise, please plan to show up at the meeting a half hour early to register and get settled as we have a lot of business to conduct and will want to start the meeting promptly at 2:00 pm. You’ll notice that we no longer ask for separate Summer and Winter addresses, they have been an endless source of confusion as in “the man with 2 watches will never know what time it is.” Please provide your main address where you get most of your mail and please include an email address if possible as it makes contacting you fast and easy!

Speaking of fast and easy, you can also sign up or renew your membership online using our secure Paypal subscription system. Fast. Easy.

The Clary Lake Association currently has about 67 members or about 62% of the eligible lake shore community. Now there are several ways to look at this figure. On the one hand, 62% is way more than the average participation rate for lake associations in Maine, and we should be proud and grateful that so many lake shore owners have decided to join us in our fight to protect Clary Lake. On the other hand, considering the dire circumstances facing our lake and the epic battle we’re fighting to protect and preserve it, one has to wonder why EVERY LAKE SHORE OWNER has not joined the Association! We’re facing an adversary who wishes to destroy the lake we have come to know and love, and we’re working hard to represent your interests and to protect and preserve Clary Lake for future generations. All we’re asking for is that you add your voice to ours and support us. We’d like to be able to say we represent ALL Clary Lake shore owners. Are you a member? If not, why not?

When you receive your copy of our newsletter later this summer, please consider joining the Association, and plan on coming to the Annual meeting. We need your support!

Robert Frederico Antognoni Obituary

Robert Frederico Antognoni
1925 – 2015
JEFFERSON – Robert Frederico Antognoni, 89, died peacefully at his home on Clary Lake, surrounded by his loving family on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Robert was born on Aug. 22, 1925, in Concord, Mass., to Secondo and Ersilia Fraticelli Antognoni, who had both immigrated to the United States from Fano, Italy. Continue reading…

Friends are invited to memorialize Bob and his life at Staples Funeral Home in Gardiner. Visiting hours will be 4-7 p.m., Sunday, March 8. A Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 9, at St. Denis Catholic Church, North Whitefield. A reception to commemorate his life will immediately follow the service at the St. Denis Parish Hall across the street.

04 October 2014: Who says the State boat launch is unusable?

Jack Holland called me earlier today and told me to get over to the boat launch and bring a camera. I didn’t stop to ask questions, I just dashed off. Well, the scene I encountered when I arrived there a few minutes later defied comprehension (see picture upper left). Nonplussed, I decided to just shoot first and ask questions later (you’ll find them in the new Fall 2014 gallery). I also decided to shoot a couple of videos. The first one shows them hauling the Cat loader out of the muck:

I was surprised and impressed those 2 trucks managed to drag that loader out, I’m pretty sure it weighed more than both trucks put together. Then with the loader out of the way, they were able to address the pickup truck problem:

I guess this situation would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Backing your truck into the lake to get your boat because there isn’t enough water at the end of the ramp was not a great idea, getting stuck was virtually guaranteed. Getting the Cat loader stuck was inevitable once the (bad) decision was made to drive that into the lake to pull out the truck. Then they called dad.

These kids were fortunate really, nobody injured, nothing lost but face. Oh. And a broken drive shaft. And a tow rope. They stirred up a plume of clay sediment (visible in the above video) that will take a while to settle out and they’ve left some ruts in the lake bottom that will be there for years to come, but to put things in perspective, really, the environmental impact of their silly escapade is inconsequential in comparison to that being visited on Clary Lake by the dam owner himself, and through their inaction, the Department of Environmental Protection. Kids will be kids. While it is easy to be critical of their behavior, I can remember doing some pretty stupid things myself when I was young. Nothing like this of course.

06 September 2014: New Clary Lake contour map finally available

I have finally gotten around to generating a contour map of Clary Lake using data collected by the Department of Environmental Protection during their September 2012 bathymetric survey. In addition to the high resolution image pictured at left there’s a smaller version available, and a 24″x36″ PDF which is quite large but which can be viewed or printed out at about any scale you wish. Feel free to download them, you’ll find them and the other files pertaining to the original bathymetric survey over on the Maps, Charts, and Graphs gallery. Each image has a link in the description field to the full-sized image.

The data set consists of 3,265 points with each point defining a 3-dimensional location on the face of the earth (i.e., the latitude, longitude, and water depth below the top of the dam). The depth was measured with a depth meter and each depth measurement was paired with the latitude and longitude of the point obtained via GPS receiver. The data in the form of a spread sheet was supplied to us back in April 2013 along with a colorized bathymetric map of the lake generated from the data. This map was a marked improvement over the original depth map of Clary Lake, prepared by the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife back in late 1940s, but it lacks some real utility because it doesn’t show you what the bottom of the lake actually looks like- where the hills are, where the holes are, what the depth is at any given spot. According to the original depth map, the deepest spot in Clary Lake was only 23′ whereas we now know that the deepest spot is actually 29′ below the top of the dam. Continue reading →