Category Archives: Association News

Posts about Clary Lake Association stuff.

05 June 2016: Spring/Summer 2016 CLA Newsletter Is In The Mail!

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Immature Bald Eagle

Well, almost. It will go in the mail tomorrow morning. The picture at left is this edition’s highlighted photograph appearing on the front page. It is a picture of an immature Bald Eagle that I spied sitting on a branch outside my bedroom window early one morning this past spring. The picture was the inspiration for a poem my wife wrote which is included on the back of the last page of this year’s newsletter. There wasn’t room to explain all this in the newsletter so I’m doing it here. You’ll find the usual Annual Meeting notice, President’s Message, and various committee updates. We’ve also included 3 small and hopefully unobtrusive advertisements (the same 3 as last year) which you’ll be happy to know completely covered the cost of postage of this edition. Please patronize your local businesses!

Continue reading →

2016 Clary Lake Association Annual Meeting Scheduled

This year’s Annual meeting of the Clary Lake Association will be on Saturday, August 6th at 2:00 PM at the home of Erin Grimshaw and Christina Bishop (and their three sons) located at 739 Gardiner Road (aka Route 126) in Jefferson. Their home is located about 1/3 of a mile west of (towards Whitefield) the intersection of Route 126 and 215. Most of you will know the place: this is the house at the lower end of the old MacDonald hay field overlooking Clary Lake (picture, below left), and at the end of a looooong driveway. Andy Goss built it a few years ago; Erin and Christina have owned it since 2013. Here’s a Google Map showing the location. If you need help finding the place call 207-549-5991 for directions. The rain date, on the off chance it is raining on Saturday, is the same time, same place, next day. I can’t remember the last time the Annual meeting was rained out. I don’t know if it’s ever happened.

DSC_0502 (Custom)As usual, there will be a pot luck supper at the conclusion of the meeting so bring your favorite casserole, salad, desert, bread, dip, road kill, or what have you and plan to stay awhile and socialize.

We’ll be sending out the 2016 Spring/Summer Newsletter in a couple of weeks or thereabouts, and will include some additional information about the Annual meeting and what to expect. Included in the newsletter will be a membership form for the upcoming 2016/2017 membership year. Dues are still only $25 per year and the membership year runs from annual meeting to annual meeting, therefore in order to be able to participate in this meeting, you have to be a paid-up member for the coming year.  We encourage you to mail in your membership form prior to the annual meeting. A lot of you like to renew your membership at the meeting, and that is fine too but we ask that you come a 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. The registration table will be setup by 1:00 pm. Continue reading →

15 March 2016: The Story of a Performing Arts Community on Clary Lake

The Whitefield Historical Society and the Jefferson Historical Society are putting on a program this coming Sunday, March 20th at the Whitefield Townhouse on Townhouse Road in Whitefield. Below is the cover illustration of the Whitefield Historical Society’s latest newsletter.

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A performing arts community settled at the eastern end of Clary Lake beginning in the early 1900s. Clockwise from 12 o’clock: Ann Ward; Lucy Lee, a reader; Percy Hunt, baritone, and his wife, Katherine Ridgeway, a reader performed together on the Redpath Lyceum circuit; France King Ward, Crawford Peffer and his wife, Ella Harding, soprano; F. Morse Wemple and George Fergusson, baritones, who taught voice with Percy Hunt at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Peffer owned the New York and New England Redpath Lyceum and Chatauqua Circuits. Katherine Ridgeway and Ella Peffer went on to establish the Katherine Ridgeway Camp for Girls on the northern side of the lake. Descendants and people who knew them are encouraged to come and share their memories

George Fergusson, pictured above at 11 o’clock was my grandfather. He came to Maine and bought our property on Clary Lake in 1922. I well remember from my childhood days visiting with Percy Hunt and his sister Lucy Lee who lived across the road from the Highland Cemetery in a house now owned by Fasano, the Ward Sisters whose house and property on North Forty Lane is now owned by the Relyea family, and Morse Wemple whose property at the east end of Clary Lake was owned for many years by the Stickney family and is now owned by Glenn Bruce MacDonald. I never knew the Peffer family but understand their property was located just north of the Wemple property. The Robbins property on Clary Lake is part of the old Peffer place. They probably owned that nice red cape out in the field just up the hill from the Wemple place.

My sister and I have worked closely with Marie Sacks this past year to help her collect the information and materials she’ll be using in her presentation. I’m really looking forward to this!

25 February 2016: Webcam Update

campic2-2-25-16Foscam has said they’ll send me a replacement F19803P camera to replace the one that died and I hope to get ClaryCam1 back up and running within the week. Some  of you will have noticed that ClaryCam2 was offline from about 10 PM last night until around 3 PM this afternoon. Turns out the 12 volt power supply died, I gave David my old one. Also the IP address changed so we had to bring the camera inside for a while to get it reconfigured.

Those of you who have been connecting to the ClaryCams in real time and found them b0rken will find ClaryCam2 is now accessible at the old address. Will be adding a different, hopefully more reliable DDNS service later this spring.

10 February 2016: ClaryCam1 Out of Order

Schedule_20160108-115600ClaryCam1 stopped working yesterday morning. It remained online but was uploading it’s pictures to a non-existent directory… I rebooted it yesterday afternoon but it did not come back to life and is now unresponsive. This afternoon I’ll bring the camera inside, plug a network cable into it, and see if I can figure out what’s wrong with it.

The Clary Lake webcams are a pretty popular feature with website visitors and get a lot of traffic. I bought this particular camera last fall, it cost about $90 and was paid for with a donation from a Clary Lake Association member who wishes to remain anonymous. If I can’t get this camera working again, I’ll start saving up to buy a new one. Stay tuned.

06 February 2016: Maine Lakes Society Issues Alert on LD 1566

I received the following email from the Maine Lakes Society regarding the upcoming 10 February 2016 public hearing on LD 1566 “An Act Concerning the Establishment of Water Levels.” The Clary Lake Association will be testifying in opposition to the bill at the public hearing. A copy of the prepared testimony will be presented here at a later date.

Many impounded Lakes Will Be Affected by the Outcome of LD 1566 to be Heard this Wednesday before the Environment and Natural Resources Committee
Maine Lakes Society
Fluctuating lake water levels affect a host of stakeholders.
Water Level Bill Raises Concern
Water level issues on Maine’s great ponds raise major concerns for a long list of stakeholders. These include lake shorefront property owners and lake associations, state agencies, organizations and individuals concerned with maintaining navigable waterways and habitat for fishes, birds and other wildlife in and on surface and coastal waters, anglers, hunters and other recreationists, municipalities dependent upon lakefront property tax revenues to provide needed services, the Departments of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Marine Resources, and Environmental Protection which is charged with maintaining water quality standards and the designated uses of great ponds existing as of 1978 under the anti-degradation clause of the Clean Water Act, as well as all Maine citizens – to whom these waters belong.
 
LD 1566, An Act Concerning the Establishment of Water Levels, seeks to change Maine’s existing water level law by requiring 3rd party mediation before the Maine Department of Environmental Protection MEDEP) holds the required adjudicatory hearing to settle such water level disputes.  LD 1566 also introduces a new and substantial cost for such a hearing of up to $20,000. 
 
We oppose LD 1566 because the high cost of mediation and newly monetized adjudicatory process effectively cancel the right of citizens to petition the state for redress of environmental harm. The current, entirely satisfactory, law assures the constitutional right of citizens to equal protection under the law because it requires MEDEP Commissioner  to hold adjudicatory hearings when petitioners seek redress of environmental harm, and it should not be altered to lessen those rights. LD 1566 effectively removes those rights by imposing such a high cost barrier as to nullify citizens’ ability to exercise them.  This will negatively impact the voluntary grassroots lake associations dedicated to protecting lake water quality, wildlife habitat, and the social, economic and recreational benefits of Maine’s great ponds.
 
LD 1566 will be heard by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee on February 10 in Room 216 of the Cross Office Building, Augusta.  If water levels concern you, if you don’t want the water level law changed, if you wish to protect citizens’ rights to petition the state for redress of environmental harm, please write to the Environment and Natural Resources Committee via the Clerk of the Committee or testify in person.  You can also follow the hearing live on Wednesday Morning.
Maine Lakes Society Reports on Lake Policy and Issues
This is the first of several 2016 legislative reports from the Maine Lakes Society.  Check here to see other issues we are following this winter and to share this service with friends, neighbors and colleagues
Maine Lakes Society| info@mainelakessociety.org 

03 February 2016 Lincoln County News: Result of Clary Lake Dam Auction Unknown

Jefferson resident and Clary Lake waterfront owner Butch Duncan submitted the only bid at the auction for the Clary Lake Dam Jan. 29. (Abigail Adams photo)

There is a fascinating article in this week’s Lincoln County News by staff reporter Abigail Adams about the recent foreclosure and auction of the Clary Lake dam. I’ve read it several times and keep finding new things to ponder.

The big question of course, namely who is the new owner of the Clary Lake dam, remains unanswered. The article states that auctioneer Greg Dorr had indicated that the property would be awarded on Monday, February 1st. However, as of press time, neither Butch Duncan or Paul Kelley had been informed of the result of the auction and we’re left guessing as to who now owns the dam. The auctioneer was supposed to drop the bids off at the Yarmouth office of Medius L3C but it appears they never got there. What happened to Butch Duncan’s bid?

Having been involved with numerous real estate transactions and more than just a few foreclosure/auctions over the years in my role as a Professional Maine Land Surveyor, I can safely say that this situation is rather unusual.

Anyways, enjoy the article:

01 February 2016: About that Dam Auction

“Dog and Pony Show” is a colloquial term which has come to mean a highly promoted, often over-staged performance, presentation, or event designed to sway or convince opinion for political or commercial ends.

The anticipated foreclosure and auction of the Clary Lake dam took place Friday morning at 11 AM on the steps of the Lincoln County Court House in Wiscasset. The auctioneer was a man named Gregg Dorr who introduced himself as a retired attorney from Camden, hired by Medius L3C for the sole purpose of running this event. When questioned, he said his only contact at Medius L3C was with a “managing partner” of the company by the name of Matthew Staples, from Vermont. When questioned about the new Medius L3C Registered Agent, he explained the change in Registered Agent from Ms. Merritt Carey to a Commercial Registered Agent from Readfield was due to a serious heart condition requiring that she give up the job immediately. If you’re interested, here is the Change of Registered Agent Form from the Secretary of State’s website. Continue reading →

31 January 2016: Clary Lake Shore Owners Rubin & Ayer File Suit in Superior Court

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Bob Rubin and Cheryl Ayer sitting on their dock. Photograph by George Fergusson, 28 August 2015

[dropcap]In[/dropcap] yesterday’s Central Maine Papers article about the Clary Lake dam auction, reporter Jessica Lowell attempted to convey a sense of the frenetic, escalating pace of recent events surrounding the Clary Lake water level crisis by listing some of what just took place in January. One item that should have grabbed your attention was the statement regarding Clary Lake shore owners Robert Rubin and Cheryl Ayer, husband and wife lawyers, who have filed suit against Paul Kelley and Richard Smith in Lincoln County Superior Court. They are seeking damages for harm done to their Clary Lake front property as the result of low water conditions that have severely impacted the use and enjoyment of their property. The picture at left, taken by me last August, shows Bob and Cheryl sitting on their dock 6′ above bare rocks. That is as close as I could approach in my boat.

Continue reading →

20 January 2016: Clary Lake Association withdraws from settlement discussions

As many of you know, the Clary Lake Association has been in settlement discussions with Paul Kelley to buy the Clary Lake dam for some time now in the hopes that we could end this lake level crisis that is now heading into its 5th year. At the same time we have also been negotiating to purchase the Clary Mill property, either separately or as a “package” which property is owned by Richard Smith of Aquafortis Associates LLC. It’s not that we want to own the Mill (we don’t), we’re only interested in the dam but the properties are so entangled that it is virtually impossible to peacefully purchase and own just the dam without owning, at least briefly, the mill property as well. This is because of the restrictive covenants placed on the properties in 2013 and the red building (with its attendant easements and maintenance issues) on top of the dam, which building happens to belong to Aquafortis Associates.

These and other factors together have horribly complicated what in theory should have been a simple real estate negotiation. Whether by accident or design, the Clary Lake dam has become so hard to purchase and unattractive to own that on the advice of town counsel, the Whitefield Select Board has voted TWICE to waive foreclosure of the dam for unpaid back taxes because of concerns over “legal entanglements.” The first vote was at a Special Select Board meeting on March 24, 2015, and the second just two weeks ago at their regularly scheduled Select Board meeting on January 5, 2016. Back taxes for 2014 and 2015 totaling just $398.87 remain unpaid. Continue reading →

01 December 2015: November 2015 Water Level Chart Archived

11 waterlevelchart_November2015I’ve archived the November 2015 water level chart (at left). It is rather unremarkable, I suppose. The dam’s gate remains about 90% closed, or thereabouts. While we received enough rain during the month (2.66″) to bring the lake level up a total of 10.8″ it still fell 3.00″ (at the rate of about 1/4″ per day) over the course of the month because more water than required to supply the minimum flows is being released from the lake (see: Minimum Flows Explained). The net result was that the lake started out the month at 45.60″ below the top of the dam and ended up only 7.8″ higher, at -38.52″ below the top of the dam. While this is an improvement over the abysmal lake level we suffered with all summer, it is still way too low: the lake is currently almost a foot and a half lower than it really should be this time of year, going into freeze up.

DSC_0568DSC_0567And that’s a pretty important foot and a half of water that is still missing, as the pictures at left will show. I took these yesterday. While the channel is now full and the water has overflowed the channel banks some, most of the 300 acres of wetland at the outlet end of Clary Lake is still high and dry.

The only good news to report I suppose is that after a very dry summer and fall, the runoff multiplier is back to something approaching normal (4X) indicating that ground water supplies have been largely replenished from recent rains. That said, we haven’t fully caught up yet. With only 32″ of precipitation to date, we’re still about 7″ below normal and I doubt in the next month we’ll reach the annual average of 44″ for our area.

17 November 2015: New Clary WebCam added to the site

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Clary_Cam2

We now have a second web camera on Clary Lake! David Hodsdon decided he wanted to set up a web camera on his own shoreline so he bought one and today we got it hooked up and running. It’s identical to mine which made the back-end setup a breeze. The new camera is designated Clary Cam 2 (the original is Clary Cam 1) and it is attached to a tree on the shore about 150′ east of Hodsdon’s Point and it is looking directly towards the State boat launch which bears just about exactly East South East (114° True) from the camera. This means it will be capturing sunrises in the fall and spring as well as the occasional moon rise. Like the original camera, this one uploads a picture to the website every 2 minutes  from 4:00 AM until 9:58 PM every day and 7 days worth of images are stored in an archive that you can peruse with a browser.

I’ve made a new Clary Lake WebCams page that shows both current camera images side by side. You’ll find the page listed under the Pictures navigation menu heading. You can click on the pictures for full sized versions, or you can click on the Camera link at the top of each image and go to that camera’s own page.

Both cameras allow people to login to them to view remote, real-time video. See the individual Camera pages for Clary Cam 1 or Clary Cam 2 for instructions.

13 October 2015: DEP takes enforcement action, issues a Notice of Violation

At long last, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has taken decisive action by issuing a Notice of Violation (EIS #2015-006-L) to  Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM, as the record owner of the Clary Lake dam), Paul A. Kelley, Jr., as former manager and sole member of PPM, Aquafortis Associates, LLC (AQF, as an entity asserting flowage rights), and Richard L. Smith, as manager and sole member of AQF. The Notice of Violation (NOV), issued on September 28, 2015, alleges that each day since at least October 1, 2014 constitutes a violation of the Water Level Order (WLO) and a separate offense. In addition to the NOV, the Department “retains its right to enforce its water level order by any other appropriate remedy, including, but not limited to, entering the dam premises to carry out the terms of the water level order.”  Continue reading →

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

campicI’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

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:

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

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 representatives. Photograph by George Fergusson 26 August 2015

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.

IMG_20150826_180147One 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 →