Category Archives: Association News

Posts about Clary Lake Association stuff.

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 →

18 August 2014: Clary Lake Association requests change to Service List

Almost from the beginning of the Clary Lake Water Level Petition, attorney and Clary Lake shore owner Robert Rubin has served as counsel for the Association in their role as intervenor in the petition proceedings. His advice and assistance over the past two and a half years on behalf of the Association as well as to me personally in my role as Petition Spokesperson has been invaluable and was instrumental in bringing the Clary Lake water level petition to a successful conclusion. I consider him a good friend and we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his selfless service to the Association and for his commitment to the preservation of Clary Lake.

Well, Bob has been making plans to retire for some time now, and he has finally gone and done it: he is no longer practicing law. His wife, Cheryl Ayer, a practicing attorney and recently elected Clary Lake Association Board member, has agreed to take over the role of counsel for the Association as intervenor in the Clary Lake water level petition proceedings. To that end, I have sent a letter to the Department requesting they update their Service List to reflect this change in representation.

While the petition process is behind us (thank goodness), the Service List itself has not been dismantled and is still available for information distribution to certain State agencies and other interested parties, of which there are quite a few. Departmental procedural orders regarding the Clary Lake water level order will be sent to the Service List. This update also serves to remind the Department that the Clary Lake Association is still here, waiting, and watching.

03 August 2014: Yet Another Successful Annual Association Meeting

We had a good meeting of the Clary Lake Association yesterday, reasonably well attended though I had expected a somewhat larger turnout given how much we promoted the meeting. I remain somewhat chagrined that so many Clary Lake shore owners either aren’t interested in joining the Association or just can’t be bothered. I’m also surprised that some folks actually show up for the meetings, but are still unwilling to join! What’s up with that? The Clary Lake Association is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing the natural beauty, and quality of Clary Lake and its watershed. Everyone who owns land on Clary Lake should be a member, without exception.

The membership unanimously voted to adopt the Proposed Revised Bylaws. After the work the Bylaws committee put in on them over the past year, it would have been disheartening to say the least if they had been rejected! Furthermore, we got some good feed back from the membership to guide the Bylaws committee in revising the Membership and Voting Rights language to be voted on at next year’s meeting. I’ll finalize the newly adopted bylaws and post them on the website as soon as I get a round tuit. Continue reading →

23 June 2014: Clary Lake Association Summer 2014 Newsletter is in the mail!

By now many of you will have received a copy of the Clary Lake Association’s Summer 2014 Newsletter which went in the mail last Friday. It is also archived along with a number of more recent newsletters in the Newsletter Archive. The newsletter goes out to all Clary Lake shore owners regardless of whether they’re members of the Association or not as well as a number of friends of Clary Lake. Feel free to share a copy with your friends.

12 May 2014: Date set for 2014 Annual Clary Lake Association meeting

The Clary Lake Association Board met yesterday afternoon at the home of George and Margaret Fergusson to discuss, among other things, the upcoming Annual meeting. This year’s annual Clary Lake Association meeting will be Saturday August 2nd at 2:00 PM at the home of Ellis Percy and Joann Tribby. They live in the last house at end of the Madden Road in Jefferson. The rain date will be the next day, same time same place. The big item to be voted on at this year’s meeting will be the revised bylaws. You may recall that a Bylaws Committee was formed at last year’s meeting and charged with the responsibility of reviewing and revising the Association bylaws. The last time the bylaws were revised was in 2001 so they’re long overdue for an overhaul.

The Bylaws committee members have been busy this past winter making many necessary revisions; the proposed revised bylaws will be sent out to the membership for review (along with a proxy ballot for those members who won’t be able to make it to the meeting to vote) well in advance of the Annual meeting. At this time we’re planning to send them out with the Summer 2014 newsletter on or about the 15th of June. The proposed bylaws will also be posted here, perhaps along with a totally unofficial opinion poll to give people an opportunity to comment on them.

More meeting details, a program, and proposed agenda to follow. This event has been added to the Clary Lake Association Events Calendar. Stay tuned!

08 May 2014: New Clary Lake Association page on Google+

Hi All! I have created a new Clary Lake Association page on Google+ to replace the original “Community” page. There are several reasons for doing this, the primary one being that I can’t automagically add website posts to the Community page, but I can to the new one. Otherwise, the pages look about the same. Currently website posts here are automatically posted to my personal George Fergusson Google+ page as public posts and to get them posted on the Community page requires I do it manually. Sadly, I don’t have the time or inclination to do that so there hasn’t been much happening there. Incidentally, the posting goes both ways, though not automatically: Google+ posts can be easily embedded on this site. How cool is that?

It might take a few tries to get the automatic posting working. We’ll see. Here’s the link to the new page:

https://plus.google.com/106016569430460657201/posts

Just a reminder, the Association has a Facebook page too. The Association’s Community page is going away soon. If you are among those that have posted stuff on the Community page (you know who you are) please feel free to repost it on the new page. Thanks!

05 March 2014: Clary Lake Association’s 501c3 status reinstated like it was never gone

At last, something good to report! You will recall back in July of last year it came to our attention that the Internal Revenue Service had revoked the Clary Lake Association’s 501(c)3 non-profit status somewhere back around 2007. We were never made aware of this change in status by the IRS. I first posted about this matter when it was brought to our attention by Mr. Kelley and I first wrote about it on 10 July 2013, and again when we filed our new application on 15 July 2013. Well I am pleased to announce that the IRS has approved our application for non-profit status and has officially reinstated the Clary Lake Association’s 501c3 status as of 24 February 2014 as per letter received yesterday. The letter also says that our reinstatement is retroactive to the date of revocation which means there has been no lapse in our non-profit status in the eyes of the law. While this comes as good news for us, Mr. Kelley, who has been spreading vicious rumors and haranguing the AG’s office and the IRS in an attempt to make trouble for us will no doubt be devastated when he finds out the good news. Continue reading →

29 January 2014 Lincoln County News: Water Level Order Enacted for Clary Lake

There is an article on the front page of this week’s Lincoln County News about the recently issued water level order for Clary Lake. I was interviewed at length yesterday morning by the reporter, Dominik Lobkowicz and I gather from statements in the article that he also subsequently interviewed Paul Kelley, who continues to posture and complain as if people still cared about what he thought:

Water Level Order Enacted for Clary Lake

[archived copy of article]

I have to comment on several things. First, Mr. Lobkowicz expressed surprise when I told him I thought Mr. Kelley would keep fighting this Order as long as he had the energy to do so. Surely Mr. Kelley will want to cut his losses? Well, numerous statements in the article clearly indicate that Kelley has no intention of simply “giving up” this battle even though the battle is over, and he has lost. Continue reading →

29 January 2014: Announcing the Clary Dam Project, a computer mediated discussion group

Now that the State’s Water Level Order has been issued, the dam owner faces a number of daunting tasks and a challenging time line to complete the work of bringing the dam property into compliance with the Order. The Clary Lake Association has made it publicly known that we are ready and willing to assist the dam owner in completing this work but to date they have not expressed any interest in having us help them. It also remains to be seen just how willing the Membership really is to help Mr. Kelley with his problem. Nonetheless the Clary Lake Association is confident that sooner or later we will be asked for help or even asked to take over ownership of the dam completely and feel therefore that it is in our current best interests and long term goals to start acting like the stewards of Clary Lake that we claim to be.

Complying with the Water Level Order will involve a lot of money and a daunting amount of work on the part of many people and while we may all personally relish the prospect of this work, it is daunting nonetheless. Success depends on a committed and coordinated group effort which in turn requires organization and planning. Failure is not an option. It is our belief that full adherence to the conditions specified in the Water Level Order and implementing the water level regime contained therein are crucial steps to meeting the goals of the Clary Lake Association of protecting and preserving Clary Lake, now, and into the future. To this end I have setup the Clary Dam Project. This is a collaborative, interactive, computer-mediated discussion group for the express purpose of facilitating the exchange of information and ideas between like-minded people with a common goal. Continue reading →

25 January 2014: Clary Lake Association Community set up on Google+

I have set up a Clary Lake Association Community on Google Plus. Online social networking communities provide means, methods, and opportunities for people to share and exchange information in ways that just aren’t offered by an more traditional information-distribution site such as this one. On this site, I post stuff and people can comment the posts and reply to comments, but it’s not the same thing as being involved in an online community. It has only been in existence for less than an hour and already there are 9 members and a video posted by David Chase. Go figure.

The Clary Lake Association community will also be a source of material for this site. That’s a good thing. If anyone has any questions about all this, email me or comment!