Category Archives: Association News

Posts about Clary Lake Association stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving 2020 from the Clary Lake Association

Everyday should be and is an opportunity to give thanks. During these difficult and unprecedented times, we can easily lose our footing in gratitude and only focus on what we don’t have, what we can’t do, and sadly for some of us, what we have lost. And so, we must remain steadfast in our work of living in the moment, taking nothing for granted and performing little acts of kindness. No earthly power can prevent us from living in this way.

May all of us, near and far, take a moment and remember what is truly important and know that it is found within. Happy Thanksgiving… now and always. Be kind and stay safe!

Margaret Fergusson

09 October 2020: Water Level Transfer Order Upheld

Following a hearing for oral arguments on September 8th, the Lincoln County Superior Court has issued its ruling on the Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] Rule 80C Appeal of DEP’s December 2018 Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. In its discussion, the Court carefully considered all of AQF’s claims and denied or rejected all of them. The Order, issued on September 28, 2020 is subject to appeal, and AQF has 21 days from the date of the Order (deadline October 19th) to appeal the ruling to the Maine Supreme Court, but honestly, in my humble opinion, the Superior Court’s ruling was so unequivocal and final and the appeal so pointless in the first place, that I can’t imagine they will want to waste their money on a Law Court appeal, which they would undoubtedly lose. While this ruling did not come as a surprise to us, it is nice nonetheless to get the official word. The ruling is only 9 pages and well worth reading: Continue reading →

24 September 2020: Drought Worsens [UPDATED]

The drought conditions affecting Maine and much of the Northeast are worsening with no relief in sight. Much of the State of Maine is now in Severe Drought (graphic, at left) including Lincoln County. Until today we were in Moderate Drought but the continuing lack of rain is taking it’s toll. We have only recorded 0.10 inches of rain so far this month back on September 2nd. Since then, nothing. Despite the dry conditions, at -14.5 inches below the HWM, the lake level really isn’t that from where we’d expect it to be this time of year. Last year at this time it was down -10.5 inches. Keep in mind that about 3 inches of that water isn’t really ours to manage because the HWM is actually 3.4 inches ABOVE the top of the dam. Perhaps a better way to think of it is we’re now down a hair over 11 inches below the top of the dam. When things are this dry, evaporation accounts for a significant amount of water loss. Also, water soaks into the ground around the edge of the lake. Downstream flows are only 2 cfs, less than the current minimum flows of 3.5 cfs.

According to the Maine Forestry Service, the fire danger is HIGH. Under the circumstances, I’d be surprised if they were issuing burn permits at all. Careful out there folks.

[UPDATE] The Maine Forestry Service HAS suspended issuing online burning permits. You or may not be able to get one from your local fire department.

13 August 2020: Hearing Scheduled for AQF Appeal

It appears the Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] appeal of the Water Level Order Transfer (docket AP-20-4) is going to hearing after all! A one-hour hearing for oral arguments has been scheduled in Lincoln County Superior Court on September 8th at 2:30 PM. The hearing will be held in front of the Honorable Daniel Billings using Google Meet (Google’s version of Zoom). I assume the hearing will be available to the general public but I don’t have information about how to connect yet. When I do I’ll make that information available. The State will be represented by Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak, the Clary Lake Association will be represented by Attorney Randy Creswell who so ably represented us during the Bankruptcy proceedings (and got us the dam!), and AQF is being represented by Dennis Carrillo. The Clary Lake Association is named as a Party in Interest in the appeal. Continue reading →

09 July 2020: Aquafortis Associates Files Combined Reply Brief

On Thursday July 9, 2020 Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] filed their reply brief in the matter of AQF v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection [BEP] Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-4, it being an appeal of a Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] Order issued in December 2018 transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. AQF filed their initial brief on May 29th of this year; their reply brief is a combined reply to both the BEP’s brief filed on June 19th and the Clary Lake Association’s brief filed on June 25th. This latest document includes 52 pages but there are a number of attachments; the actual reply brief itself is actually only 16 pages long:

AQF (combined) reply brief 07-09-2020

Now that AQF’s petition has been fully briefed, the next step is up to the Court. The judge may schedule a hearing for oral arguments or he may just issue a ruling. I have no idea what to expect or when to expect it. I’m going to refrain from further comment at this time.

19 June 2020: State Files Brief in AQF WLO Transfer Appeal

On Friday June 19th the State of Maine timely filed their brief in the matter of Aquafortis Associates, LLC v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-04. The original appeal was filed by AQF in December 2018 in response to DEP’s issuance of an Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order from Pleasant Pond Mill LLC to the Clary Lake Association, after we bought the dam in October, 2018 and it’s taken a convoluted and circuitous route to get where we are today. If you’re wondering WHY Aquafortis Associates LLC decided to spend the time and money appealing the WLO transfer, you’re not alone. You may want to also review Aquafortis Associate LLC’s brief, previously filed on May 27th. Seeing as how this is an ongoing case in which the Clary Lake Association is an interested party, I’m going to refrain from further comment at this time.

BEP Brief – AQF v. Maine BEP, WISSC-AP-20-04, 6-19-20

Maine Lakes Society’s This Week’s Hero

I blame my father. I’m not one to seek attention but I suppose this is news and if I don’t share it here, no one will 🙂

From the Maine Lakes website’s 50 Lake Heroes for Our 5oth Anniversary post:

George Fergusson, Clary Lake

In 2011, Clary Lake and its Association were in trouble. A dispute with the owner of the dam controlling the lake level was leading toward seven years of unswimmable, unboatable water and significant environmental damage to the natural resource. Only 28 of 100+ littoral owners were members. Now in 2019, thanks to the unwavering efforts of George Fergusson, the Association’s long-time Secretary, the CLA has purchased and repaired the dam, the water level has been restored, and 148 (!) members can once again enjoy the benefits of a healthy lake.

George has lived on Clary Lake his entire adult life, and has been its prime steward for decades. He instigated the 2012 petition to DEP for a Lake Level Order, and then bore the brunt of legal harassment by the dam owner that prevented the Order from being implemented for five years. This included endless hours compiling and drafting documents for court, attending innumerable hearings, and managing fund-raising for legal expenses. His personal solicitation of new members meant that when the dam fell into bankruptcy, the Association could raise $120,000 for purchase and repair. George is a certified Water Quality Monitor, and has measured and maintained daily records of the lake level for years, information that was crucial to DEP’s recent approval of CLA’s Water Level Management Plan. He has been tireless in meeting with town officials, state agency staff, the press, contractors, and attorneys to keep the effort moving forward, and continually encouraged the Board of the CLA even when the quest seemed hopeless and endless.

CLA 2020 Summer Newsletter Mailed

The Clary Lake Association’s 2020 Summer Newsletter went in the mail a few days ago. If you live in Whitefield or Jefferson it has probably already been delivered. If you’re out of Town or out of State, it’ll probably take another day or two to reach you. The biggest news item is that the CLA Board at their regular May meeting a few weeks ago decided out of an abundance of caution to cancel this year’s Annual Meeting, originally scheduled for August 7th. It was not an easy decision to make, we considered just postponing it and also how we could hold a meeting while trying to maintain social distance and cancelling the pot luck supper but in the final analysis, given the uncertainty of what this summer may bring and given that pretty much all other public events have been cancelled this summer that we needed to follow suit. Dave Knight in his “President’s Message” does a good job of explaining our thought process around this issue. The health and safety of our Membership is of paramount importance. The newsletter discusses our deliberations around this issue. Continue reading →

25 May 2020: Courtesy Boat Inspection Program Under Way

Our 2020 Courtesy Boat Inspection program is underway and our first (long) weekend is behind us. The big surprise was the lack of traffic for Memorial Day weekend! Over three days our volunteers conducted only 24 inspections (we inspect water craft both entering and leaving the lake) many of which were kayaks or paddle boards. Perhaps the sub-zero temperatures this weekend has had something to do with the lack of traffic 😯

Another surprising thing: many of the motor boats did not have 2020 registrations! The main reason people cited were closed town offices and in most cases they said they’ve registered their boats online but haven’t received the stickers yet. Not particularly surprising was the pile of trash (and a full diaper) that our intrepid volunteers collected and hauled off on Saturday. Good grief. What is wrong with people? Many people use my field in Jefferson to access the lake, and they generally do a pretty good job of keeping it clean and respecting the land. If I found a fraction of this amount of trash on my property I’d close down access in a heartbeat. Why do people think they can treat the State boat launch this way?

Last year we recorded data on paper forms which we scanned and emailed to Midcoast Conservancy who did the data entry for us. This year our inspectors are entering their own data at the boat launch directly into the DEP database using a cool phone app developed for the purpose. This is much much more efficient. The data is immediately available for review on the 2020 Maine Courtesy Boat Inspection Dashboard. Cool technology.

We’ll be conducing boat inspections at the State boat launch off the North Clary Road from 6 AM to 2 PM on Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day and perhaps further into the fall. If you’re out and about stop by and say hello!

Memorial Day

The Clary Lake Association Board wishes everyone a safe, meaningful, and memorable Memorial Day on this Day of Remembrance, May 25, 2020. In these trying times, as difficult as they are, we still have much to be thankful for and many to thank. Be safe out there.

6 May 2020: Browntail Moth Season Ahead!

A Browntail Moth caterpillar with the 2 distinctive orange dots at one end of it’s body.

Any day now, over-wintered Browntail Moth caterpillars will start to emerge from their tree-top leaf nests and start eating. Last year they did a great job (?) of defoliating Oak trees around Clary Lake and spreading their poisonous hairs all over the place. The south shore of the lake by Hodsdon Lane was particularly hard hit. I haven’t seen near as many Browntail moth nests in the trees around my house this spring, making me think this year the infestation may be less severe than last year, but it still pays to be alert to the risk they pose to our trees and our health. According to the newly published Browntail Moth Risk Map (PDF | 2.44 MB) however, the towns of Whitefield and Jefferson still have a HIGH Browntail Moth Risk Rating. Continue reading →

27 April 2020: Maine VA health care professionals deploy to New York City

Ms. Nora Hoesing (pictured at left) is one of the nurses headed for New York City to help out with the Coronavirus Pandemic and mentioned in this CentralMaine.com article. She bought a camp on Clary Lake a few years ago. I have never met her, but I sure look forward to meeting her some day and thanking her for her service. Good luck Nora!

Maine VA health care professionals deploy to New York City

03 April 2020: Clary Lake is Featured Lake on Lakes of Maine Website

Lake Stewards of Maine maintains several great websites including the Lakes of Maine site which provides detailed technical information about most lakes in Maine, including Clary Lake. They also feature a different Maine lake on their website every month including a picture and a brief write up about the lake. April’s Lake-of-the-Month is Clary Lake! The picture they’re using for Clary Lake was taken by David Hodsdon. Another cool site maintained by Lake Stewards of Maine is the Near Real Time Lake Data site.

02 April 2020: Local Woman Tests Positive for Covid-19

Many of you know Arlene Wing. Arlene is a Registered Nurse and went through CDC sponsored pandemic training about 15 years ago. She has continued to study microbiology and epidemiology and not surprisingly, she has a much better grasp than most people of what happens when epidemics and pandemics arise. Back at the beginning of March of this year she started a Facebook page called “About Covid 19.” Her intention has been to post helpful information about Covid 19 without the politics, spin, and hyperbole that accompanies so much 0f what’s out there, and to offer her unique perspective into this pandemic in the belief that being informed and prepared reduces fear and improves outcomes. I’ve been following her page since she started it, and have found her posts to be both helpful and informative. Continue reading →

28 March 2020: We Have An Ice Out Contest Winner!

Linda Gallion

Finally! David Hodsdon has proclaimed this year’s ice out date to be March 27th. That was the day when all the ice was completely gone from the coves and inlets around the lake. That makes Linda Gallion (picture at left, from last year’s Annual Meeting) the winner of our 2020 Ice Out Contest! Her’s was the closest guess (March 24th) without going over. Linda has been a long time CLA member and served as Treasurer for ten years from 2005 to 2015. Congratulations Linda! Hope you enjoy your tee shirt! Many thanks to all who participated in our first Clary Lake Ice Out Contest. Here are their guesses:

2020 Ice Out Contest Guesses

Ice Out was determined to be March 27th. The closest guess wins!

Name	Guess
Jane Chase	03/14/20
Rick Gallion	03/14/20
Jack Holland	03/17/20
June M. Lordi	03/23/20
Linda Gallion	03/24/20
ICE OUT:	03/27/2020
Lee Prager	03/28/20
Paul Devlin	03/28/20
Steve Cowles	03/29/20
Malcolm B	03/29/20
David Knight	04/01/20
Carolyn Curtis	04/02/20
Gareth Bowen	04/03/20
Leslie Gillette	04/04/20
Terry Crummett	04/07/20
Kate Seba	04/09/20
Arlene Wing	04/12/20
Karen Stutzer	04/14/20
Dan Burns	04/16/20

If you think it took a longer than usual for the lake to become ice-free this year it is because it did! I don’t think the ice was really ready to melt off, but a heavy rain event on March 13th which dropped 1.20 inches of rain followed by strong winds the next day got rid of a lot of ice on the north side of the lake. There were actually people ice fishing the previous weekend. After that initial melt-off, the ice seemed to take forever to melt out of the coves on the south side, and down by the boat launch.

2020 Courtesy Boat Inspections: Looking for Volunteers!

Water Chestnut (Trapa natans L), one of Maine’s Eleven Most Unwanted Aquatic Plants.

As we gear up for our second season of Courtesy Boat Inspections, everyone who volunteered last year has informed me that they are totally on board for another season which clearly indicates just how much fun they had doing courtesy boat inspections last summer: it really was a lot of fun! However, we very much want more volunteers to join our effort this year to help share the load: summer is a busy time and nobody can be expected to be available every day of every weekend, all summer long. Last year, with just 8 volunteers and 8 two-hour shifts per weekend to cover, some people just weren’t able to take a shift so some of us ended up pulling doubles. With enough volunteers to draw on, nobody should have to take more than one 2 hour shifts per weekend, if that. I very much enjoyed inspecting boats at the boat launch last summer and talking boats and fishing with people, and I look forward to doing it again. Continue reading →

04 February 2020: Kennebec County Judge Rules In AQF Appeal Hearing

We’ve received word that Kennebec County Superior Court Judge William Stokes has issued his ruling on the January 10th hearing in regard the Aquafortis Associates LLC appeal of the Clary Lake water level order transfer. The Order, dated January 17th, DENIES AQF’s motion to supplement the record and GRANTS the Clary Lake Association’s motion to transfer the venue to Lincoln County. This is Good News. We’re hearing about it now because the Court mailed the Order to our lawyer’s old mailing address. Continue reading →

CLA Hors D’oeuvre Party Announcement!

We're having a party! We’re having a “We can’t believe it’s 48 days until Spring” party! Only kidding! We don’t need an excuse to gather together and have a little neighborly fun. The date is Saturday, February 1st and the place is the lovely home of Beverly and Gareth Bowen at 739 Gardiner Road in Jefferson (map). The time is 7 PM. Everyone is asked to bring their own favorite beverage and a hors d’oeuvre platter to share. Bring yourself and bring a friend! We hope to have a good showing, there’s plenty of room, and it will be a great opportunity for people to get together, get reacquainted with other CLA members, and meet new friends. Let’s shake off those mid-winter doldrums together! Maybe someone will even bring a guitar and we can sing the CLA theme song. Hmmm… do we even have a theme song? Well, we can think of something! Continue reading →