And just in time too! I had meant to finish and post last summer’s Annual Meeting minutes long before this but with everything that’s been going on, I just lost track of that task.
You’ll find Annual Meeting minutes for previous years on the Archived Meeting Minutes page.
Hope to see you at THIS year’s Annual Meeting this coming Saturday!
Plans for the 2019 Clary Lake Association Annual meeting are coming along nicely! The meeting will be held at 2:00 PM sharp at the Clary Lake dam on Saturday August 3rd. There will be a short business meeting to start followed by our main program including a presentation by Midcoast Conservancy’s Maranda Nemeth about their hopes to establish fish passage into Clary Lake, and a discussion of our Association’s long term goals led by outgoing President Malcolm Burson. Since our membership year runs from annual meeting to annual meeting, in order to participate in the meeting (i.e. vote, speak) you need to be a paid up member. If you plan to pay your dues at the meeting (as many people do) please arrive a little early! We’ll have a registration desk set up by 1:00 PM and plan to start the meeting promptly at 2:00 PM. You can also sign up online. Dues are $25 per year per person.
There will be a number of canopies set up to provide shade along with tables and chairs but it can’t hurt to bring a folding chair or 2 if you have them. We’re expecting the field adjoining the dam property to have been hayed by the time of the meeting so parking should not be a problem.
We have traditionally held a pot-luck supper at the conclusion of our Annual Meeting. This year have decided to invite the larger community of lake lovers to join us in celebration of our restored natural treasure. A cookout open to the public will start at 4 PM. The Clary Lake Association will be offering hot dogs, hamburgers (and some veggie burgers) and an assortment of beverages, and we encourage folks who plan to attend to bring an offering of a side dish or dessert to round out the fare. We also plan to polish off the ice cream left over from our recent Ice Cream Social. The cookout and food is free but donations will be gratefully accepted. We hope to see you there!
A final reminder: for some time now, full Membership in the Association is open to “all persons who support the purpose of the Association as stated in the bylaws and who pay annual dues to the Corporation.” You need not be a Clary Lake shore owner to be a Member, we’re especially interested in attracting New Members from the wider community. There is strength in numbers, and we encourage you to invite your neighbors and friends of Clary Lake to come to the Meeting and join us in our celebration. See you at the Annual Meeting!
Two of our event-coordinators Kelsie French (left) and Melissa Palmer-Karas.
Our first Ice Cream Social was a great success! By the middle of the afternoon there were about 50 people hanging out on the Clary Lake dam property and on the adjoining property belonging to neighbors Steve & Julie Cowles. Many thanks to them for their help getting the site ready and allowing us the use of their property. It was a beautiful sunny day and the canopies we set up provided much appreciated shade. Jeff French and his family arrived by boat! Many thanks to our volunteers for pulling off such a well-organized event and special thanks to Joe Holland of the Jefferson Scoop for donating tasty Gifford’s Ice Cream, and to Linda Gallion who brought home made chocolate and strawberry ice cream. This wasn’t really intended to be a fund raiser, but we did collect over $70 in our donation jar which helped cover the costs. Next year we’ll do a better job with promotion.
Sorry for not posting something sooner, but the past couple of days have been pretty hectic. Here is a gallery of pictures from the event. I’ll get around to adding some captions when I find a round tuit:
Just a reminder that our Ice Cream Social is this coming Sunday July 14th at 2 PM at the Clary Lake dam! The weather is looking perfect with temps in the mid-80s. Stop by and make yourself a Sundae! Bring a friend! We’ll have some tables and chairs set up, and some canopy tents so you can get out of the sun if you wish. Here’s a link to the original post about this event:
Clary Lake Association Ice Cream Social July 14th
One thing we forgot to mention in the original post is that The Jefferson Scoop has donated two tubs of ice cream to the event! Help us spread the word, because ice cream!
Hope to see you there!
In a move that defies understanding, Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) has decided to appeal the June 6th Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) ruling denying their appeal of the DEP transfer of the Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association (see “06 June 2019: BEP Denies AQF Appeal“). This new Petition for Review of Final Agency Action, Docket No. AP-2019-TBA, was filed today in Kennebec County Superior Court by counsel for AQF Dennis Carrillo. Mr. Carrillo has represented Richard Smith and AQF in both the Paul Kelley Bankruptcy proceeding and the Rubin/Ayer lawsuit. The petition names the Board of Environmental Protection as the Defendant and they will be doing the heavy lifting in this court case. The Clary Lake Association has been named a Party-In-Interest. I am not going to comment further until I’ve had a chance to read the Petition carefully. Without further palaver:
Stay Tuned!
CLARY LAKE ASSOCIATION
ICE CREAM SOCIAL
Stop by the Clary Lake Dam site on Mills Road in Whitefield and join us as we continue to celebrate the return of fun and frolic on our beloved and restored Clary Lake!! On Sunday, July 14th @ 2PM we will be treating Members (if you’re not currently a Member, consider becoming one!) and our community friends and neighbors to an ice cream social. We’ll be featuring ice cream supplied by some good folks in Jefferson…our friends and supporters, Joe Holland, who owns and operates The Jefferson Scoop, and Linda and Rick Gallion of Clary Lake Bed and Breakfast (they make their own!!).
Plan on staying a while… there will be tables and chairs so you can sit and linger with friends, awnings to get out of the sun, and water to keep you hydrated… and most importantly—plenty of ice cream! We hope to see you there!!
We’ve added this event to our Upcoming Events Calendar and you can also keep track of it on the countdown timer on the sidebar to the right. We’ll post updates here as the event approaches!
Whitefield 4th of July Parade, 2010
The Clary Lake Association has been threatening to put a float in the Whitefield 4th of July Parade for a few years, and we’re finally doing it! With everything that’s been going on, I completely forgot to post anything about it so sorry for the late notice! The parade starts at 10 AM. Come on down to Kings Mills (intersection of Route 194 and Townhouse Road) and cheer us on. If you’d like to ride on the float or have kids that would like to ride on the float, be at the intersection of Route 194 and Route 218 at after 9 and before 10. Hope to see you there!
HYDRILLA (Hydrilla verticillata)
What do courtesy boat inspectors do? The program is really an educational one. As boaters launch and remove their boats from the water, CBIs will discuss with boaters how invasive aquatic plants spread, show how to inspect boats and equipment for plant fragments, urge boaters to inspect before and after every launch, distribute information about invasive plants, and articulate Maine law regarding the transport of these plants.
We need volunteers! Our goal is to line up enough Courtesy Boat Inspectors to be able to cover the State boat launch on Clary Lake during the “busy” hours (7 AM to 3 PM) on weekends, as those are the days that typically see the most boat traffic. Typically volunteers would sign up for 2 hour shifts, and inspections would continue through Labor Day. If you’re interested in helping out with this important initiative, please contact the Secretary.
June 11, 2019
Major MacDonald was born in Gardiner, Feb. 26, 1947, the son of the late Mrs. Marian Graffam of Rome, N.Y., and the late Judge Paul A. MacDonald, of Woolwich, Maine.
He was educated at Higgins Classical Institute in Charleston and The University of Maine in Augusta. He also graduated from many Army service schools and won numerous journalistic awards as editor of Guardlife Magazine.
He was also a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserve, having risen in the ranks as an enlisted man, non-commissioned officer, company grade and field grade officer. Major MacDonald was a U.S. Army combat correspondent in 1971 and 1973. He also covered fighting in Laos and Cambodia. Continue reading
In a decision that should come as a surprise to no one, the Board of Environmental Protection after listening to comments from Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] and others, summarily denied AQF’s appeal of the December 2018 DEP Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. The Board also denied several parties requests for a public hearing. So the DEP Transfer Order stands.
The information-gathering portion of the hearing lasted over 2 hours, the bulk of which was used by attorney for AQF Dennis Carrillo to explain and justify AQF’s appeal; this was a non-testimonial hearing and the record was closed which means all of AQF’s attempts to supplement the record with additional material were for naught. After AQF spoke, CLA President Malcolm Burson issued a short statement on the Association’s position- basically that we filed a satisfactory application and did everything right and in a timely fashion and that we applaud the Department’s decision to transfer the Order to us. Finally, counsel for DEP spoke briefly stating their opinion that the DEP had covered all the bases and that the CLA transfer application was deemed satisfactory and complete. The Board then asked if there were any additional comments; Butch Duncan spoke briefly about his desire for a public hearing, and Paul Kelley spoke about why the thinks the Clary Lake Association lacks sufficient Right, Title, and Interest in the Clary Lake dam to operate it, an argument that Mr. Carrillo also attempted to make. The Board however correctly observed that there is a forum for resolving title issues, and they aren’t it.
The Board deliberated for all of about 2 minutes before issuing their unanimous decision denying the appeal.
A number of CLA Board members and several Clary Lake Association members attended the hearing. I have no idea how many people if any listened in on the DEP Virtual Meeting Room, if you did I’d be interested in hearing your reactions.
Just a reminder that the Board of Environmental Protection hearing on Aquafortis Associates LLC’s appeal of the DEP’s Transfer Order is tomorrow, Thursday June 6 at 9:00 AM at the Augusta Civic Center. This hearing is the result of an appeal filed by Richard Smith of Aquafortis Associates LLC back in December 2019 and was originally scheduled for May 16th but was rescheduled at the last minute to June 6th at the request of counsel for AQF. You might want to review the previous posts on this matter for more information; here are the two most recent:
The hearing is expected to last about 45 minutes. If you can’t attend in person but would nonetheless like to listen to it online, you’ll find directions for how to do that in the 04 May 2019 post.
The Loons are nesting in the traditional location in the deep inlet on the north shore of the lake, the same place they nested last year, but deeper in the cove because of the higher water. I spotted the location on May 30th, and it is well hidden: if I hadn’t seen one of the loons hanging around the area, I’d never have known it was there. I was able to get one (not very good) photograph of the loons on the nest (below). In previous years, fluctuating water levels have made successful nesting a real challenge with the biggest risk being flooding due to a rapid rise in water level. The good news this year is the lake level is already at the High Water Mark and stable, so even if we get heavy rains, the lake level won’t rise enough to flood the nest. Continue reading
There was one regrettable casualty of the otherwise successful site migration: the list of 50+ or so people who had signed up to receive email notices of new website posts was lost. This list was maintained by WordPress so I have no idea who was subscribed or what email addresses were used. If you were on that list and want to get back on that list, you’ll have to resubscribe. Look for the “Subscribe to Blog via Email” form on the sidebar. Just enter your email address, respond to the “Confirm your subscription for Clary Lake Association” email you’ll receive, and you’ll be back on the list. If you’re viewing the site’s mobile theme on a phone or tablet, first look for the “View Full Site” link at the bottom of the main page and then you’ll be able to subscribe. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Yesterday morning I posted about plans to migrate the Clary Lake Association website to a new platform. Ironically, in the process of completing the move, that posted got wiped out. I’m happy to report that we completed the migration around midnight last night without any major problems, though as predicted, the Clarycams broke spectacularly. We got those working this morning.
We’ve made no significant changes to the content on the site, but everyone should notice a significant decrease in page load times. Page load speeds have been reduced partly thanks to faster hardware but also to site optimization. We’ll be making some additional optimizations over the next week or so which should help improve site performance. If anyone has any issues with the site, you know how to reach me.
The Clary Lake Association’s Spring/Summer 2019 Newsletter went in the mail a couple of days ago. This year we mailed about 225 newsletters, our largest mailing yet. They’ve already been delivered to most local addresses, but if yours is going out of town it will probably take a few more days to reach you. Traditionally the Summer newsletter kicks off our Membership Drive for the upcoming year which runs from Annual Meeting to Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting is going to be held at the Clary Lake dam on Saturday August 3, 2019. Continue reading
You may recall that back in December the DEP issued an Order transferring the Clary Lake water level order to the Clary Lake Association (see 11 December 2018: Clary Lake Water Level Order Transfer Complete). You may also remember that Richard Smith, owner of Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) subsequently appealed the Transfer Order to the Board of Environmental Protection (see 26 December 2018: Aquafortis Appeals CLA License Transfer). Today I received 2 heavy manila envelopes in the mail, one addressed to me and one to President Malcolm Burson, each containing 98 pages of documents pertaining to Aquafortis’s appeal. A hearing on the appeal has been scheduled for Thursday May 16, 2019 beginning at 9:00 AM. The meeting is going to be at the Augusta Civic Center at 76 Community Drive in Augusta. Continue reading
We have received provisional approval of our Water Level Management Plan [WLMP] from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The WLMP details the procedures we’ll be following to operate the Clary Lake dam and manage the water level so as to remain in compliance with the Clary Lake Water Level Order [WLO]. The completion of a management plan was the final requirement of the WLO and it’s good to have this task behind us. This first season is like a shakedown cruise: we’ll be sitting down with DEP staff next winter to review the plan to see how well it’s met everyone’s needs. Continue reading
Browntail Moth Caterpillar
For those of you who are interested in learning more about Browntail moths (which should be pretty much all of you), the Midcoast Conservancy has finally posted the video of the program on Browntail Moths that they put on back on April 4th at the Edgecomb Eddy School. You’ll find a link to that video along with other useful information about these insect pests.
https://www.midcoastconservancy.org/browntail-moth-info-session/
David measures the wind speed, direction, and temperature.
Kelsie French, David Hodsdon, and I headed out today to kick off the 2019 Clary Lake water quality monitoring season. David started monitoring on Clary Lake in 1975, making this his 44th year on the job! The average secchi disk reading was 3.75 meters (12.3 feet) which is about average for this time of year- spring rains and runoff carries silt into the lake which reduces transparency. It’ll clear up some as summer approaches. Dissolved Oxygen pretty uniform throughout the water column, also a normal condition for this time of year. We had planned on obtaining a water sample for Phosphorus testing but the weather today just wasn’t conducive to spending any more time on the water than we had to. After all, it’s not like we were fishing. At 9.8° C the water temperature was actually warmer than the air! All I can say is I look forward to more pleasant weather this year than what we had to put up with today!
You’ll find water quality data back to 2012 on our Clary Lake Water Monitoring Data page.
We’ve received a lot of rain over the past week resulting in a full lake and a nice sedate outflow over the dam. Older folks will recall that this is what Spring is like on Clary Lake. There’s about 2.5″ of water going over the dam and the estimated discharge is about 70 cubic feet per second.