Category Archives: News

News from around the lake.

10 April 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC petition for release from dam ownership UPDATE

I went to the Whitefield Selectman’s meeting last night to listen to what they had to say about the Clary Lake dam issue. They discussed among other things the need for the town to hold a public meeting to “consider and act” on the issue of dam ownership within 60 days of being notified of the filing of the petition (April 1st). Per the statute, both the town of Whitefield and the town of Jefferson have to hold these public meetings. Tentative dates were discussed as was the fact that 60 days (now 50) isn’t a lot of time.

At issue is whether or not the town (or towns, with an interlocal agreement)  should own the dam, with or without a maintenance and operations agreement with the Clary Lake Association. The Selectmen agreed that they’d be contacting their counterparts  in Jefferson to discuss this.

The DEP will also further define what constitutes the “costs of transfer” which at a minimum need to be borne by or at least shared by the new dam owner. The actual wording of the statute is:

38 §906. PROPERTY TRANSFER PROVISIONS

1. Compensation. A dam owner is not prohibited from requesting compensation for the transfer of a dam pursuant to this article. The department may not issue a water release order pursuant to section 905 to a dam owner who has refused to transfer the dam to a person willing to assume ownership of the dam because that person refused to compensate the dam owner for the property. The department may not refuse to issue the order if the dam owner requested only payment or a share in payment of the costs of transfer.

“Costs of transfer” to me means the fees to have a title search done, a deed prepared, and the cost of recording it. That’s the beauty of this statute: Anybody can afford to buy a dam 🙂

It was also mentioned that the DEP has determined that the PPM petition is NOT complete as filed. Apparently DEP has questions about who owns what and wants supporting documentation of dam ownership and title. No doubt this has something to do with questions the DEP has over the ability of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC has to meet the provisions of the Statute regarding what property and property rights are to be transferred to a new owner. This should be interesting.

08 April 2013: Yet Another KJ Article: “Clary Lake dam’s owner wants out, forcing towns’ hands in dispute”

Paul Koenig of the Kennebec Journal has written another article about the Clary Lake dam:

Clary Lake dam’s owner wants out, forcing towns’ hands in dispute

Paul Koenig called me last week to talk about the latest petition. “He wants to get rid of it, and we want it,” Fergusson said. “What can go wrong?”

Hehehe… great quote 🙂

I’ve posted a copy on the web site:

08-April-2013-Kennebec_Journal_article

 

03 April 2013: DEP Releases Bathymetric Survey Results

True to their word, DEP, in accordance with Procedural Order #5 of Department File #L-22585-36-B-N, Clary Lake Water Level Petition, have released the data and results from a bathymetric survey conducted by the Department in September 2012. I’ve barely had a chance to look at this myself. Of  the files sent, the main document you’re going to want to download the depth/contour map:

Bathymetric Survey Contour Map

I’ve barely had a chance to look at it myself. They also sent along 2 other files including a spread sheet which appears to be corrupt (I’ve been unable to open it) and another aerial photo of the lake showing the point coverage of their data collection; it’s a very large (4+ megabytes) file so I won’t try to display it. I suggest you right click on the link and select “Save as”:

Clary-Lake-Depth-Points.pdf

I’ll post the spreadsheet for download when they send me a viable copy. They also sent along a revised Service List which you’re welcome to download if you wish. I wouldn’t bother, unless you’re on it 🙂

Pursuant to Procedural Order #5, parties may submit written questions or comments on the data no later than April 17, 2013.  Questions or comments must be copied to all parties on the Service List.

03 April 2013: Update on the Petition for release from dam ownership

I spoke with Kathy Howatt this morning, she’s the DEP staff person in charge of the Pleasant Pond Mill LLC Petition for release from dam ownership. She said the petition was filed yesterday. This appears to conflict with state law which states that public notice of the intent to file a petition must be published in a paper (and provided to various people including lake shore owners) not more than 30 days before filing the petition. Such notice of intent has not be provided. So much for procedure.

Ms. Howatt said the Department has 15 days to determine if the petition is complete. She also said that the petition for release from dam ownership is completely separate and distinct from the water level petition and that at least for the time being both petitions would both be processed concurrently. However, she said the Department may at some point stay the water level petition proceedings for some specific period of time to provide the Department time to address the petition for release from dam ownership, and for the dam owner to find potential new owners of the dam. She did stress the fact that ultimately the outcome of the water level petition is independent of the outcome of the petition for release from dam ownership. For example, if Pleasant Pond Mill LLC were to find a new owner and transfer the dam to them, they would be off the hook but the new owner would be facing a pending water level order.

02 April 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC Notifies DEP of their Intent to Petition for Release from Dam Ownership

On behalf of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC, Paul Kelley has filed a notice with the DEP stating his intent to file a Petition for Release from Dam Ownership or Water Level Maintenance. This is a statutory process described in MRSA 38 Chapter 5, Sub-Chapter 1, Article 6, §§ 901-908. Earlier this evening I attended the Whitefield Selectmen’s regular meeting and listened to them discuss the situation. Paul Kelley was there representing  Pleasant Pond Mill LLC. Discussion mostly centered around the role the town would be playing in the petition process regarding public hearings, public notices, and notifying affected parties. Aaron Miller, town clerk had spoken with someone at the DEP about this petition and was led to believe that for the time being anyways, processing of the Clary Lake Water Level Petition would continue while this new petition is addressed. I will be making inquiries of my own later this week to confirm what to expect.

Here are copies of the certified letters that Pleasant Pond Mill has sent to the Selectmen, and the Town Clerk:

After the meeting Paul and I talked briefly and have agreed to maintain open lines of communication as we move forward in the hopes that a mutually agreeable solution to the problem can be found. I am cautiously optimistic.

About the Law

There are many privately owned dams in the State of Maine that belong to people who for various reasons don’t want to continue owning them. Usually the dams are in poor repair making them an expensive liability to own, and they may have water level orders on them (or pending water level orders) making the dams particularly unsavory to own and difficult if not impossible to sell, let alone give away. State law prevents dam owners from simply removing the dams, or abandoning them. Additional provisions in the law provide this petition process to help these unwilling dam owners find new owners for their unwanted property or, if no new owner can be found, allows them to  be relieved of the burden of ownership. If a new owner for a dam cannot be found, the dam is removed.

Now clearly, the existence of this law with all it’s provisions suggests that dam owners are more often than not alienated from the various parties that might reasonably be expected to want to own the dam and that furthermore, guidance, rules, and rigid structure are often necessary to find the interested parties, get everyone together, and help them work out a mutually agreeable solution. Pleasant Pond Mill LLC clearly feels they are alienated and sees this petition process as the only way forward for them. They are certainly within their rights to take advantage of the provisions of the law to address the Clary lake dam problem.

Here’s a copy of the Petition application which lists the general information and procedures involved in the petition, the required information in the petition, and a copy of the notice of intent to file the petition:

Petition for Release from Dam Ownership or Water Level Maintenance

02 April 2013: Ice Almost Out

campic-02-april2013
 The ice is going out faster than I anticipated, which OK with me! The main basin is now ice-free with only a couple of hundred feet of ice left right along the southwest shore; my shoreline, as usual, is the last to open up. I don’t know what the east end of the lake looks like but I suspect there’s still ice down that end by the boat launch; it still looked pretty white yesterday afternoon when I drove by but there were signs it was breaking up.

David Hodsdon keeps track of the “official” ice-out date. Last year the lake became completely ice-free on 21 March which is on the early side. More normal is between the 2nd and 3rd week of April. Here are Ice-Out Records going back to 2001.

31March 2013: End of Month Summary

3 March 2013
 I’ve posted the final March 2013 water level chart. For the month, we got a paltry 1.22″ of precipitation which nonetheless brought the lake up a total of 17.78″ (runoff multiplier of 14x!) from where it started the month at -55.68″ below the top of the dam to -38.76″ below the top of the dam on March 18th. It has fallen only 2.5″ since then. The reason the lake rose so much from so little rain is because lake is so much smaller due to the low water level: when it rains, the water level really has nowhere to go but up. For comparison, when the lake is around 40″ below the top of the dam (where it is now), rising water tends to spread out over the drained wetlands, increasing the surface area but the water level, not so much.

30 March 2013: A lot like spring out there today, and other thoughts

Gorgeous day out there today, I’d say most of the north side of the lake is ice-free, perhaps about 1/4 of the lake total- enough so that open water is now easily visible on the web cam from over here on the south shore.

campic01
 David Hodson and I stopped over yesterday afternoon take a look around and bumped into Doug Kinney. He said there’d been a pair of loons hanging around. Sure enough, we soon spotted one loon but it was too far off for me to get a picture. It is the earliest I’ve ever seen loons back on the lake. There were also plenty of other water fowl out swimming or wheeling overhead. At the rate ice is disappearing, I expect the lake will be ice-free within a week. Lousy weather could complicate that.

I’d like to thank those of you who corresponded with me about the recent article in the Lincoln County News. No, I don’t think Butch’s plan to have the dam removed stands a chance of happening; it’s just silly, as is his idea of “farming” the meadow. In the old days folks likely pastured some cows out there part of the year when it wasn’t flooded, and we know they cut meadow hay during a short window of opportunity in the early summer, but that’s about the extent of the “farming” that took place in Clark’s Meadow. We all know why Butch would like the water level kept low- his reasons are purely selfish. I will be sending a letter to the editor next week.

Some of you may have noticed that I went ahead and converted all the old legacy photo albums to new WordPress NextGen albums. I hadn’t planned on doing that but it turned out to be pretty easy. They offer more utility and convenience and do a better job of displaying pictures. Sadly, they don’t handle documents like PDF files of which there are a boatload on the site. I’ll have to look for another solution to manage and maintain those.

Finally, I stopped by the dam this afternoon to measure the outflow from the lake; came up with a figure of 35 cubic feet per second which is about what is expected with the lake level 40″± below the top of the dam. Have been wondering if there’s a way to estimate Clary outflows with any degree of accuracy using flow data from the USGS Sheepscot river gauging station located at the bottom of Grand Army Hill. More on this when I find some spare time.

Reminder: This coming Wednesday the 3rd DEP is supposed to distribute the results of the bathymetric survey they performed last September. Stay tuned 🙂

23 March 2013: Branch Pond Petition, Odds and Ends

I got an email today from Brandon Kulik, the petition contact person for the Branch Pond water level petition. He said that DEP has scheduled a Public Hearing on their petition for Friday June 28th, time and place to be determined. Thought I’d pass that along for those of you who might want to go- I plan to attend to lend my support to their effort.

I’ve added that event and those that are now scheduled on our petition to the Association’s Event Calendar so that you can follow along. In a little over a week, things start up again and the next couple of months promise to be busy. Starting on April 3rd we receive the results of the bathymetric survey DEP performed the field work on last September 21st, and the new data resulting from that survey: a revised contour report, minimum flows recommendation, and maximum annual fluctuation. I have to believe that this new data and lake model based upon it is more accurate and better reflects the environmental impact of water level fluctuations on Clary Lake.

14 March 2013: Whitefield Town Meeting This Coming Saturday

The Whitefield Town Meeting is this coming Saturday the 16th of March to be held at the Whitefield School. Polls open at 8 am and close at 12 noon so if you’re a Whitefield resident and you want to vote, plan accordingly.

Our own Association member Sue McKeen told me the other day that she’s running for the Whitefield Planning Board as a write-in candidate. Sue has been on the planning board in the past which of course begs the question why on earth she wants to be on the PB again. I can only assume she feels there is work left to be done. I’ll be voting for her.

13 March 2013: Spring Rain, Canceling Newsletter Plans

The Winter 2013 edition of the Clary Lake Clarion Cancelled

I’ve always been a firm believer in the value of a hard-copy newsletter and 2 issues a year if at all possible, but no surprise, I’m canceling plans for the Winter 2013 edition mainly because it’s already spring and I’ve got more than enough on my plate to keep me busy without trying to crank out a newsletter too. Besides, this web site is doing a pretty good job of keeping people informed and in touch. We’ll send out a newsletter this June with a notice about the annual meeting, a dues notice and membership subscription form, and what have you.

Spring Rains Bring Welcome Lake Level Rise

Yesterday’s 0.78″ of rain combined with snow melt was enough to bring the lake up over 9″ so far (see today’s water level chart) and I expect it will rise a few more inches over the next 24 hours. Colder weather later this week will likely slow down the rate of runoff for a while. As nice as it is to see the lake come up, we should be prepared for exceptionally low water conditions this spring and into summer. This should not come as a surprise to anyone: the dam’s gate is still wide open and there is no significant snow pack left. This situation no doubt suits Kelley who wants to keep the lake from rising to the level of the breach in the dam. For what it’s worth, we’re now at that peculiar lake level where additional runoff causes the lake to mostly spread out over the shallow water areas, increasing the surface area without significantly raising the lake level so the lake is in a position to absorb considerable runoff for a while without rising that much. If you recall last year’s water level chart you’ll remember the large rain events we had in late April and again in very early June which brought the lake up to -19″ below the top of the dam- the highest it got last year. I might add that such water level fluctuation turned out to be disastrous for nesting water fowl, including the loons. I wonder what this season will bring?

09 March 2013: Comet Panstarrs to put on a March show

There’s a comet in the early evening sky these days, Comet Panstarrs. It should be a binocular object. I’m going up to  Highland Cemetery this evening about sunset (5:30 pm) to see if I can spot it. The following NASA web site page has information about the comet, as well as a finder chart. You’ll need to find a location with a low western horizon because it’s faint and pretty close to the sun.

Comet Panstarrs

07 March 2013: Lincoln County News Article

An article by Shlomit Auciello is in this week’s Lincoln County News. Here’s a link to the online version:

Regulator Denies Motion To Dismiss Clary Lake Dam Petition

It’s a good article, all things considered- certainly more fair and balanced than a few previous articles by Ms. Auciello. It appears she contacted Tony Buxton for comment though she made no attempt to contact me.

I’ve downloaded a copy in PDF format and posted in the Newspaper Clippings directory:

PDF version of 06 March 2013 LCN article

04 March 2013: Department of Environmental Protection Procedural Order #5

The wait is over! Beth Callahan has sent around Procedural Order #5 and an Updated Service List. I haven’t finished reading the Order but I wanted to get it posted ASAP. I’ll update this post and the Petition News page shortly.

Update: Pleasant Pond Mill’s motion to dismiss the petition was denied on all grounds. This doesn’t come as a surprise as I have been saying all along that the allegations in the motion to dismiss were outrageous and unfounded, but still it is a relief to see the decision in writing. As a stalling tactic it was first class but I dare say it did not have the intended effect. It would also appear that Mr. Buxton’s reputation with the Department has been somewhat sullied as a result of some unfortunate and unsavory interactions he had with DEP staff over this. Too bad. Going forward that will not help their case.

DEP has yet to rule on my motion to supplement the record with additional information. They will do that with another Procedural Order in the near future and I fully expect that motion to be GRANTED and if it is not, I’m sure they’ll have a VERY GOOD REASON.

What’s next? Well the results of the September 21st Bathymetric Survey performed by the department will be made available to all parties on April 3rd and by this I take it they mean both the survey itself as well as a revised minimum flows recommendation and contour report. This will be followed by a comment and question period. There was no mention of when the Findings of Fact will be requested.

04 March 2013: KJ Article in Today’s Paper

The long-awaited article by Paul Koenig, reporter for the Kennebec Journal is in today’s paper and it’s also available online at this address:

Accusations, legal briefs fly in battle over future of Clary Lake dam

There’s an opportunity to comment at the end of the article. Please do! I’ll offer my own review and comment later today.

Update: The article has also appeared in the Morning Sentinel, but without pictures:

Gloom prevalent tone on Clary Lake future

Can’t say as I like the title much. Gloom may be what Paul Kelley is feeling about now, but I’m quite elated 🙂

I’ve posted a PDF copy of the article.

28 February 2013: Water Level Measurements, Pictures, Server Issues

I’ve updated the Water level Chart for the first time in a week, and seeing as how it’s the end of the month, I’ve posted the February 2013 Water Level Chart which shows that the lake level stayed within a tight range the entire month, fluctuating only about ±1.5″ and ending the month just 1/2″ lower than it started. We received a total of 1.82″ of precipitation for the month.

Boy I’m ready for spring. I managed to crack a rib last weekend so I pretty much gave up on shoveling snow and chopping a hole in the ice to check the water level but when I checked today, there was actually some open water right along the shore so I was able to get an accurate measurement with no shoveling and no chopping.

I haven’t yet had a chance to scan the pictures that Jane Chase gave me last week, but I’ll get a round tuit as soon as I can- perhaps this weekend. I also still plan to put together a gallery of pictures Colin Caissie took during a cross country ski jaunt down the channel to the dam. I’ve spent most of my copious spare time recently working on the server that hosts this (and other) web sites. Some of you may have noticed the site either being slow to respond or not responding at all for a while. This resulted partly from a miss-allocation of resources and partly due to a lack of routine maintenance. These issues have been rectified so you shouldn’t see any more problems.

26 February 2013: DEP Decision and KJ Article Pending!

Senator Chris Johnson called me today to let me know he was told that the Department has drafted a decision on the motion to dismiss and that it is currently under review, presumably by folks in the Attorney General’s office.  I say presumably because Chris didn’t give me any details about whom he spoke to or what they told him. Obviously, he couldn’t tell me how long it will be before we hear something either. I’d like to think it will be sooner rather than later but having waited this long, I’m content to wait a little longer. It is good to know that the long wait is finally almost over.

At this point I’d rather not speculate further on what to expect, but assuming the DEP has decided NOT to dismiss the petition then processing of the petition will resume where it left off. This would include ruling on my motion to supplement the record with additional information, and setting a deadline for submission of our findings of fact.

I also spoke with Paul Koenig of the Kennebec Journal today- it looks like he will be writing an article that may appear in the KJ as early as this coming weekend. He said he’d let me know if/when he knew more, so stay tuned.

21 February 2013: Resumed Water Level Measurements, Etc.

With the warming trend and melting snow of late, I resumed making water level measurements  yesterday but with the snow storm due in this weekend I suspect I’ll knock off again for a while. I had to remind myself the other day why I’m making water level measurements: primarily I am interested in modeling the complex hydrological system that is Clary lake.  With its variable inflows from runoff and ground water and variable outflows depending on the status of the dam’s gate, how the lake rises and falls at any given time is anything but obvious.  There’s a lot to ponder and a lot to learn.

More pictures

Jane Chase has given me some more pictures that I will scan and add to the Chase Family Archive when I get a chance. Also, Colin Caissie has given me a CD full of photographs he Colin Caissie cross country skiingtook last week while cross country skiing down the channel to the dam. He is particularly concerned about the impact that ice flows are having on the shoreline: as result of the historically low water levels, ice flows are  plowing up soil,  sediments, and sensitive wetland vegetation around the lake. This has already resulted in erosion and sedimentation of the waters of Clary lake as well as the Sheepscot river, a serious condition that will accelerate this spring when ice and snow melts and outflows increase. If you will recall, I expressed similar concerns in a recent post with accompanying photographs in the Winter 2013 album. I’ll post some of Colin’s pictures soon.

18 February 2013: Suspending Water Level Measurements

I’m suspending water level measurements for a while- I went down to the lake this afternoon and just didn’t have it in me to dig through 3′ drifts of snow for 40′ to get out to where the water is. I’ll resume when it warms up a little and some snow melts. At last measure 2 days ago, the lake was down to 145.94′ or -56.40″ below the top of the dam.

Still no word from the DEP on a decision. It’s been 14 days since Senator Chris Johnson talked to Jerry Reid at the District Attorney’s office. It was suggested at that time that if we might hear something “in a couple of weeks.” I’ll look into getting an update later this week if we haven’t heard anything.