Category Archives: Petition News

News about the Clary Lake water level petition

07 June 2013: It’s Comment Deadline Friday :)

mema-customToday is the deadline for submission of comments on the material distributed as an addendum to Procedural Order 5 back on 9 April. Comments were originally due on 9 May but on 7 May, DEP granted Paul Kelley a 30 day extension. Kelley requested another 30+ day extension late last week. That request was denied.

There were two documents distributed with the addendum, the new minimum flows recommendation “Clary Lake Assessment” and Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) comments. Theoretically comments due today could be on either document, but Kelley and I have already submitted comments on the minimum flows recommendation so this deadline is all about Dam Safety.

Kelley would appear to be having an apoplectic fit around the issue of dam safety. From his second appeal to DEP for an extension to the comment period:

“The DEP’s post-hearing actions seem to indicate that the department is apparently contemplating using unchallenged “data” to a) impose not only a new definition of “normal high water”, but b) to do so in an effort to impose a Water Level Order impounding in excess of three quarters of a BILLION gallons of water behind an uninsurable, 110 year old breached dam, and pointing it, like a loaded gun, at a federally designated National Register property AND a federally designated Endangered Species spawning ground directly downstream.”

A bit overly dramatic, don’t you think? And the real irony? That Kelley owns that “loaded gun” 🙂 And Kelley expects us to believe he doesn’t have an interest in that “federally designated National Register property” and even more laughable, that he actually cares about a “federally designated Endangered Species spawning ground.” What does he think we are- stupid?

For my part, I had not intended to prepare any comments on the MEMA report because I couldn’t think of anything to say. However, since Kelley is making such a big deal about it, I feel I must say *something* so I’m working on a short set of remarks. In the mean time, I wait with anticipation for Kelley to submit his tirade on dam safety and his indictment of MEMA for failing to take the safety of the Clary Lake dam and the high-water risk to his downstream property seriously. It’s sure to be a “classic Kelley” tirade.

05 June 2013 Lincoln County News: DEP denies request for comment extension

newspaper_bw-customThere’s an article in this weeks Lincoln County News authored by Shlomit Auciello and Dominik Lobkowicz which covers both the Whitefield Public Meeting held on last May 30th and DEP’s 04 June denial of Paul Kelley’s motion for extension to the existing comment period. The article, which does a good job of covering the details, hasn’t appeared in the online version of the paper yet. I expect it will be on the website tomorrow at which time I’ll post a link.

04 June 2013 DEP Procedural Order 6: Kelley’s Motion for Extension Denied

denied-customIn a surprise move barely 30 minutes after Paul Kelley reiterated his desire for an extension, DEP issued Procedural Order #6 denying Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s recent motion for an additional extension to the current comment period. It was sent to the Service list by Mark Margerum in Beth Callahan’s absence.  The order was signed by Heather Parent and includes an updated Service List. To summarize:

The Department finds that the potential future inspection of the Dam by MEMA or any other dam inspector is not sufficient reason to delay these proceedings. The Department further finds that PPM has not established sufficient justification for a second extension of the comment period.

This notwithstanding a last-minute desperate attempt (complete with veiled threat) from Paul Kelley, sent by him to the Service list almost exactly 1/2 hour before the release of Procedural Order 6. In his email cover letter addressed to Dawn Hallowell, Kelley states (emphasis mine):

“The June 7 (this Friday) deadline fast approaches for party comments on MEMA’s clearly incomplete/erroneous post-hearing position. PPM respectfully asks for an expeditious answer from you or Ms. Parent, obviating the need for PPM to either comment without relevant data, or to take other immediately available steps to ensure that issues of safety are properly addressed. Thank you.”

Well that sure sounds like a veiled threat to me.  I wonder what “other immediately available steps” are? I’m sure we’ll find out. Anyways here is Kelley’s reply to my objection to his extension request:

Kelley continues his rant about dam safety, pulling out all the stops, and ends with a request for a “timely answer” to his motion for extension. Well he got it, 30 minutes later. I’d call that timely 🙂 Clearly, DEP doesn’t agree with him. I think I may move Kelley’s reply to my objection into a separate post so I can give it more attention.

FYI I separated out the Service List from the Procedural Order and I am making it available here for those of you who with a program and want to stay current 🙂

03 June 2013: Petitioners’ Response to PPM request for additional extension to comment period

just-say-no_0I have just submitted Petitioner’s response to Paul Kelley’s latest attempt to divert, delay, and stall the Clary Lake water level petition. I am of course referring to his 30 May 2013 request for yet another extension to the current comment period. This attempt to delay things, unlike his previous attempts, rests on flimsy and unsubstantial grounds except that no one is laughing, least of all me and I don’t imagine anyone at DEP thinks it particularly funny either. I can’t even begin to imagine DEP taking it seriously.  It also appears to have fallen on deaf ears and I probably didn’t have to write anything. But I did.

Petitioners’ Response to PPM request for additional extension to comment period

Kelley is caught between a rock and a hard place. Last Wednesday, Project Manager Beth Callahan sent around an email announcing she was going on vacation and would be out of the office starting June 3rd and returning to work on the 13th. The next day Thursday Paul Kelley posted to the Service List a request for a 30 day extension to the 07 June 2013 deadline of the current comment period. He asked that DEP “take all necessary steps to swiftly accommodate this scheduling request” which I guess means “spend your last day at work before vacation taking care of this.” Sadly (for Paul Kelley) on Friday Beth Callahan did not swiftly accommodate anything but plans for her vacation because there has been no word from DEP, today is the 3rd of June, Beth Callahan is on vacation and won’t be back until the 13th, the deadline for the current comment period is June 7th, and Paul Kelley can kiss his request for extension goodbye.

My advice to Paul Kelley: Hurry up and get your comments in, you have until the end of the day Friday.

30 May 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC requests ANOTHER extension of June 7 comment period

finger-in-dikePaul Kelley has just submitted a motion to the Service List requesting an additional 30 day extension for to the current comment period for party replies which ends on June 7th. This would make the new deadline July 7th. His reason for requesting this is two-fold:

  1.  He has asked the Maine Emergency Management Agency to have State dam inspector Tony Fletcher inspect the Clary Lake dam; However Mr. Fletcher is on vacation until June 10th. MEMA staff have suggested they’ll schedule a dam inspection upon his return from vacation.
  2. Mr. Kelley has turned the Clary Lake Association’s request to get an engineering assessment of the dam into an opportunity to further delay these proceedings, citing ongoing negotiations with David Hodsdon. Kelley states in his letter that “Discussion of possible details of scope of work, scheduling, reporting and payment have been initiated, and a delay in these proceedings would facilitate those discussions, and a potential report.”

Pleasant Pond Mill LLC requests ANOTHER extension of June 7 comment period

Neither reason is sufficient to justify further delay of these proceedings. If the Department had wanted a dam inspection by the State Dam Inspector to be part of these proceedings, they would have ordered one.

As for his second reason Mr. Kelley is delusional if he thinks anyone in the Association including David Hodsdon will agree to further delays in the processing of this petition for any reason including “on going negotiations. Nice try Mr. Kelley. Negotiate faster, Mr. Kelley.

In his letter Mr. Kelley cites ongoing discussions with David Hodsdon. David Hodsdon is a long-time valued member of the Association but at this time he holds no elected position. He has chosen to spend his own time talking privately with Mr. Kelley on this matter to see what might be accomplished and while this is commendable, he has done so without the express authorization of the Board. Consequently, David Hodsdon does not represent the Clary Lake Association in this matter and I sincerely doubt that David will appreciate having his overture to Kelley used by him as a reason to delay these proceedings. In any case, I have also spoken to Ellis Percy, author of the original letter to Mr. Kelley requesting permission to have Kleinschmidt & Associates conduct an engineering assessment of the Clary Lake dam. To date, Mr. Kelley has not openly acknowledged receiving such as letter and Mr. Percy has received no written communication from Mr. Kelley on this matter at all. It came as a surprise to him to hear that the Clary Lake Association was engaged in negotiations with Mr. Kelley. Mr. Percy intends to officially withdraw the Clary Lake Association request in regard an engineering study.

I will of course be preparing a Petitioner’s Response to this motion for extension, strongly urging the Department deny the request.

28 May 2013: Whitefield Selectmen Speak Out, Write DEP Commissioner Aho [Updated]

speech-baloon_1The Whitefield Selectmen have written a letter to DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho urging a speedy and proper conclusion of the Clary Lake water level petition. I got an advance copy of it which was to be approved and signed at tonight’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Whitefield Board of Selectmen (letter updated 29 May 2013):

It’s a good letter. It lets the Department know, in case there was any doubt, that the town of Whitefield is following this issue and is interested in the outcome. The message is clear: follow the letter of the law, but please follow it faster.

Copies of the letter will be sent to Senator Christopher Johnson, Representative Deborah Sanderson, the Town of Jefferson, Pleasant Pond Mill LLC, and myself. It is reassuring to see the Whitefield Selectmen taking an active interest in and speaking out publicly in support of the Clary Lake water level petition.

16 May 2013 Lincoln County News Article: Pleasant Pond Mill asks for new dam hearing

paperYet another article has appeared in this week’s Lincoln County News  about Kelley’s request for a new hearing and my objection to it. Seems like every week there’s something in one paper or another. Shlomit Auciello is doing a pretty good job of reporting on a complicated and confusing situation:

Pleasant Pond Mill asks for new dam hearing

No comments on the article at this time.

13 May 2013: Petitioner’s Response to Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s request for a new hearing

just-say-noI have just sent my response to Kelley’s request for a new hearing to the Service List. It’s short. DEP has already defended their decision to conduct the bathymetric survey and have decisively ruled on Kelley’s repeated objections to it. Kelley apparently can’t take no for an answer. DEP was not willing to revisit and revise the survey at my request and I see no reason now why they should approve Kelley’s request to reopen the hearing which would only waste valuable time, resources, and money.

Petitioner’s Response to Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s request for a new hearing

As usual, Since Pleasant Pond Mill LLC is not on the service list, Kelley will learn of my response by reading this post unless someone cares enough to send him a copy of my email. Far be it from me to add his address to the Service List. That’s DEP’s job, they maintain the list and publish it. I just post to it. One of these days DEP will wise up to the fact that Pleasant Pond Mill LLC is still represented by PretiFlaherty in name only.

Incidentally, today is the drop-dead day for Kelley to supply the State with proof that he has sufficient right, title, and interest in the Clary Lake dam to satisfy the statutory requirements for transferring the the property under the Petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance. As I understand it, if he can’t show that he owns the flowage rights, they’ll dismiss his petition. What are the chances Kelley has been able to come up with the flowage rights in the last couple of weeks? I’m guessing slim to none. Stay tuned.

09 May 2013 Lincoln County News Article: Dam Owner, Petitioner Spar Over Status Of Breach

newspaper-salesman-1flip-customShlomit Auciello has written another excellent article for this week’s Lincoln County News on the ongoing Clary Lake Water Level Petition. The in-depth article covers the matter of Kelley’s recent request for an extension of the deadline for comments and my objection to it and quotes my letter to the DEP objecting to the request almost in it’s entirety. The Clary Lake Water Level Petition story has certainly arrived, it is now entertainment for the masses. People will be clamoring for the next installment 🙂

Here’s a link to the paper’s online version:

LCN: Dam Owner, Petitioner Spar Over Status Of Breach

Here’s a PDF hosted on Google Drive:

Dam Owner, Petitioner Spar Over Status Of Breach

09 May 2013: Petitioner’s Comments on Clary Lake Assessment (minimum flows recommendation)

bam-customI have just submitted my comments on the Clary Lake Assessment (minimum flows recommendation) which was one of the two documents included in the ADDENDUM to the bathymetric survey released by the Department on 09 April 2013. I’m not sure my comments are really worthy of a BAM! thumbnail but it seemed appropriate. This is the 3rd submission this week. A short 3-word summary of my position on the new Clary Lake Assessment: Almost Good Enough:

Petitioner’s Comments on Clary Lake Assessment (minimum flows recommendation)

Here’s the revised Clary Lake Assessment if you want to follow along. The other document in the release were comments by the Maine Emergency Management Agency regarding their hazard classification of Clary Lake dam. I wasn’t going to submit comments on them, but they’ve sure got Paul Kelley’s undies in a bunch so maybe I’ll take advantage of the 30 extension to the comment period and write something up.

08 May 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill requests new hearing

kelley-headshot2Taking advantage of an offer made by the Department when they issued Procedural Order #5 dated March 4 2013, Paul Kelley has requested a new hearing. I only scanned the letter so I don’t have much to say about it now. I will have  more to say later I’m sure. I am assuming that DEP will grant the request since they gave us the option of calling for a new hearing but I suppose it’s always possible that they will decide his request for a new hearing is not justified and deny it. We’ll see. In any case, I guess I’m not surprised he has taken this step.

He also submitted an additional document which seems to be a summary of his objections to the bathymetric survey. Not too sure what to call it so I’ll just use his RE: line

08 May 2013: DEP Grants PPM Request for extension to file comments

The following email just came in from Beth Callahan, project manager for the Clary Lake Water Level Petition. DEP is granting PPM’s request for an extension. So much for the power of positive thinking.

Dear Mr. Kelley,

 The Department has considered your request for an extension of 30 days to reply to review agency comments that were sent to parties on April 9, 2013.  The Department will allow no more than 30 days from today’s date to review and comment on the documentation.  Please submit your comments regarding the review agency documentation no later than June 7, 2013.

On the bright side, it’s only 30 days and it will fly by as have the last 30 days, and the 30 days before that.

08 May 2013: Petitioners Closing Remarks on the Bathymetric Survey

bugsToday is the due date for final comments on the bathymetric survey. I’ve just submitted mine. Not a lot to say about this. As I state in my letter, I stand by my original comments but agree with the Department decision that putting more time and energy into this is not warranted at this time. There are bigger fish to fry.

Petitioners Closing Remarks on the Bathymetric Survey

I have no idea whether Paul Kelley intends to submit additional comments about the survey or not. I wouldn’t be surprised as he can’t really afford to pass up any opportunity to lob another wrench into the works, not that it will do him any good at this point. Kelley’s thrusts at the Department’s midsection are easily deflected it appears. We’ll know by the end of the day if he’s going to take another useless and futile jab at them over this issue.

Next Up: Tomorrow I’ll be submitting Petitioner’s comments on the Clary Lake Assessment (minimum flows recommendation) or perhaps this afternoon if I can finish them up. I assume we’ll hear from DEP soon denying Kelley’s request for an extension to file comments. It would be appropriate I think for them to put off responding to him until about 4:55 pm tomorrow afternoon, leaving him with 5 minutes to submit something. That’s what I would do 🙂

Is everyone happy with me posting documents to Google Drive? It’s a whole lot more convenient for me, my only concern is whether people are having trouble viewing and/or downloading them from time to time. If you are, please let me know.

07 May 2013: Petitioner’s Response to PPM request for additional time to comment

haha-transparentI’ve sent my formal response to yesterday’s request by Pleasant Pond Mill LLC for an extension of time to reply to the material released by the Department on 9 April 2013. It was the most enjoyable letter I’ve had the pleasure of writing in months. I suppose I should thank Paul Kelley for the opportunity to put it out there for the world to see just what I think of him and his shenanigans but as much fun as it was, it was a waste of my and everyone else’s valuable time. I don’t take kindly to that. Neither does DEP. I am confident they will tell Paul Kelley what to do with his request for additional time to comment.

Petitioner’s response to PPM request to delay comments

Ironically, Paul Kelley will have to download my response from this web site unless Anthony Buxton is nice enough to forward emails sent to the service list to him, as he is still the official contact for Pleasant Pond Mill LLC.

06 May 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC requests extension of deadline for filing comments

darth_vaderIn yet another letter with more foot notes than actual verbiage, Paul Kelley makes a formal request with the Department for an extension of the time to file comments on the Clary Lake Assessment currently due May 9th. Mr. Kelley seems to be objecting to comments made by Mark Hyland of the Maine Emergency Management Agency that the Agency has no opinion on whether the dam should be breached, whereas Mr. Kelley maintains that the dam is already breached. Mr. Kelley wants to put everything off until June 6th to give Mr. Hyland time to respond to a letter Kelley is supposedly hand-delivering to him today.

Seems like yet another patently obvious attempt by Mr. Kelley to stall, obfuscate, and delay petition processing. I will be drafting a response to Kelley’s request vigorously objecting to it on as many grounds as I can think of, which is a whole lot. Anyways, here’s Kelley’s request:

There were two other documents attached to the email, a copy of the comments from MEMA and copies of emails Kelley previously obtained by FOA request. You’ve probably already seen them but for sake of completeness, here are links to them:

Kelley apparently has figured out how to send email to the Service List directly as opposed to sending them to PretiFlaherty and having them forward his correspondence to the list. I guess my chiding him for that behavior paid off. Congratulations Paul. Now there is no pretense at all that Kelley’s correspondence is being prepared by anyone but Kelley himself.

02 May 2013 LCN Article: Ownership Questions Face Potential Dam Owners

newspaper_bw-customShlomit Auciello has written an excellent article appearing in this weeks Lincoln County News covering the Whitefield Selectmen’s Informational Meeting held last Tuesday night. The purpose of the meeting was to provide members of the public with information about the petition filed by Pleasant Pond Mill LLC for release from dam ownership, and to answer questions. I’ve already written several posts about the meeting. Here’s the online version of the article:

Ownership Questions Face Potential Dam Owners

One thing this article clears up for me was how Paul Kelley could say at the meeting that he’d not received either Clary Lake Association’s offer on the dam or their request for permission to obtain an engineering assessment on the dam despite both letters having been mailed to his Camden office Monday morning and emailed to his personal email address the same day. Kelley told Ms. Auciello that he does not accept business correspondence at that email address. Oh. I understand. My bad!

A local copy of the article if you want to download a PDF:

Ownership Questions Face Potential Dam Owners

01 May 2013: DEP Response to Comments on the bathymetric survey

The Department has responded to the comments filed by the Petitioners (me) and Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (Paul Kelley):

DEP 5-1-13 Response to comments on the bathymetric survey

In a nutshell: the Department blew us both off. In the case of Paul Kelley’s diatribe about closed records and administrative procedures, such a response was expected. However I am disappointed but not that surprised that the Department chose to ignore my request that they review their model.

Pursuant to Procedural Order #5, parties may provide additional comments on the bathymetric data no later than May 8, 2013.

They also sent along a revised Service List:

Service List 1 May 2013

29 April 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC objects to Petitioner’s recently submitted comments

kelley-headshotThis just in from the Service List: Paul Kelley has filed a motion to strike the comments I made on the bathymetric survey almost 2 weeks ago. He justifies his motion on the basis that my comments are are an attempt to introduce “extraneous & unverified data” into a “closed administrative record.” In other words, more objections on procedures just like his comments on the bathymetric survey. As with his last comments, he emailed them to Melissa A. O’Neal, Special Projects Coordinator at PretiFlaherty and asked HER to send them to the Service List. This document was not prepared by a PretiFlaherty lawyer.

PPM_H Parent_MOT to STRIKE_042913

He also included a copy of the recent KJ article in his email, taking exception to a comment I made in it.

Dang. I worked so hard on those comments.

29 April 2013: Clary Lake Association makes offer on the Clary Lake Dam

As anticipated, on behalf of the Clary Lake Association, Ellis Percy has made a formal offer on the Clary Lake dam. Normally such an offer would be kept private between the parties at least initially but Mr. Kelley has taken this whole mess public by his filing of a petition under MRS Title 38, Chapter 5 §901; Mr. Kelley wishes to obtain relief from dam ownership and has asked the State for their help in finding a new owner. This is no longer a private matter, it is a matter of public concern. The towns of Whitefield and Jefferson will be holding public meetings to discuss the matter of dam ownership and it’s price will certainly be discussed in these public forums. Various State agencies will be consulted. Presumably there will be other offers on the dam. Public offers. Here’s ours.

Clary Lake Association Dam Offer

The Association has also sent a letter to Mr. Kelley requesting permission to obtain an engineering assessment of the dam:

Request for permission to conduct study

Our rationale is that regardless of who ends up owning the dam, it will need repairs and a current engineering assessment of it’s condition will be crucial to that end. To my knowledge, there has never been a comprehensive engineering assessment of the dam made so such an initiative is way over due. The Association anticipates hiring Kleinschmidt Associates of Pittsfield Maine who is familiar with the dam, we’ll pay for the assessment, and we will make the results available to whomever requires them. We see no reason why Mr. Kelley will not authorize us to pursue this activity at his earliest opportunity.

27 April 2013: Association Board Meeting Resounding Success

minutesThe Association board meeting held today at the home of Ellis Percy was well attended and quite productive. Members in attendance were Ellis Percy (President), Malcolm Burson (Vice President), Margaret Fergusson (Secretary), Linda Gallion (Treasurer), Jack Holland, Tom Vigue, George Fergusson, David Knight, and Bob Antognoni (Board members, each and every one), and Sue McKeen, visiting Association member. There was lively discussion and a lot of business conducted, including the following items of note (these aren’t the minutes, they’re from my notes):

  • The Annual meeting of the Clary Lake Association will be held at 2 PM on Saturday August 3rd 2013 at the home of Bob Antognoni on Robert E. Dow road, in Jefferson. Bob, his daughter Mary, and Linda Gallion will be taking care of planning the event.
  • A Nominations Committee was formed to be chaired by Trudi Hodgkins. Sue McKeen has also joined that committee. They’re looking for a 3rd member. Terms are for 2 years. The role of the committee is to come up with names of people to be voted on at the annual meeting. I’ll be posting a list of positions to be filled soon.
  • A Fund Raising Committee was formed to be chaired by Margaret Fergusson. Jane Chase will be joining the committee in June and I will be a consulting member. The board also authorized the Fund Raising Committee to work with me to set up an online fund raising and ultimately, a membership subscription system. I’m pretty excited about this!
  • A Membership Committee was formed to be chaired at least initially by Margaret Fergusson (someone had to do it) at least until someone else agrees to take that role. Malcolm Burson and Sue Mckeen have agreed to be members. The Membership committee is still looking for additional members.
  • As expected, a decision was made for Ellis Percy as President to make a formal (and public) written offer on the Clary Lake dam. The terms of the offer were discussed and agreed upon. It will be going in the mail on Monday.
  • The board authorized me to request permission from Pleasant Pond Mill LLC to conduct an engineering assessment of the Clary Lake dam and to contact Kleinschmidt Associates in Pittsfield Maine for an estimate of the cost of such an assessment in time for a vote by the board at their next meeting which will be in about 3 weeks. The thinking is that regardless of the outcome of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s petition or the Clary Lake water level petition, and regardless of who ends up owning the dam, a complete and current engineering assessment of the dam will be invaluable in planning repairs to the structure. The Association will fund this endeavor and make the results available to any parties interested (I just got off the phone with Paul and he has asked for a request from the Association in writing signed by the President. And so it shall be).
  • The next board meeting will be 18 May 2013 again at the home of Ellis Percy, at 2 PM. This meeting is not expected to be as well attended as today’s was and the agenda will be much shorter. One more board meeting will likely be scheduled before the annual meeting.
  • The board reviewed and approved a new Clary Lake Association letterhead.

The board also discussed Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s petition and what the likely outcome of it will be as well as the role the Association and the towns might or might not play in that outcome. We also discussed the current status of the Clary Lake water level petition and what the likely outcome of THAT will be. We agreed to work on developing a contingency plan designed to address each of the handful of potential scenarios that are likely to play out this summer. The plan will consist among other things of steps the Association is prepared to take, and more importantly, is authorized to take. The idea is to be flexible, and be prepared. Wish us luck.