President Malcolm Burson and my wife Margaret and I attended yesterday’s Sale Motion hearing. Other parties in attendance were Butch Duncan, Richard Smith and Paul Kelley, counsel for the Clary Lake Association Randy Creswell, Bankruptcy Trustee Jeffrey T. Piampiano represented by Kaitlyn M. Husar, Esq., Assistant Attorney Generals Scott Boak and Kevin Crosman representing the Maine DEP, and attorney Dennis Carrillo representing Richard Smith and AQF. Regrettably, Paul Kelley’s bankruptcy attorney J. Scott Logan was not in attendance. Continue reading
05 July 2018: No Sale Today, Bankruptcy Case Continued
I had hope to be able to tell everyone today that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court had approved the sale of the Clary Lake dam to the Clary Lake Association, but that announcement is going to have to be postponed for a few weeks. Thanks to objections raised by Richard Smith and Paul Kelley, today’s hearing which should have resulted in a quick decision approving the sale instead turned into a day-long evidentiary hearing with numerous parties taking the stand and testifying, and being cross examined. Court started at 9 AM and finally adjourned at 4:30 PM. A hearing for oral arguments will scheduled sometime the week after next (the week of July 16th) at a time and place to be announced. While there is little question whether the judge will eventually approve the sale to the CLA, there are questions regarding the restrictive covenants which need to be answered. Smith’s and AQF’s objections to the sale and to the scraping of the covenants provided a considerable diversion today, but ultimately I have no doubt that we’ll end up owning the dam. Patience people. We’ve been waiting 7 years for this. A few more weeks won’t hurt.
I wanted to get something posted as soon as possible because I know there are lots of people anxiously awaiting word after today’s hearing. I’ll provide additional details about today’s hearing at a later date and will post an audio transcript of today’s hearing when it becomes available.
04 July 2018: Loon Chicks Missing
Both loon chicks have apparently gone missing, nobody has seen them since sometime late last week. I took some photographs of them one week ago, on Wednesday June 27th and I haven’t seen them since. They were spotted last Thursday, but I’ve received no reliable reports of sightings since then. Outlook not good. If you see them please email me.
Loon babies face many challenges growing up. Of those, predation by Bald Eagles and Snapping Turtles pose the greatest risk, and we have a healthy population of both predators in and around Clary Lake. Motor boats also pose a risk if the driver is inattentive, but so far, there haven’t been a lot of speed boats on Clary this summer. Even when they avoid death or injury from those common sources of danger, one loon chick all too often falls prey to its sibling as the result of competition for food and attention. Mother Nature can be cruel.
Incidentally, the 35th annual Audubon Loon Count will take place Saturday July 21st from 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM. The results of the count will be presented at the Annual Meeting on August 11th. We hope to see you there.
June 2018 Water Level Chart Archived
I have archived the June 2018 Water Level Chart (at left). The water level in June continued the steady decline seen in May though at a slightly reduced daily rate, up until the 28th of the month when we received a welcome 2.0″ of rainfall over 24 hours, which reversed the downward trend, barely. The ground has been so dry however that there was virtually no runoff from the precipitation event with the lake rising only 2.28″ as a result. In a normal year with normal rainfall and normal ground water supplies, that 2″ of rain would have brought the lake up close to a foot. Rainfall for the month was 3.67″ which is slightly above average, but for the year to date at 16.37″ we’re still a good 3″ shy of where we should be on this date.
On the bright side, the slower fall in lake level over the month contributed to a successful Loon nesting effort, with 2 chicks hatching out on the 24th of June.
28 June 2018: Bid Deadline Passed, No Bids No Auction
The deadline for the submission of competing bids on the Clary Lake dam was Noon today. There were no competing bids received so there will be no auction. I guess nobody but the Clary Lake Association wants the dam! Next stop: the July 5th hearing on the Sale Motion.
28 June 2018: Recent Filings in the Kelley Bankruptcy
There have been some filings in the past few days in the Paul Kelley bankruptcy case including 2 Proof of Claims (Ford Motor Credit and Preti Flaherty), a Request for Notice (from Butch Duncan), and an interesting Supplement in Support of the Sale Motion by the Maine DEP. I see ALL of these filings as favorable for our efforts to purchase the dam and it is particularly gratifying to have DEP be so strongly supportive of our plan to purchase the dam. Continue reading
27 June 2018: Loon Family Pictures
Well it turns out the loons had two chicks this year, not one as I originally thought. I went out this evening to get some pictures, and the loons cooperated happily. Even when I knew there were two I could often only see one. Having two loon babies is good because it increases the chances of one of them surviving to adulthood. On the downside, one almost always fails to thrive…
24 June 2018: Loons Have a Baby! [UPDATED]
For the second year in a row, our resident loon family has successfully hatched a baby loon. Just one this year rather than the usual 2. I noticed one parent or the other hanging around the nest area today and saw one loon, presumably the male, chasing another loon around in a classic loon “get out and stay out” territorial battle, and suspected that hatching was near. Please give them a wide berth.
[27 June UPDATE]: We have 2 loon babies! No idea how the second baby escaped notice this long, but it did. No pictures yet, but I clearly saw two babies when over visiting our Treasurer this morning.
24 June 2018: Update on Clary Lake Dam Purchase Initiative
Late last week we sent a letter out to our membership with an update on the Clary Lake dam purchase effort explaining where we are, what’s up ahead, and what to expect. We also sent the letter out by email to those members for whom we have email addresses, just to get the message out a little faster. If you’re a member and have given us your email address but did NOT receive the email, please check your spam folder! I’m not sure why, but typically only about 2/3 to 3/4 of the emails we send actually get opened, though in the unsolicited email world, that’s actually a pretty high response rate. Now that most people have received the letter, we wanted to post it here for general consumption since there are a lot more people than just CLA members who are anxiously awaiting news:
Dear Clary Lake Association Member:
At a hearing in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Portland on June 7, the judge approved bid procedures for the sale of the Clary Lake dam and scheduled a deadline for objections and bids of Noon on June 28. The court also scheduled a July 5 hearing date to act on the Sale Motion. Sale of property by a Bankruptcy Court is done by public auction, and we started the bidding process with our $80,000 offer for the dam when the Sale Motion was filed back on May 22. Anyone wishing to bid on the dam has until Noon on Thursday, June 28 to submit their bid along with a $20,000 cash deposit and further evidence of their ability to pay should they win the auction. The minimum bid required to beat our $80,000 offer has to be at least $93,400, an amount set in advance by the court (subsequent bids have to be at least $1000 higher than the previous bid). Should someone submit a valid bid before the deadline, an auction will be held at 2 PM on June 28 at the offices of Drummond Woodsum in Portland. If there is going to be an auction, we intend to take part in it.
We have never thought there would be any competing bids for the Clary Lake dam given the costly repairs, the underground tank (see below), and the Water Level Order which as been recently upheld by the Lincoln County Superior Court. Nonetheless, the Board feels and our attorney agrees that we would be remiss not to be prepared to respond should a bidder surface on June 28. At a meeting on June 14 the Board reaffirmed its commitment to owning the dam and agreed to compete in such a bidding process should the need arise.
We do want you to know that in the event that we are forced to bid higher in order to buy the dam, it will be necessary for us to raise additional funds so the repairs can go forward in a timely manner. You have already been incredibly generous, and we currently have no plans for a new fund raising campaign. However, if any of you have suggestions for additional funds that the Board might pursue, or might be willing yourself to contribute again, please let me or Secretary Fergusson know confidentially.
We fully expect the sale of the dam to the Clary Lake Association to be approved by the Court on July 5, and we plan to go ahead this summer with permanent repairs to the dam. To this end we have been working with an experienced contractor. On or about July 1st we’ll file the required Permit By Rule application with DEP to cover the work on the dam, which should commence around July 15 and take 2-3 weeks. As soon as we actually own the dam we’ll also be filing the necessary paperwork with DEP to transfer the Water Level Order to the Association. All Clary Lake shore owners and people who own land directly across the road from the lake will receive a notice in the mail of this proposed transfer this week. A legal notice will also appear in the Lincoln County News on June 21.
You may also have heard of the discovery of an abandoned fuel storage tank on the dam property. This tank was abandoned in the early 1960’s, we think, and by law must be removed at the land owner’s expense. In theory it would be Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s responsibility to deal with the tank but given that Mr. Kelley is in bankruptcy, that’s just not going to happen. We didn’t learn about the tank until after fundraising was already well underway, and after some investigation we concluded that it was not going to be an insurmountable obstacle to our purchase of the dam.
The Board is confident that we will be successful in our attempt to purchase the Clary Lake dam! We will send out an update immediately following the Court ruling on July 5th or when more information becomes available. Also keep an eye on the CLA website as we’ll likely post updates there as well. If you have questions, please get in touch.
Respectfully,
Malcolm Burson, President
Clary Lake Association
We’ve already received some favorable feedback from members affirming that yes, they want the dam, they want it fixed, and they want it soon and they’re willing to donate more money if necessary to accomplish our goal.
12 June 2018: Loon Nest Update
The loons are still sitting on their nest and while it’s sitting rather high out of the water, I think it’s still surrounded by water which is important for keeping predators away from the nest. The lake has fallen almost 5″ since I discovered the nest on May 31st. If the water falls too much or recedes too far from the nest, they’ll have to abandon it. For what it’s worth, the lake which just hit -48″ below the normal high water mark is now only falling about 1/4″ per day and any rain we receive will help slow the fall further. The biggest threat from fluctuating water levels is flooding and with yet another drought setting in, I don’t see flooding as a big risk this year.
I’m not sure when the loons laid their eggs so I don’t know when they’ll hatch but seeing as how they were sitting on May 31, barring complications the eggs should hatch around the last week of June. Gestation is around 27 days and can often stretch to 30. Fingers crossed.
I have not had a chance to get the Loon Nesting signs out but will try to get to it later this week. In the meantime, please avoid the marsh on the southwest corner of the lake by Route 126.
Roberta Dow Giampetruzzi 1924-2018
Roberta Dow Giampetruzzi 1924-2018
CASCO – Roberta Dow Giampetruzzi, 93, passed away peacefully at her daughter, Nina’s, home on Panther Pond in Raymond, during the early morning hours of Friday, May 25, 2018. Roberta was the first child of Mildred Plummer Dow and Robert E. Dow born Oct. 13, 1924. She was born in Brunswick and raised in Augusta. She had one sister, Arolyn Dow Antognoni.
From an early age Roberta demonstrated a strong curiosity or learning and academics and a force of will to set and accomplish goals. She often recalled with pride an early success to become the first chair violinist in the Cony High School orchestra. She received Bachelor of Arts Degree in Romance Languages from the University of Maine, Orono.
Roberta met Nino Giampetruzzi at UMO and they married in 1946. She was a devoted mother and raised six children: Janet Blessing, Peter (Sue), David (Carol Sue), Nina (Robert) Kamman, Robert (Joann) and Steven (Ann). They made their home on Center Street in Portland where Nino owned and operated Felice’s Market. Continue reading
June 7, 2018 Bankruptcy Court Hearing Audio
At the U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing held yesterday afternoon in Portland, Judge Michael A. Fagone denied the Trustee’s Motion for Substantive Consolidation but approved the bid procedures and scheduled dates for the auction and the Sale Motion hearing. Sale Objections and competing bids are due by NOON on June 28, 2018. The auction will be held on June 28, 2018 at 2:00 pm at the Portland offices of Drummond Woodsum. The Sale Motion hearing will be held July 5, 2018 at 9:00 AM at the Bankruptcy Courtroom at 537 Congress Street.
Having the motion for substantive consolidation denied was not a setback to our plans to buy the dam. There are other, less extreme means to accomplish the same thing as substantive consolidation. The hearing was fascinating and covered a lot of ground. Here is an audio recording of the proceedings. It lasted almost 2 hours:
Besides the Trustee, the lawyers, and the legal assistants, the hearing was attended by Paul Kelley (with counsel) and Richard Smith (representing himself). The Judge has allowed Smith’s Objection to stand despite being filed late, but has not decided whether Aquafortis Associates LLC will require counsel or if it can represent itself. Butch Duncan was also at the hearing.
07 June 2018: Smith & Aquafortis File Objections in Bankruptcy Court
Yesterday afternoon Richard Smith and Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] together filed objections to the the sale motion and motion for substantive consolidation filed by the Bankruptcy Trustee in the Paul A. Kelley Jr. Bankruptcy proceeding back on May 22nd. The deadline for objections was actually the previous day, Tuesday, June 5th. Smith and AQF are representing themselves (pro se). There is a hearing on the bid procedures and the motion for substantive consolidation today at 2:00 PM in Portland, which I will be attending. I’ll provide an update on the hearing as soon as I can. Here, without comment, is the latest filing:
02 June 2018: Donations Continue
Please join me in thanking the Chickawaukee Ice Boat Club for their $500 donation to our campaign to raise money to buy and repair the Clary Lake dam! My friend Bill Bunting stopped by the other day to say the club would be donating to our fund, and this morning the check arrived. It is very gratifying to see this level of community support for our efforts to restore Clary Lake.
I enjoy ice boating, the picture at left is of me sailing on Clary 2 winters ago in a Lockley Skimmer. I’d like to get my hands on a nice little DN Class boat sometime. And a helmet.
And yes, we’re still accepting donations 🙂
02 June 2018: More Filings in the Bankruptcy Sale Proceeding
There were two filings made Friday June 1st in the Bankruptcy Sale proceeding by J. Scott Logan Esq, counsel for Debtor Paul Kelley. The first filing, document #30, is an objection to the Motion to Sell and doesn’t contain any great surprises. The other filing, Exhibit A (document #31) is a letter from attorney Sarah McDaniel on behalf of Butch Duncan addressed to Bankruptcy Trustee Jeffrey T. Piampiano and it’s a bit of a head-scratcher:
- #30 DEBTOR’S SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSE TO TRUSTEE’S MOTION TO SELL
- #31 DEBTOR’S SUPPLEMENTAL RESPONSE EXHIBIT A
Debtor’s Objection to the Sale Motion is interesting. And short (only 2 pages). Not surprisingly, the Debtor (Paul Kelley) opposes the sale of the dam without the “water level covenants” (the restrictive covenants) but doesn’t give any good reasons for keeping them other than stating that the “covenants pertain to environmental benefits and should not be stripped off as a matter of public policy.” What does that even mean? How does draining 300 acres of prime wetlands result in environmental benefits? Since Kelley will no longer own the dam and claims he has nothing to do with and no interest in Aquafortis Associates LLC, or their property, why should he care if the covenants remain in place? Continue reading
31 May 2018 Bankruptcy Court Update: State Files Response in Support of Trustee’s Motions
Representing the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Assistant Attorney General Kevin Crosman, Esq. has filed a brief with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in response to motions filed last week by Bankruptcy Trustee Jeffrey Piampiano, Esq. The State fully supports the Motion for Substantive Consolidation, the Motion to Sell, and the proposed bid procedures with respect to the bankruptcy sale of the Clary Lake dam. It is very helpful having the Maine Department of Environmental Protection take this position.
The State’s Response Brief is short, concise, and to the point:
May 2018 Water Level Chart Archived
May 2018
I have archived the May 2018 Water Level Chart (at left). What is particularly notable about the May chart is the steady decline of the lake level over the course of the month, falling from -18.24″ below the Normal High Water Mark [“NHWM”] on May 1st to -43.44″ below the NHWM on May 31st. That’s a total drop of 25.2″ in 31 days or about 0.8″ per day. Not once did the lake level rise, or remain stable. The reason for this steady decline in the water level was due to a lack of rainfall and of course, because the gate is wide open. As dry as it has been, the little rain we did receive didn’t slow down the rate at which the lake was falling one bit. During the first half of the month water was also exiting the lake through the hole in the dam.
We received only 1.17″ of rain in May or 2.5″ less than the May average of 3.7″ which puts us fully 3.2″ shy of rainfall for the year to date. It looks like we’re headed for another dry summer. For some reason, the National Integrated Drought Information System is showing us as WET which does not jive with my understanding.
31 May 2018: Loon Family Nesting again on Clary Lake
Loon Nest May 31 2018
Margaret and I spotted this year’s loon nest yesterday evening, it’s located over on the southwest corner of Clary Lake not far from Route 126. I haven’t checked yet, but it’s undoubtedly visible from the road. This is the same place they tried to nest back in 2012, a nesting effort that failed when heavy rains caused the lake level to rise, flooding the nest (pictures in the Summer 2012 photo gallery). That year the loons attempted to nest a second time over on the north shore in the more traditional location (See News from 2012) but a falling water level resulted in that nest being abandoned as well. The loons didn’t even try to nest again until the summer of 2016.
Please give the nest a wide berth as much as possible. We’ll put the Loon Nesting signs out shortly, and I’ll try and get some better pictures.
The Summer 2018 Newsletter is in the Mail!
No really! The Clary Lake Association’s Summer 2018 Newsletter went in the mail last Thursday afternoon and I have just added it to the Newsletter Archive. Many of you will have received it by now and you might notice it’s only 4 pages this year rather than the usual 6, that’s because a) I got a late start on it and b) I’ve been too “dam” busy, if you catch my drift. Actually it’s always been a challenge for me to write copy for the newsletter, and I’d love to have people contribute in the future. If you’d like to help out with or contribute to future newsletters, consider joining the Newsletter Committee. Contact me and we can talk about it. Eventually I’d like to get back to sending two newsletters per year. Continue reading
25 May 2018: Rest In Peace, Roberta Giampetruzzi
I got a call this afternoon from my old friend, Robert Giampetruzzi. He called to tell me that his mother, Roberta Giampetruzzi died last night after losing a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 93.
Robert and I are roughly the same age with birthdays only a few weeks apart. We met in the summer in 1957 or 1958 when our parents arranged for Robert and I to share a birthday party together. I can still remember the gathering in the garage by the middle cottage. Robert and I became close friends and spent our summers growing up together on and around Clary Lake, swimming, fishing, boating, and camping out, and, as boys will occasionally do, getting in trouble. Roberta was like a second mother to me and she treated me like one of her own children. And boy could she cook! “Life’s too short not to be Italian” she’d say.
One summer when I was 12 or 13 Robert and I were horsing around as boys will, and I fell out of a tree and broke my arm. Roberta comforted me, wrapped my arm up in a folded newspaper, and delivered me down the road to my parents who took me to Gardiner General to get my broken arm set.
Robert said he’d send me a picture of Roberta and an obituary when it’s ready, which I will post here. Roberta has been a generous member of the Clary Lake Association for as long as I can remember, and I wanted to post something immediately to let people know of her passing.