Last spring I made time lapse video using campics from the original ClaryCam showing the 2015 ice-out event. I decided to do that again, because I can. This video actually covers 2 days, March 12 and 13 with most of the night time images NOT included, because boring. Not much happens on the first day but the wind really picks up midday on the 13th:
13 March 2016: Ice Out on Clary Lake
Clary Lake Ice Out 3-13-16
David Hodsdon usually makes the official ice-out determination but I haven’t heard from him today and according to my precise calculations, today Clary Lake became completely ice-free. The northwest end of the lake from the outlet around the point at the end of Duncan Road has been ice-free for some days but the southern side which gets less direct sunlight was still mostly iced in until yesterday. Today’s high winds (see above) rapidly broke up and dispersed the remaining ice sheets. Today marks the earlier start of the open water season on Clary Lake going as far back as 2001, when our records start. The criterion for ice-out is when the lake is sufficiently free of ice that one can boat round the lake within a few feet of shore (essentially completely free of ice).
According to the Clary Lake Water Level Order, at ice-out the lake level should be at or very near the “normal historical high water mark” of the lake which has been determined by DEP survey to be at an elevation of 151.2′ which corresponds with the top of the dam. The lake level is supposed to be maintained at that elevation or as close to it as possible through the end of July to provide a stable water level to maintain fish and waterfowl breeding habitat. Unfortunately, the lake level is currently a little more than 2 feet below that elevation and falling and with no snow pack to provide spring runoff, we’re entirely dependent on spring rains to keep the lake level from falling too far, too fast. I’m not very optimistic.
I’ll post a time lapse video of this year’s ice-out shortly. I can’t wait to get my boat in the water.
Avian Haven’s 2015 Year End Report Now Available
American Bittern
[dropcap]The[/dropcap] Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center’s 2015 Year End Report is now available and has been posted on the Avian Haven website. The report is packed with pictures and fascinating stories of their rescue efforts through the year and makes for a very enjoyable read. The picture at left is of a juvenile American Bittern from their website. Avian Haven has been in existence since 1999 and are currently handling about 2000 rescue cases a year, making them one of the largest rehabilitation practices in New England. Avian Haven is a non-profit organization located on the Palermo Road in Freedom, Maine. They’re great folks, doing an amazing job caring for sick and injured birds of all sorts. In addition to the Avian Haven website, you can also follow them on their Facebook page. Enjoy the report!
05 March 2016: Law Court Dismisses PPM Appeal
The appeal filed with the Law Court back in late February by counsel for Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) was dismissed last Tuesday, March 1st because the appeal was deemed to be “interlocutory” which is a term referring to an interim ruling issued before the conclusion of a suit. While it is certainly good news, one shouldn’t try to read too much into this decision: it is not uncommon for a Law Court to dismiss an appeal of a lower court ruling while the underlying suit is still being heard. Consequently, this dismissal isn’t really unexpected but it is interesting that the dismissal was issued so quickly. PPM’s Motion to Stay the appeal, filed last Monday, February 29th, has also been dismissed as moot.
So what all this means is that when the appeal of the Clary Lake Water Level Order in Superior Court resumes at the conclusion of the current stay on March 26th, it will proceed without the benefit of Paul Kelley/PPM being a party to it.
Things do seem to be proceeding at a fast pace.
03 March 2016: PretiFlaherty Files Motions for Stays of Suits
[dropcap]Last[/dropcap] Monday, February 29th attorneys representing Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) and Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) filed motions requesting a Stay of Proceedings in two pending suits, the February 2014 Water Level Order appeal in Superior Court (No. AP-14-1) and the recently filed appeal of the recent lower court’s ruling in the Maine Supreme Court (No. LIN-16-63). The stay requests are for 30 days and end on March 26th. The Law Court action was initiated when Pleasant Pond Mill LLC appealed the January 25th Superior Court ruling granting the State’s motion to dismiss (see PPM Appeals Superior Court Ruling on Motion to Dismiss).
Stay tuned.
01 March 2016: ClaryCam1 Back in Service
ClaryCam1 is back in service thanks to a free replacement IP camera that arrived by Fedex today. You’ll find current webcam pictures for both cameras on the Clary Lake Webcams page again! I even managed to take a selfie while installing. I didn’t know my nose was so big.
For those of you who connect to the ClaryCam1 and ClaryCam2 for real-time video (you know who you are) I’m experimenting with a new DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name Service) server which hopefully will be more reliable than the service offered by Foscam which we have been using. For now they should both work. The service is free and for now only ClaryCam1 is using it but if it works out OK I’ll help David H. set it up for his camera too.
You’ll find instructions for connecting in a post from last October: Realtime access to Clary WebCam video now available.
Here are the new DDNS links for ClaryCam1. You’ll also find them on the ClaryCam1 page:
For use with a web browser:
For use with a VLC app:
February 2016 Water Level Chart Archived
I’ve archived the February 2016 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable feature is that the lake level stayed in a fairly narrow range around an average of -34.5″ belog the top of the dam, for all but the last 5 days of the month when the level rose to within touching distance of where it should be this time of the year, around -24″ below the top of the dam. This was by chance and not design because the gate has remained wide open since January 4th.
Another factor contributing to a (relatively) stable lake level is that between precipitation events, the lake level dropped an average of only 0.6″ per day, considerably less than the 1″ per day we would expect. This is likely due to frozen ground and warmer than usual winter weather resulting in increased snow melt and runoff. Recall this table which I first compiled back in 2012:
| Lake level in inches below top of dam | Rate of fall in inches in 24 hours |
|---|---|
| 0" to 36" | 1" |
| 36" to 48" | 3/4" |
| 48" to 62" | 1/2" |
| Below 62" | 1/4" or less |
We received a total of 3.26″ of precipitation in February or 0.82″ more than the average of 2.44″ for the month. Most of the precipitation was in the form of rain and/or ice. If it had all been snow we’d be in record territory but as it is, snowfall for the 2016 winter is well below average. This is likely attributable to the El Niño phenomena that is affecting everyone’s weather this year. The lack of significant snow pack does not bode well for spring runoff and lake levels this coming spring.
28 February 2016: Ice Boating on Clary Lake
A friend of mine loaned me his “Lockely Skimmer” ice boat to use. It has been quite a few years since I had an ice boat out on Clary Lake. I’d forgotten how much fun it can be. The conditions are near perfect.
And this one taken from the driver’s seat:
I’ve posted a few pictures in the Winter 2016 photo gallery. Had a minor glitch when the left rear runner dropped through a crack in the ice. That was fun.
25 February 2016: Webcam Update
Foscam has said they’ll send me a replacement F19803P camera to replace the one that died and I hope to get ClaryCam1 back up and running within the week. Some of you will have noticed that ClaryCam2 was offline from about 10 PM last night until around 3 PM this afternoon. Turns out the 12 volt power supply died, I gave David my old one. Also the IP address changed so we had to bring the camera inside for a while to get it reconfigured.
Those of you who have been connecting to the ClaryCams in real time and found them b0rken will find ClaryCam2 is now accessible at the old address. Will be adding a different, hopefully more reliable DDNS service later this spring.
19 February 2016: Update on LD 1566 “An Act Concerning the Establishment of Water Levels”
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[dropcap]I[/dropcap] am pleased to announce that at a work session held earlier today the Legislature’s Environment & Natural Resource Committee voted unanimously Ought Not To Pass on LD 1566 “An Act Concerning the Establishment of Water Levels.” In it’s place, DEP will add a requirement to their rules pertaining to water level petitions for a public informational meeting including notices in local papers, a mailing to all lake front owners, the dam owner, and the town(s) in which the impoundment resides. The purpose of the meeting is to inform everyone of the requirements of the law governing water level petitions and the actual petition and adjudicatory hearing processes, and to encourage people to find a negotiated solution to their water level issues.
Many thanks to all the people who advocated against this legislation including the Clary Lake Association, the Branch Pond Association, the Midcoast Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, the Maine Lakes Society, the Maine Audubon and others parties.
23 February 2016: Medius L3C changes Registered Agent (again)
[dropcap]For[/dropcap] those of you keeping track of such things, be advised that Medius L3C has changed Registered Agents again. The change was not unexpected and I’ve been checking the State’s Interactive Corporate Services website a couple of times a week in anticipation of it occurring, with the only question really being who they would choose? Well now we know: the new Registered Agent is Wiscasset attorney William Logan who interestingly enough was the Registered Agent for the Clary Lake Association at the time of our incorporation back in 1995. Small world.
Mr. Logan is the 3rd Registered Agent to represent Medius L3C since last October, the other 2 being Merritt Carey and most recently, Public Information Resource, Inc.
17 February 2016: PPM Appeals Superior Court Ruling on Motion to Dismiss
[dropcap]On[/dropcap] Tuesday PretiFlatherty attorneys filed in Superior Court an appeal of the Order issued by the Court back on January 25th approving the State’s Motion to Dismiss (see: “Superior Court grants State’s Motion to Dismiss“). The granting of the State’s Motion resulted in Pleasant Pond Mill LLC being removed from the proceedings. The granting of the State’s motion also made moot the Petitioner’s pending motion to amend their petition. The Court gave lawyers for Aquafortis Associates LLC 21 days to file a new, amended petition. That deadline was last Monday which turned out to be a holiday, so the filing was made yesterday. I picked up a copy this morning.
I am not surprised that they have decided to challenge the lower Court’s decision by appealing it to the Maine Supreme Court, and I expect they intend to appeal every unfavorable ruling that the Court hands down in this case. Classic delay tactics. This how the game is played. What will be telling is how quickly the Court acts on this. At least the filing is mercifully short:
16 February 2016: No Muskrat Houses, No Muskrats
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
14 February 2016: What’s Happening?
[dropcap]It’s[/dropcap] been over 2 weeks since the foreclosure/auction of the Clary Lake dam allegedly took place and we still don’t know who the new owner is, or if a transfer took place at all. Nothing has been recorded in the registry of deeds, and DEP has not to my knowledge been notified that there is a new owner of the dam. And Butch Duncan isn’t talking. So what are we to think? I have been getting calls and emails from people wanting to know what’s going on but sadly, I don’t have any answers. I could speculate, but I won’t. I must admit I expected we’d have heard something by now, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by what is happening.
It seems Medius L3C is the key to sorting all this out, but good luck trying to contact them for answers as the company has no mailing address or phone number, and no contact name. This is no doubt by design. The current registered agent, a reputable company in Readfield by the name of Public Information Resource Inc., is owned by a man named Ken Keene. When I asked him for contact information for Medius L3C he gave me the name and address of Ms. Merritt Carey who was the former registered agent. However, if you contact her she claims to have nothing to do with the company any more and refers you back to Mr. Keene. You end up chasing your tail. In short, nobody including the registered agent knows who owns Medius L3C or how to reach them. Apparently the only way to contact Medius L3C is via their email address: mediusl3c@gmail.com.
10 February 2016: ClaryCam1 Out of Order
ClaryCam1 stopped working yesterday morning. It remained online but was uploading it’s pictures to a non-existent directory… I rebooted it yesterday afternoon but it did not come back to life and is now unresponsive. This afternoon I’ll bring the camera inside, plug a network cable into it, and see if I can figure out what’s wrong with it.
The Clary Lake webcams are a pretty popular feature with website visitors and get a lot of traffic. I bought this particular camera last fall, it cost about $90 and was paid for with a donation from a Clary Lake Association member who wishes to remain anonymous. If I can’t get this camera working again, I’ll start saving up to buy a new one. Stay tuned.
06 February 2016: Maine Lakes Society Issues Alert on LD 1566
I received the following email from the Maine Lakes Society regarding the upcoming 10 February 2016 public hearing on LD 1566 “An Act Concerning the Establishment of Water Levels.” The Clary Lake Association will be testifying in opposition to the bill at the public hearing. A copy of the prepared testimony will be presented here at a later date.
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03 February 2016 Lincoln County News: Result of Clary Lake Dam Auction Unknown
Jefferson resident and Clary Lake waterfront owner Butch Duncan submitted the only bid at the auction for the Clary Lake Dam Jan. 29. (Abigail Adams photo)
There is a fascinating article in this week’s Lincoln County News by staff reporter Abigail Adams about the recent foreclosure and auction of the Clary Lake dam. I’ve read it several times and keep finding new things to ponder.
The big question of course, namely who is the new owner of the Clary Lake dam, remains unanswered. The article states that auctioneer Greg Dorr had indicated that the property would be awarded on Monday, February 1st. However, as of press time, neither Butch Duncan or Paul Kelley had been informed of the result of the auction and we’re left guessing as to who now owns the dam. The auctioneer was supposed to drop the bids off at the Yarmouth office of Medius L3C but it appears they never got there. What happened to Butch Duncan’s bid?
Having been involved with numerous real estate transactions and more than just a few foreclosure/auctions over the years in my role as a Professional Maine Land Surveyor, I can safely say that this situation is rather unusual.
Anyways, enjoy the article:
02 February 2016: So, Who Owns the Dam?
02 February 2016: New 2015 NAIP Aerial Photos Available
The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) is a Government program that acquires aerial imagery during the growing seasons in the continental U.S. A primary goal of the NAIP program is to make digital ortho photography available to governmental agencies and the public within a year of acquisition. Over the years, the quality, resolution, and coverage as well as distribution methods of NAIP photography has improved greatly.
The last time the government published NAIP photography was in 2013. The NAIP 2015 photography is now available, and it’s pretty good looking. The amount of detail visible given the approximate ground-resolution of 1/2 meter is amazing. For example, you can see Rick Gallion’s sailboat mooring buoy off the end Hodsdon Lane. Eventually the photos will be made available in a variety of sizes and resolutions, but for now the NAIP 2015 photography is only available as “Compressed County Mosaics” (CCM) photographs which are HUGE and hard to manage without special software: the Lincoln County CCM file comes in a 680 megabyte .ZIP file and the image itself is in a super-compressed format “SID” file that covers the entire area of Lincoln County at sub-meter resolution (that’s one big photograph) Honestly, I had no idea what to do with a .SID file so I had to do some research. The picture above is a much-reduced version of a very tiny section of the Lincoln County image. The original photograph is 6281 x 3874 pixels in size.
01 February 2016: About that Dam Auction
“Dog and Pony Show” is a colloquial term which has come to mean a highly promoted, often over-staged performance, presentation, or event designed to sway or convince opinion for political or commercial ends.
The anticipated foreclosure and auction of the Clary Lake dam took place Friday morning at 11 AM on the steps of the Lincoln County Court House in Wiscasset. The auctioneer was a man named Gregg Dorr who introduced himself as a retired attorney from Camden, hired by Medius L3C for the sole purpose of running this event. When questioned, he said his only contact at Medius L3C was with a “managing partner” of the company by the name of Matthew Staples, from Vermont. When questioned about the new Medius L3C Registered Agent, he explained the change in Registered Agent from Ms. Merritt Carey to a Commercial Registered Agent from Readfield was due to a serious heart condition requiring that she give up the job immediately. If you’re interested, here is the Change of Registered Agent Form from the Secretary of State’s website. Continue reading