02 April 2014: Water Level Measurements Resumed

I stopped making water level measurements back on February 6th as it became just too much trouble to continue the daily grind, plus I got sick and then there was the cold… and the interminable snow storms… and did I mention it was cold? Anyways, with what passes for Spring this year now apparently firmly in place and with the snow disappearing and the ice around the edges melting, I’ve resumed making water level measurements as of yesterday, April 1st. No fooling!

The lake is now about 2″ higher than it was on February 6th when I left off. Judging from the appearance of the ice around the shore, the lake spent most of the last 2 winter months hovering between 40″ and 48″ below the top of the dam even though the dam’s gate has been wide open. I don’t think the level ever fell as low as it did during the winters of 2012 and 2013 when it dropped to 5′ below the top of the dam. When I left off making level measurements I also left off keeping track of precipitation. I plan to scarf that information for the last 2 months from the Weather Underground site and update my database so we can continue to monitor monthly and yearly precipitation totals.

30 March 2013: Avian Haven’s 2013 Year End Report

The folks at Avian Haven have completed their 2013 year end report and as usual it is a visually stunning and inspiring document making for a fascinating read. Dianne Winn and Marc Payne cared for 1556 birds of all sorts last year, 30 of them carry-overs from the year before. Their dedication and commitment to bird rehabilitation is commendable, and well worthy of both your appreciation and support. Year end reports as far back as 2004 are available on their website:

Avian Haven Year End Reports

We’ve posted about Avian Haven before including Avian Haven 2013 Bird Pictures. You also might be interested in “liking” their facebook page:

Avian Haven Facebook Page

23 March 2014: Update on Kelley’s Petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance

Remember Paul Kelley’s second Petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance, filed back on September 27, 2013? Well probably not! Most people have forgotten about it, and with good reason. After all, it is perfectly clear that Kelley has no intention of selling the dam and equally obvious that he isn’t going to get his desperately wished-for breach order. Nonetheless his petition is still alive, and the clock is ticking: he has until this Wednesday, March 26th, to either conclude the petition by filing a consultation report with the Department of Environmental Protection or file for his one-time, 180 day extension as provided for by statute.

You’d think Kelley was already busy enough with the water level order and it’s looming deadlines to contend with, the upcoming land use mediation to prepare for, and his pending administrative appeal to worry about, that he’d drop this petition charade to concentrate on more important things. However, I fully expect that he will request the 180 day extension just to keep his petition alive for another 6 months. Check back here in a few days to see if I’m right.

Update: 26 March 2014: So I was right.

20 March 2014: Order For A Stay Of Civil Proceedings

The Attorney General’s office sent me a copy of an Order for a Stay of Civil Proceedings in the matter of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC and Aquafortis Associates LLC v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Docket No. AP-14-1. The parties jointly requested this stay so that they can pursue mediation under the Land Use Mediation Program pursuant to Title 5 §3341. What this means in ordinary speak is that the administrative appeal of the Department water level order is being put on hold while the parties engage in mediated discussions in an attempt to resolve this matter. At the conclusion of mediation the results, or lack thereof, will be reported back to Superior Court. Continue reading →

15 March 2013: Patricia Aho, Commissioner of the DEP on the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program

I was pleased to see the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, Patricia Aho, recognize the Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program on her official blog. Jack Holland brought this to my attention the other day with the comment “I would agree with the “trained” statement, but question the “provided with equipment” statement. The Clary Lake Association has been a participating member of the VLMP since the very start of the program back in 1975. See our Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program page for more information.

December 30, 2013
Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program

I was excited to meet with Scott Williams and Roberta Hill of the Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program (VLMP) earlier this month. Often noted nationally as the gold-standard of citizen lakes monitoring, VLMP is a network of over 1,000 volunteers located across the state that have been trained and provided with equipment to collect data from Maine lakes. Their scientific data on water quality indicators is critical assistance for DEP. We cannot do our work without VLMP and rely on their quality science, passion and training to ensure thousands of volunteers (some of whom count their service in decades!) are engaged and eager to assist each year. With a very small budget, the work of VLMP is an outstanding service to Maine by being at the forefront of keeping our lakes healthy and safe. DEP is proud to support VLMP’s work to protect Maine’s lakes and look forward to continuing this successful partnership.

via Commissioner’s Corner, Office of the Commissioner, Maine DEP.

06 March 2014 Kennebec Journal: Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court

There is an article about Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s appeal of the Clary Lake water level order in today’s Kennebec Journal, written by Paul Koenig. Mr. Koenig interviewed Paul Kelley for the story. One statement in particular is worth quoting here:

“He said his company filed suit in superior court instead of with the appeals board because it wanted a final ruling on the dispute.”

This indicates that this really is the last stand for Kelley and that an appeal to the Maine Supreme Court is not in the cards. When he loses this appeal, he’ll be dead in the water. What a pleasant thought that is.

Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court

[Archived copy]:
Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court

05 March 2014 Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated

There is an article in this week’s Lincoln County News about the appeal filed by Pleasant Pond Mill LLC in Lincoln County Superior court. The article, written by Dominik Lobkowicz, does a pretty good job of distilling the 27 page filing into something manageable. I spoke to Mr. Lobkowicz yesterday afternoon shortly after receiving word of the filing but before I’d had a chance to look it over. I sent him some of my thoughts on it in an email last night, a few of which made it into the paper. Those that didn’t are probably best left unpublished anyways.

Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated

[Archived Copy]:
Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated

05 March 2014: Clary Lake Association’s 501c3 status reinstated like it was never gone

At last, something good to report! You will recall back in July of last year it came to our attention that the Internal Revenue Service had revoked the Clary Lake Association’s 501(c)3 non-profit status somewhere back around 2007. We were never made aware of this change in status by the IRS. I first posted about this matter when it was brought to our attention by Mr. Kelley and I first wrote about it on 10 July 2013, and again when we filed our new application on 15 July 2013. Well I am pleased to announce that the IRS has approved our application for non-profit status and has officially reinstated the Clary Lake Association’s 501c3 status as of 24 February 2014 as per letter received yesterday. The letter also says that our reinstatement is retroactive to the date of revocation which means there has been no lapse in our non-profit status in the eyes of the law. While this comes as good news for us, Mr. Kelley, who has been spreading vicious rumors and haranguing the AG’s office and the IRS in an attempt to make trouble for us will no doubt be devastated when he finds out the good news. Continue reading →

04 March 2014: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC files suit in Superior Court, Lincoln County

Pleasant Pond Mill LLC and Aquafortis Associates LLC, represented by Anthony Buxton of PretiFlaherty, have filed an appeal of the Clary Lake water level order in Superior Court, Lincoln County. The sole respondent is the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. I received a copy of the appeal today by certified mail. It is dated 26 February 2014. I can’t say as I am surprised by this move; when Kelley failed to file an appeal with the Board of Environmental by the deadline (last 26 February) I figured he was heading for Superior Court. Here’s a copy of the filing:

Pleasant Pond Mill LLC Appeal of Clary Lake WLO

I guess the best thing about this latest development is that neither the Petitioners nor the Association need to do a thing, we can just sit back and follow the proceedings and we don’t need to spend a dime defending anything. Kelley is not so lucky: you can bet that having PretiFlaherty represent him in court is going to cost him a lot of money.

I’ll undoubtedly have some additional comments when I’ve finished reading it.

06 February 2014 Lincoln County News: A Little Perspective

Here’s my Letter to the Editor which appeared in this week’s Lincoln County News. It is pretty much the same as what I already posted except this of course has been published:

A Little Perspective

Mr. Kelley is going to have to start coming to terms with the reality of his situation. From what I’ve heard lately, it doesn’t appear he’s begun that process.

05 February 2014 Lincoln County News: New Clary Lake Group aimed at water level order compliance

There’s a article in this week’s Lincoln County News by Dominik Lobkowicz about the Clary Dam Project. I was interviewed on the phone yesterday at length. It’s a good article I think, it captures my chagrin without making me feel stupid. Yes, this is an exercise in faith. No we have no idea when we might end up owning the dam. Yes we’re certain we will.

New Clary Lake Group aimed at water level order compliance

My letter to the editor is in the same issue. It appears to be identical to what I’ve already posted in A Letter to the Editor and thoughts on the Water Level Order.

01 February 2014 [REVISED]: A Letter to the Editor and thoughts on the Water Level Order

I have sent the following missive off to the Editor of the Lincoln County News with the expectation that it will be published in next week’s paper. I’m posting it here, now, because I don’t want to wait that long to get my opinion out in the open. I also want to get a few more of my thoughts down on paper, so to speak, while it’s all fresh in my mind.

The latest Lincoln County News article “Water Level Order Enacted for Clary Lake” is a great article, but a few things contained in it have been bugging me ever since I read it, especially this statement since it suggests a reason as to why Mr. Kelley has been loathe to offer up the dam to us despite all his posturing to the contrary:

“If it was clear what my company owned and who was likely to sue my company if we sold something that we don’t own, then I would be more inclined to have discussions with the lake association with their interest, their purported interest, in the property,” he said.

Continue reading →

31 January 2014: Maine Lakes Society Legislative Update

The Maine Lakes Society (formerly the Congress of Lake Associations or COLA) has sent around a legislative update in an attempt to solicit interest in several important bills currently before the Maine Legislature, LD 1744 and LD 1626. Sadly, I don’t have the free cycles to get involved in any legislative activities at this time, but perhaps someone out there reading this will.

Maine Lakes Society Winter 2014 Legislative Update

The Clary Lake Association has been an MLS (COLA) member for a long time.

30 January 2014: The February 2014 Whitefield Newsletter is available

The February 2014 Whitefield Newsletter is available. They’re doing a good job. Printed copies are available at the Town office and the Whitefield Superette, and probably the Sheepscot General, and on the Town website: http://www.townofwhitefield.com/ at this link: http://www.townofwhitefield.com/Newsletter.html

[gview file=”http://www.townofwhitefield.com/February2014.pdf” save=”0″]

29 January 2014: Google Earth Flyover of Clary Lake, then and now

David Chase has compiled a pretty cool video contrasting the water levels of Clary Lake between 1997 and 2013. He has posted it on the Clary Lake Association Google+ Community. He did it using a Google Earth flyover “tour.” Very impressive, and the comparison in water levels between then and now is stark. Thanks for sharing David!

Here’s the post:

https://plus.google.com/117329993421272712954/posts/b1Bxcr5M3Dk

Here’s the direct link to the video:

https://vidd.me/Aa3

29 January 2014 Lincoln County News: Water Level Order Enacted for Clary Lake

There is an article on the front page of this week’s Lincoln County News about the recently issued water level order for Clary Lake. I was interviewed at length yesterday morning by the reporter, Dominik Lobkowicz and I gather from statements in the article that he also subsequently interviewed Paul Kelley, who continues to posture and complain as if people still cared about what he thought:

Water Level Order Enacted for Clary Lake

[archived copy of article]

I have to comment on several things. First, Mr. Lobkowicz expressed surprise when I told him I thought Mr. Kelley would keep fighting this Order as long as he had the energy to do so. Surely Mr. Kelley will want to cut his losses? Well, numerous statements in the article clearly indicate that Kelley has no intention of simply “giving up” this battle even though the battle is over, and he has lost. Continue reading →

29 January 2014: Announcing the Clary Dam Project, a computer mediated discussion group

Now that the State’s Water Level Order has been issued, the dam owner faces a number of daunting tasks and a challenging time line to complete the work of bringing the dam property into compliance with the Order. The Clary Lake Association has made it publicly known that we are ready and willing to assist the dam owner in completing this work but to date they have not expressed any interest in having us help them. It also remains to be seen just how willing the Membership really is to help Mr. Kelley with his problem. Nonetheless the Clary Lake Association is confident that sooner or later we will be asked for help or even asked to take over ownership of the dam completely and feel therefore that it is in our current best interests and long term goals to start acting like the stewards of Clary Lake that we claim to be.

Complying with the Water Level Order will involve a lot of money and a daunting amount of work on the part of many people and while we may all personally relish the prospect of this work, it is daunting nonetheless. Success depends on a committed and coordinated group effort which in turn requires organization and planning. Failure is not an option. It is our belief that full adherence to the conditions specified in the Water Level Order and implementing the water level regime contained therein are crucial steps to meeting the goals of the Clary Lake Association of protecting and preserving Clary Lake, now, and into the future. To this end I have setup the Clary Dam Project. This is a collaborative, interactive, computer-mediated discussion group for the express purpose of facilitating the exchange of information and ideas between like-minded people with a common goal. Continue reading →

28 January 2014 Kennebec Journal: State issues final plan for Clary Lake in Whitefield

There is an article in today’s Kennebec Journal about the issuance of the Final Clary Lake Water Level Order. While it contains a few mistakes, it’s pretty much factually accurate and contains a link to the actual ORDER document. I did speak briefly with KJ correspondent Paul Koenig about the order, shortly after it was issued. I gave him a few choice quotes which apparently he found not to be particularly quotable…

[2:40 PM] Sorry I just realized I used a broken link for the online newspaper article. It’s fixed now. Also would like to remind everyone that the KJ supports reader comments 🙂

State issues final plan for Clary Lake in Whitefield

[archived copy] State issues final plan for Clary Lake in Whitefield

I would like to make one observation. Apparently Mr. Koenig also spoke to Paul Kelley before writing the article:

“Kelley pointed out that although the department originally requested parties respond to the draft order in less than five full business days, the DEP took three weeks to review comments before issuing essentially the same order.”

So Paul Kelley is accusing the Department of providing him with less than the legally mandated 5 business days to comment on the Order. Really? Let’s see: the DRAFT order was issued on Thursday December 19th and the comment period was to end at the close of business on Monday December 30th. Counting on my fingers that is… Gee: 6 business days, not including Christmas.

27 January 2014: DEP Issues FINAL Clary Lake Water Level Order!

At a little before 2:30 PM this afternoon the Department of Environmental Protection issued the FINAL Clary Lake Water Level Order. I have scanned it quickly as have a couple of other people and we can’t see any changes between today’s final order and the Draft order issued back on December 19th. I will be reading it over carefully again shortly.

Here is a link to the FINAL order; it’s over 6 megabytes in size. As soon as I get a chance I will print out the relevant sections of the order into separate PDF files for easier consumption.

Final Clary Lake Water Level Order

Final Order Only (just under 3 megabytes)

I’ve gone through the order pretty carefully and I’ve only found a few minor changes:

1) The Final order includes Standard Conditions for Water Level Orders.

2) Per Senator Chris Johnson’s suggestion, the word “Insure” has been changed to “Ensure” 🙂

3) They refined the requirements for water level measurements. In the draft order this was daily “during times of rapid water level rise and on a monthly basis at all other times.” This changed to “Beginning June 1 through September 30 of any given calendar year, the level of the lake and the gate opening status shall be logged every other week and on a daily basis during times of rapid water level rise. At all other times, the level of the lake and the gate opening status shall logged on a monthly basis.”

That’s it as far as I can see.

25 January 2014: Clary Lake Association Community set up on Google+

I have set up a Clary Lake Association Community on Google Plus. Online social networking communities provide means, methods, and opportunities for people to share and exchange information in ways that just aren’t offered by an more traditional information-distribution site such as this one. On this site, I post stuff and people can comment the posts and reply to comments, but it’s not the same thing as being involved in an online community. It has only been in existence for less than an hour and already there are 9 members and a video posted by David Chase. Go figure.

The Clary Lake Association community will also be a source of material for this site. That’s a good thing. If anyone has any questions about all this, email me or comment!