We had perfect weather for yesterday’s Annual Meeting of the Clary Lake Association though first thing in the morning it wasn’t clear that was going to be the case: it rained heavily early on but then cleared by 11 am and became beautiful and sunny, well in time for the meeting. Then about 5 PM just minutes after the last person left for home, the sky opened up and it rained with a vengeance. How fortunate it held off until after the meeting! An hour later we were graced with a beautiful double rainbow.
45 people showed up to conduct the Association’s business. The only glitch was that I had neglected to print out copies of the 2012 meeting minutes which were supposed to be read and approved. What ensued was a comedy of errors including trying to get them printed off the website, then trying to read them on a laptop whose batteries quit part way through, finally culminating with a motion to cease the struggle and move on, which passed unanimously. Both the bylaws and newsletter committees were formed and populated with volunteers, and all the (3) proposed articles also passed unanimously. I was particularly pleased to receive not just a mandate from the membership to pursue the Clary Lake Watershed Survey update, but a good number of volunteers as well. More about this later. The meeting adjourned at 4 PM and was followed by the usual pot-luck supper. I’ll post minutes as soon as they’ve been written and approved.
Finally got around to posting the proposed agenda for the Annual Meeting scheduled for this coming 
Many of you were subjected the other day to the first mailing of the Association’s E-NEWS Newsletter which I liken to an Emergency Broadcast System but that’s just my flare for the dramatic. In reality it’s just another way to disseminate information in a timely, cost effective way to a targeted audience and one which we have no intention of over-using: the ability to drop emails into your inbox is a privilege we don’t want to abuse or lose. We’re happy most of the time to let you drop in and peruse the website at your leisure but there will be times when we want to get your attention sooner rather than later. And of course there is an 
Paul Kelley has fought this water level petition tooth and nail ever since it was filed over a year and a half ago. All his efforts have been futile while costing him a lot of money. Stalling is a fine tactic I guess when it leads to a tactical advantage; when it simply delays the inevitable, then it is just a waste of one’s time and money. He has lost the battle and he knows it. He is now on record saying that he just “wants out” and he’s looking for an exit strategy. What he’s come up with defies understanding: he sees his petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance resulting in a breach order from the Department. Once he has that in hand, he hires a backhoe to come in and dismantle the Clary Lake dam and then he just disappears. His development plans thwarted through his own incompetent efforts to ram them through the town planning process, he lashes out leaving destruction and devastation behind him as he departs for greener pastures. What a guy. Well, that scenario will only happen in his dreams. Reality I’m certain has a less pleasant outcome in store for him. 
Plans are well underway for the Association’s Annual meeting to be held Saturday August 3rd at 2 PM at the home of Robert Antognoni. Robert lives on the south side of Clary Lake at the end of Robert E. Dow Road in Jefferson. For those of you who don’t know where it is, here’s a 
Kelley did not get a “permit” from DEP to “lower the lake level” to “fix the dam” despite what he keeps saying to the contrary. He’s made that statement at the public hearing, he’s made it in official documents of record since then, he said it at a Whitefield Selectmen’s meeting last spring, and he said it again in his 23 July 2013 interview with Channel 13’s reporter Marissa Bodnar. Kelley would like you think he’s has an official Department of Environmental Protection sanction for his negligent dewatering of Clary Lake, but he doesn’t. He’d also like you to think that he was going to fix the dam until we filed the water level petition. Does anyone really believe any of this tripe?He had the fall of 2011 to fix the dam but he did nothing- I didn’t file the petition until January of 2012. What was stopping him?
A few days ago I posted about the 
Mary and Ernie Shaw completed the 2013 Audubon Loon Count this morning. While they headed east from their place along the south shore, my wife Margaret and I headed up the west side and the along the north shore. We met up not far from Ed Grant’s place and stopped to compare notes. The loon count takes place all over the State between 7 am and 7:30 am on the 3rd Saturday of July and includes more than just the number of loons counted. Mary will be giving a report on the count at the Annual meeting.
Tim Chase told me today that after much thought he has put in an offer on the Clary Lake dam! As many of you know, Tim’s father Chester Chase owned the dam for years and as a teen Tim worked at the mill and help operate the dam making him a perfect choice to take it over. In fact I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have own it. Tim owns the property adjoining the Clary Mill property on the north. Of course, there is no guarantee that Kelley will accept Tim’s offer, but if he really wants out from under the dam, here’s his chance. Tim sent me a copy of his offer:
I received an email today from a fellow with the Natural Resources Council of Maine. He was looking to update the listing for Clary Lake on the 
Well almost in the mail. Our application to reinstate our 501 c(3) exemption is going in the mail in about an hour, just as soon as the post office window opens up again at 1 PM today. Again, we are grateful for Paul Kelley bringing this matter to our attention. Of course, I sincerely doubt he thought he was doing us any favors, but clearly he did. Who knows how long it would have been before we came to the realization that our 501 c(3) status had been revoked? What is totally ironic is that he filed an objection with the Attorney General’s office because he objected to our soliciting contributions without 501 c(3) status. And what were we soliciting contributions for? A dam repair fund which could well end up benefiting him. Go figure.