I received a call from Ed Grant’s daughter Kate Seba last night, she called to let me know that Ed is not doing well and is not expected to live much longer. She’s asked for us to keep him in our thoughts and in our prayers. Ed has been an active and valued member of the Association for a long, long time.
12 June 2013: Clary Lake Association files motion to set deadlines for findings of fact and conclusions of law
Robert J. Rubin, counsel for the Clary Lake Association has filed a motion with the Department of Environmental Protection requesting the Hearing Officer set a “prompt final date for submission of the proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law of the Public Hearing from August 17, 2012.” The Association feels that these petition proceedings have gone on entirely too long and it’s time for some substantive action on the part of the Department. It is hoped this short and sweet motion will spur the Department to move quickly and decisively in the right direction on this matter.
I commend Bob Rubin and through him, the Association, for taking this assertive step.
10 June 2013: Petitioner Response to PPM revised response
Dear Ms. Parent:
Petitioners have no objection to this revised response. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while and within reason should be allowed to correct them. However, blaming you for making him do it, and seemingly mocking you in the process I find offensive. Furthermore, having re-read Procedural Order #5 I can see nothing in the wording of the Order to suggest that you have anything to apologize for or anything in it to justify Mr. Kelley’s imagined concerns over Department attitudes toward him or his counsel. Therefore I object to his suggestion that you review or revise the Order in any way. Mr. Kelley is imagining things.
I would also note for the record that Mr. Kelley’s statement that the revision consists of “a few minor changes to the first paragraph on page four” is incorrect; footnote 10 has been changed:
From:
“See 38 MRSA §840(4)(B) regarding the issue of safety and §840(E) regarding accommodation of precipitation and run off of waters.”
To:
“See 38 MRSA §840(4)(B) regarding the issue of safety and §840(E) regarding accommodation of precipitation and run off of waters. An application for a new dam must be allowed if a water level is ordered.“
I’m not sure to what that change refers.
Respectfully,
George-
10 June 2013: PPM submits revised response to Procedural Order #6
Paul Kelley has submitted a revised response to Procedural Order #6 along with a typically confusing, profusely-footnoted cover letter explaining what the error was in the original copy. Rather than stopping there however, which would have been fine, he continues on in excruciating detail to explain WHY the error occurred and he has the gall to rest the blame with the Presiding Officer herself, for making him do it:
Kelley can do no wrong: even when he makes a mistake it’s someone else’s fault!
08 June 2013: A few thoughts on Kelley’s recent vitriolic response to Procedural Order 6
After having his request for an extension denied, I expected Paul Kelley to take things to another level but I did not expect him to lash out with an angry, hate-filled, indiscriminate attack against anyone and everyone. Nobody is above ridicule or scorn. Clearly, Kelley is losing this battle and he knows it, and this latest tirade is proof of that. For those of you who haven’t figured out what his response was all about, he’s appealing the Presiding Officer’s decision denying him an extension to the DEP Commissioner. That intent was contained in the last cryptic sentence on the very last page (the reference to 06-096 Chapter 3 refers to the Department of Environmental Protection’s rules concerning the conduct of licensing hearings, with section 4(D) being ruling appeals). The rest of the document is Kelley going postal: pure and simple spiteful vitriol or as the saying goes, “shock and awe”. That’s sure going to go over well with the Department. Not.
In his anger Kelly perhaps revealed a few things that a calmer, more cautious Paul Kelley would not have said. For example, I have suspected for a while now that his plan with the petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance (which he prefers to call “Clary Lake Dam abandonment proceedings”) was to try and stall the water level petition long enough to get a breach order from the State but of course he couldn’t come right out and say that because that’s not the purpose of the statute. He has to pretend he is looking for a new dam owner because to do otherwise would be to engage the State’s resources under false pretenses and make a mockery out of the system. Well he came right out and said in his response what the real deal with the petition for release from dam ownership is about, in footnote 6:
…”that the anomalies cited herein and in previous filings have largely triggered recent Clary Lake Dam abandonment proceedings by PPM – proceedings seemingly likely to lead to a formal (but superfluous) breach order by the Commissioner, which will supercede any Water Level Order which may issue from this proceeding.”
Caught in the act of playing both sides against the middle. Nice work Kelley, thanks for putting that bit on the record. DEP just loves to be played for a fool. Your chances of actually getting a breach order on the dam? Zero. Watching you try? Priceless.
I have a few other observations I’ll keep to myself for now. I have no intention at this time commenting on this response. There are several issues he’s raised (over and over and over) which will be adequately dealt with when we prepare our Findings of Fact. The DEP has their hands full for the time being. I see no sense in adding to the furor at this time.
07 June 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC Reply to Procedural Order #6
At 4:50 PM this afternoon (did I call that or what!) Paul Kelley posted his response to… Procedural Order 6? I thought today was the deadline for comments on documents released as an addendum to Procedural Order 5. Oh well. What do I know. I’m sure it will all make sense when I read it. Without further adieu:
Kelley also included 4 other documents which appear stuff he got from a FOAA request. Ain’t looked at `em:
Comments later after I’ve actually read this stuff.
07 June 2013: Petitioner’s Comments on the 28 August 2012 MEMA Report Addendum to Procedural Order 5: Dam Safety
I have submitted Petitioner’s comments on the Maine Emergency Management Agency material, with time to spare. If Kelley stays true to form, he’ll be posting his comments about 4:50 PM. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t planned on responding to the MEMA comments because… well, what is there to say? Nonetheless since Kelly is making such a big deal out of this, I thought I should say something:
Kelley is chasing down a dead end road with this dam safety issue.
07 June 2013: Tropical Storm Andrea expected to drop a lot of rain
Tropical storm Andrea is headed north, hot on the heals of an unnamed low pressure system loaded with moisture and it’s all headed this way. The NOAA Graphical Forecast for Maine for the next 24 hours is forecasting 2.5″ to 3″ of rain from this combined weather event, most of it falling tonight and into early Saturday morning. Possible locally higher amounts likely. Rainfall amounts have been steadily revised upwards since last night; a lot depends on how far off the coast Andrea tracks. If it remains closer to the shore, rainfall amounts could be significantly higher. This forecast is more or less consistent with this morning’s Channel 6 News Center weather report. There is a flood watch in effect for Lincoln County from this evening through Saturday afternoon.
The lake level has dropped about 8″ from a high of about -31″ below the top of the dam on May 31st to about -39″ now. This rain should more than replace what has been lost in the last week. I for one am thrilled.
Careful out there folks.
07 June 2013: It’s Comment Deadline Friday :)
Today 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.
06 June 2013: Branch Pond water level petition hearing scheduled for August 23rd
I received word from Brandon Kulik today that DEP has scheduled a public hearing on their water level petition for 23 August at a time and place to be announced. Brandon is the Senior Fisheries Biologist at Kleinschmidt Associates and the petition spokesperson for the Branch Pond petition. Branch Pond is located at the head waters of the West Branch of the Sheepscot River, partly in the town of China and partly in Palermo. Both Clary Lake and Branch Pond are in the Sheepscot River watershed. It’s a beautiful little pond with a big dam owner problem. Margaret and I went up there last summer to visit with Brandon and his neighbor Mike Wozniak and talk about water level petitions.
The Clary Lake Association is sharing some space on our web server with the Branch Pond Association. I don’t really have the time to put much polish on their site but I have updated the home page with the 2013 dues notice. I’ve also added a “Branch Pond” post category to make it easier to pull out Branch Pond posts on this news page.
06 June 2013 Lincoln County News: Whitefield Residents Reject Pursuing Clary Lake Dam Ownership
Back on 31 May the Lincoln County News posted an article on their website by Dominik Lobkowicz about the Whitefield Public Meeting to consider and act on the issue of dam ownership. Somehow I missed it at the time. It looks like this article and an addendum by Shlomit Auciello appeared in this weeks paper. That has not appeared on line yet but I assume it will by later today. Here’s the 31 May article:
05 June 2013 Lincoln County News: DEP denies request for comment extension
There’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
In 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
I 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.
02 June 2013 Kennebec Journal article: Whitefield voters reject proposal to own dam
Paul Koenig of the Kennebec Journal has written an article about the Whitefield public meeting last Thursday, 30 May 2013. I’m not sure what issue of the paper it appeared in but it is available online at the following link. I’ll download a PDF and post it in a while. It’s a good article. Could have used a picture. I had meant to post article sooner but I’ve been a little busy and it slipped my mind. Better late than never:
I was told by someone watching what was going on that when Kelley was talking at the microphone I was sitting shaking my head and when I was talking at the microphone, Kelley was shaking his head. Can you say “common ground”? No? Neither can I.
You can comment on the article on the KJ site, at the bottom of the page.
01 June 2013: May Month End Summary
May started out dry but turned into a wet month indeed. On top of a dry April, we received no rain at all for the first 8 days of the month. The lake level started out -46.44″ below the top of the dam and fell at the average rate of 0.6″ per day to -56.52″ by the 17th of May at which point the dam’s gate was closed. Over the next 12 days we received 5.68″ of rain which brought the lake up 25.52″ for a runoff multiplier of 4.5x (4.5″ rise for each inch of rain) which is about what was expected. We ended the month at -31.08″ below the top of the dam. Average rainfall for May is 3.6″. The gate was reopened on the 27th and opened even further on the 30th. Runoff from the May rains has finally diminished to the point where the lake level has started falling again, having fallen just over 1″ as of this morning.
30 May 2013: Whitefield Voters vote NO on the dam
In a move that surprised no one, at the Special Town Meeting held tonight, voters voted not to authorize the Selectmen to pursue negotiations to accept ownership of the Clary Lake dam despite the fact that the article as worded did not commit any money or specific action by the town now or in the future. Had the article passed, the voters would have had another chance at some time in the future to vote on whatever proposal the Selectmen had managed to negotiate. Admittedly the article was poorly worded and there was some talk about amending the wording but no matter how it was worded, the sentiment in the room was clear: Whitefield voters want nothing to do with Paul Kelley or his dam.
I am not disappointed with the outcome of this meeting because I did not go into it with any expectations. I thought passage of the article was a long shot, and I was right. Paul Kelley was allowed to speak as were a number of other non-voters most of whom were Jefferson lake shore owners. Kelley was asked 2 point-blank questions which, true to form, he spoke at length about but managed not to answer to anyone’s satisfaction. One question was how much he wants for the dam and the other was who is Pleasant Pond Mill LLC anyways. I think the questioner just wanted to see Kelley baffle the crowd and he did not disappoint. Albert Boynton spoke at length and was the only speaker to garner applause. I spoke at length, and fielded some questions. Ellis Percy spoke on behalf of the Clary Lake Association.
So Paul Kelley has now struck out in both towns. If he’s still intent on getting rid of the dam (which is questionable) this pretty much leaves the Clary Lake Association as the only potential owner since it is a virtual certainty that no state agency is going to step up and ask for the dam.
30 May 2013: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC requests ANOTHER extension of June 7 comment period
Paul 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:
- 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.
- 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.
Saturday June 8th Star Party at the Brower Observatory
Not many people know about the Brower Astronomical Observatory located right here in Whitefield Maine. It is associated with the Central Maine Astronomical Society and is named after Stanley Brower, the man who donated so much equipment to the Society including the 10′ diameter dome and the 16″ Newtonian telescope housed under it. The observatory is located at 342 Jefferson Road in Whitefield, right near the Jefferson and Whitefield town line on the south side of Clary Lake. When you get there, follow the signs to the top of the hill. Star parties are open to the public and are free of charge. Colin Caissie is the administrator of the observatory. You can reach him at 207-549-3338 for more information.
The upcoming star party is on Saturday June 8th from 9 PM until Midnight or until the last observer leaves, which ever comes first Bring bug dope. Bring binoculars if you have some. Bring your telescope if you have one of those! I’ll likely post an update shortly before the event.
Clary Mill log operation, Whitefield , Maine, c.1950
This video, posted by David Chase on YouTube some years ago, shows logs being unloaded at the Clary Mill mill pond and towards the end of the video, the dam with water coming out of the center weir. Great video, but mostly I just wanted to test the ability to embed YouTube videos in posts 🙂
I’ve also added a new post category “Video Multimedia” to make is easier to find these posts. Looking forward to posting more videos.