Another article by Paul Koenig has appeared in today’s Kennebec Journal (and presumably the Morning Sentinel and the Coastal Journal). The article is mostly about the Whitefield Public Meeting to be held tomorrow night at 7 PM at the Whitefield School. One requirement of the petition filed by Pleasant Pond Mill LLC is that the towns in which the lake resides must hold a public meeting to “consider and act” on the issue of dam ownership:
- Whitefield voters to consider Clary Dam purchase talks on Thursday
- Local PDF Copy if you want to down load it
Jefferson held their meeting a week ago Tuesday night and soundly voted NO to the town accepting ownership of the dam. The Whitefield Selectmen are taking a more interested and proactive role in this matter, a fact that is reflected in the wording of the article:
To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen, on behalf of the Town, to negotiate an agreement to accept ownership of the Clary Lake dam, including all property rights owned by the dam owner and necessary to maintain and operate the dam, on such terms and conditions as the Selectmen deem advisable, subject, however, to final approval by the voters before the Selectmen execute the agreement.
I think the Selectmen are to be commended for their attention to this important matter, but as the KJ article states, I’m not entirely certain how I feel about their pursuit of a deal with Kelley and I won’t really know how I’m going to vote until I’m raising my hand. While I’m all in favor of the town of Whitefield owning the dam, I don’t think the voters are. So it is likely that if the Selectmen are authorized to pursue negotiations to purchase the dam that they will be wasting their time.
While on the question of wasting time, we’re neglecting for the time being the question of whether Paul Kelley’s petition is still valid and operational. DEP has labeled the petition “unsatisfactory” but they haven’t rejected it outright and Kelley hasn’t withdrawn it and according to the article has informed DEP that that Pleasant Pond Mill LLC plans to continue with the steps in the petition process, including filing a report at the end of the consultation period, near the end of September. DEP has stated in that case that they will reject the petition on the basis that Kelley failed to satisfy the statutory requirements for public notice, an opinion I share.
See you at the meeting!
The Maine Lakes Conference 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM Saturday June 22, 2012 at the Diamond Building, Colby College, in Waterville. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. The Clary Lake Association is a member of COLA so if you’re a member of the Association and would like to go you can sign up for the reduced price. Here’s a link on the Maine COLA site where you can find out more about the conference and sign up for it.
The Whitefield Selectmen have written a letter to DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho urging a speedy and proper conclusion of the Clary Lake water level petition. I got an advance copy of it which was to be approved and signed at tonight’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Whitefield Board of Selectmen (letter updated 29 May 2013):
I was in my driveway cutting wood about 11 am this morning when I happened to look up at a passing car and by golly if it wasn’t Paul Kelley, headed towards Jefferson. Only one thing would bring Paul to Whitefield on a nice day like this: to open the dam. So when I was sufficiently tired of chainsawing on my wood pile I took a drive over to the dam and sure enough, the gate was open again. I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky: the gate was closed for only 10 days and in that time the lake rose over 2 feet.
That was quite a stretch of wet weather eh? This afternoon as the sun started to break through I marveled at how long it has been since I’ve seen it, and how much rain we’ve gotten this month. April was a very dry month and May started out just as dry with no rain for the first 8 days. Since then we’ve received 5.5″ of rain which has so far brought the lake up 21.6″ with most of the rise occurring in the last 5 days. This afternoon the lake level sits at 34.9″ right at the bottom of the hole in the dam. As of this afternoon there was no water coming through the hole but as the lake continues to rise over the next few days that will change.
I received a letter in today’s mail from Paul Kelley on behalf of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC notifying me of his company’s intent to file a petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance. Sadly, this news comes 54 days after he actually filed the petition so it can hardly be called “notice of intent to file” but that’s what he’s calling it just the same. Presumably he’s sent copies of his letter to all the Clary Lake shore owners but for the benefit of those interested parties who aren’t technically lake shore owners (and there are quite a few of you) I’ve scanned and posted my copy here. First I should remind everyone that according to a 
The Whitefield Selectmen have published the warrant for the upcoming special town meeting on May 30th at 7:00 PM at the Whitefield School. Article 2 addresses the matter of the Clary Lake dam:
Shlomit Auciello has written another article in the ongoing saga of the “beleaguered” Clary Lake dam property, this one covering last night’s Jefferson town meeting at which the town voted to reject ownership of the dam. Ms. Auciello also spoke with Paul Kelley before the meeting about the 
At their 21 May 2013 Special Town Meeting, Jefferson voters predictably voted not to accept ownership of the Clary Lake dam. Selectman Jim Hilton made a motion right off not to accept ownership of the dam, which was quickly seconded. He gave his reasons- basically that the Selectmen feel that the Clary Lake Association is the proper entity to own the dam and the town isn’t at all interested in being responsible for dam repairs and maintenance, and they don’t want DEP telling them they have to spend money. He also cited the letter they received today to the effect that Kelley’s petition is “deficient” and the town just doesn’t want to have anything to do with Kelley or the dam.
DEP has come to the conclusion that Paul Kelley failed to satisfy the Public Notice requirements of 
Just a quick reminder that the Town of Jefferson is holding their public meeting to consider and act on the issue of dam ownership tomorrow night at 6 PM at the Jefferson Village School Gymnasium. Unlike the Town of Whitefield’s May 30th meeting which is being held solely for the purpose of addressing the dam issue, Jefferson’s meeting serves a dual purpose: residents will also be voting on school budget issues. The the dam question is #1 on the agenda and is worded as follows:
Jefferson has sent out the warrant for the upcoming special town meeting to be held on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 at the Jefferson Village School Gymnasium at 6 PM. The article on the Clary Lake dam is #1 on the agenda and the wording is short and sweet:
A month ago I installed some software that replaces the built-in user management functions on the site (user log ins, registrations, and lost passwords) with similar functions with enhanced features and functionality but it turned out to be a bit buggy so I uninstalled it. Now it appears they’ve fixed the bugs (or claimed they have) so I’m giving it another try. Here’s the 
Kelley finally closed the dam’s gate which has been wide open since last October 13th. Must have been done sometime today though I suppose it could have been late yesterday afternoon. I’m not sure what inspired this seemingly magnanimous gesture on Kelley’s part: concern over the drained wetlands? Not likely. Worry for lost wildlife habitat? Nah. Sadness over the unusable status of the State boat launch? Nope. You can be sure whatever reasons motivated him they were selfish and self-serving. He’ll get no thanks from me. The lake is down 56″ below the top of the dam and the crime has been committed. I suppose we should be grateful that Kelley has closed the gate but I’m still angry with him for draining the lake in the first place. Call me ungrateful but in my book it’s too little, too late.
Yet another article has appeared in this week’s Lincoln County News about Kelley’s request for a new hearing and my objection to it. Seems like every week there’s something in one paper or another. Shlomit Auciello is doing a pretty good job of reporting on a complicated and confusing situation:
We’ve finally gotten around to putting current Clary Lake water monitoring data online. It’s a subset of the data collected by David Hodsdon and Jack Holland and will be updated roughly every 2 weeks from early spring through late fall or as often as David and Jack get around to it. What’s online now includes all the data from 2012 and what’s been collected so far in 2013. That little thumbnail at left is what a secchi disk looks like- it’s used to measure the transparency of the water.
If the Whitefield Selectmen are going to asking the voters of the town to consider purchasing the Clary Lake dam, they’re entitled to know how much it’s going to cost, right? You know, the price. That’s a reasonable request, no? Well to that end, the Selectmen handed a letter to Paul Kelley at the 30 April 2013 Selectmen’s meeting, asking just that question. They asked for a response by the 10th of April. Many of us were there, that was the night the Selectmen held their 
