07 June 2013: It’s Comment Deadline Friday :)

mema-custom 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

kelley_at_mic 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

newspaper_bw-custom 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

denied-custom 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.“

Procedural Order 6: Kelley’s Motion for Extension Denied

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:

PPM reply to Fergusson objection to 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 🙂

Updated Service List 04 June 2012

03 June 2013: Petitioners’ Response to PPM request for additional extension to comment period

just-say-no_0 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

not-a-crook-custom 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

thumbs-down-custom 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

finger-in-dike 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

moon_and_stars 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

camera1 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.

29 May 2013 Kennebec Journal: Whitefield voters to consider Clary Dam purchase talks on Thursday

newspaper-salesman-1flip-custom 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:

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!

Saturday, June 22, 2013: 43rd MAINE LAKES CONFERENCE

pond_lily1 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.

43rd Maine Lakes Conference Information and signup

The program looks quite interesting. I’ll be going. If you want to go let me know, perhaps we can car pool. I’ve added this program to the CLA Calendar. You can also visit the COLA page on Facebook.

28 May 2013: Whitefield Selectmen Speak Out, Write DEP Commissioner Aho [Updated]

speech-baloon_1 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):

Whitefield_Selectmen_Letter_to_Commissioner_Aho_28May2013

It’s a good letter. It lets the Department know, in case there was any doubt, that the town of Whitefield is following this issue and is interested in the outcome. The message is clear: follow the letter of the law, but please follow it faster.

Copies of the letter will be sent to Senator Christopher Johnson, Representative Deborah Sanderson, the Town of Jefferson, Pleasant Pond Mill LLC, and myself. It is reassuring to see the Whitefield Selectmen taking an active interest in and speaking out publicly in support of the Clary Lake water level petition.

26 May 2013: Dam Gate Open Again

boo-hiss-custom 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.

One has to wonder what motivates Paul Kelley these days- he certainly isn’t trying to win friends and influence people. And what makes him think that a little water going through that hole in the dam is going cause significant damage to the dam? It might make the hole a little bigger, but the first thing anyone who goes to repair the dam is going to do is remove that whole rotten concrete plug, hole and all.

Now is when loons establish their nest and start sitting. Sadly, in a repeat of last year’s loon nesting disaster, with the gate open again, falling water levels will doom any attempt the loons make to raise a family this year. Good going Kelley. You can’t win for losing.

26 May 2013: The rain has ended!

swimming 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.

In any case, get out there and enjoy the (relatively) high water while it lasts. The lake hasn’t been this high since late June last summer and there’s no telling what to expect as the summer advances. The State boat launch is usable now and if you’re careful you won’t have any trouble getting your boat in the water. There’s 2.1′ of water over the foot of the ramp which is just a little shy of the design specification of 2.3′. Be mindful of the rocks- the water is only about 12″ deep 20′ off the end of the ramp.

I thought Kelley was going to open the gate this weekend in an attempt to keep the water level below the hole in the dam as he did last summer but he hasn’t touched it. Surprise, surprise. Last year he was ostensibly concerned about the impact of high water on the integrity of the dam and he did everything he could to keep the level -40″ or more below the top of the dam. Now maybe everything has changed; he has been referring to the dam as the “breached dam that formerly impounded Clary Lake” as if he’s given up on the useless, broken relic. Still, he’s trying to sell it and you’d think he’d want to keep it from deteriorating further especially considering he’ll probably still own it, and have to fix it, when the lake level order goes on.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

25 May 2013: Kelley finally gets around to notifying Clary Lake Shore Owners of his petition

bullshit6 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 May 17th letter sent by the DEP to Paul Kelley, his petition was found to be unacceptable because of his very failure to satisfy the statutory requirements for public notice:

PPM’s Notice of intent to file petition

All I can say is Paul Kelley’s chutzpah knows no bounds and his arrogance leaves me breathless and dazed. Since the purpose of this mailing was simply to provide notice of something we’re already well aware of, he could have spared us the first page entirely, and most of the second one as well: was his purpose to elicit sympathy? It failed: everyone knows all about Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s epic failure to develop the Clary Mill property and all the reasons for it. We’re also sick and tired of hearing how hard he has tried to get rid of the dam and we sit here wondering, if he’s tried that hard, how is it that he still owns it?

I presume I am the unidentified “CLA board member” who objected to Mr. Kelley’s holding an “invitation-only” meeting with parties possibly interested in owning the dam and that my statement that I would boycott any meeting that wasn’t open to the general public has caused him to abandon his plans for such an exclusive meeting. No need to thank me folks! Just doing my job!

Instead of the originally planned invitation-only meeting, Mr. Kelley will now meet 1-on-1 with parties interested in owning the Clary Lake dam. First come, first served. Get in line folks.

24 May 2013: Lake Level is UP

It isn’t often that I update the water level charts more than once a day but I did this day, the water was coming up so fast you could almost watch it rise. The lake has come up a little more than 12″ since last Monday when it started raining, rising from -56.52″ below the top of the dam to -44.16″ earlier this afternoon and they’re forecasting rain for a couple more days too so the lake isn’t done rising by a long shot. Runoff was limited at the start because most of the rain soaked into the dry ground rather than running off into the lake the ground is now saturated and runoff rates are more or less normal now.

You’ll notice a new feature on the water level charts: a straight black line across the chart at an elevation of -34″ below the top of the dam which is the approximate elevation of the bottom of the hole in the dam. When the water rises above this level it will start pouring through the hole. Last year Kelley did everything he could to keep the lake level below -40″ to prevent enlargement of the hole, causing further damage to the dam. If he keeps up this practice this year, expect him to open the gate this weekend.

24 May 2013: Whitefield Publishes Warrant for Special Town Meeting

town_meeting 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:

While I think it is unlikely that the town will ultimately vote to accept ownership of the dam, the Selectmen should be commended for their due diligence in this matter. I sincerely hope they let the Selectmen pursue this initiative to it’s logical conclusion.