No accord was reached but informal discussions held after a tense public meeting on Clary Lake dam lent some hope to constructive future discussions between the Clary Lake Association and Pleasant Pond Mill LLC.
The meeting was held by PPM at the Jefferson Fire Department on Oct. 15 to fulfill a statutory requirement for consultation with the owners of property abutting Clary Lake as part of the company’s second petition for release from ownership from the dam impounding the lake.
The situation grew tense – some attendees were visibly strained, others shaking – over the interpretation of related statutes and the intent of the meeting, and when PPM Manager Paul Kelley refused to acknowledge a letter presented by CLA President Ellis Percy as an offer from the association to purchase the dam, Percy threw up his hands and left the meeting.
“That’s it, I’m done,” Percy said.
Kelley said PPM was open to discussing an offer from the CLA, but not until after the meeting was concluded.
“This meeting is not regarding any other topic than soliciting questions and offers from abutting property owners,” Kelley said.
After the official meeting concluded, those on both sides of the issue began to cool and slowly narrowed discussions in on how to proceed.
Kelley said PPM is willing to withdraw its petitions for release from ownership – petition which could, potentially, end up with an order from the Department of Environmental Protection to breach the dam if an owner is not found – but the company is not going to completely “disarm” in the face of potential $10,000 a day fines from a pending petition for a water level to be set on the lake.
He suggested both sides move to a “more neighborly approach” and “take their weapons off the table.”
CLA members indicated they were also interested in the neighborly approach.
“I truly feel if we could tone down the rhetoric, past, present, and future, and be neighborly in intent that we could accomplish something that satisfies both entities,” said CLA member Trudi Hodgkins.
Kelley said he would be happy if the association would designate a single person to discuss the issue with Pleasant Pond Mill.
“I think it may be a real benefit to sit down and see how we want to proceed,” Kelley said, adding he is also willing to get other parties related to the situation involved in the discussions.
Kelley agreed to take and review the letter Percy presented and even offered to pay to join the Clary Lake Association again to discuss the issue as a member.
A specific plan on how the groups will move forward was not agreed upon during the discussions.
In a follow-up interview, George Fergusson, a member of the CLA negotiating committee, said Tony Marple, of Whitefield, was asked and has agreed to try to be a mediator between the two parties, but in what manner representatives from CLA and PPM will meet is not yet clear.
