Planned dam removal needs Winterport action

WINTERPORT – The Town Council has agreed to hold a special town meeting on the unresolved matter of the West Winterport Dam.

Town Manager Phil Pitula said Thursday the council voted 4-1 on Tuesday to schedule a meeting later this year. He said the meeting would offer residents the opportunity to review the situation with the dam on Marsh Stream and vote on whether they want to maintain the town’s legal connection to it.

The fate of the former hydroelectric dam has been a controversial issue in town for nearly a decade. Deregulation made it unprofitable for owner John Jones to produce electricity with it, and in 1999 he announced his intention to dismantle the 90-foot-long structure. Jones needed town permits to remove the dam.

Marsh Stream serves as a boundary between the town and neighboring Frankfort, and from the start some residents of both communities opposed its removal. They had grown used to the 50-acre impoundment behind the dam and had used the mill pond for firefighting and recreation. Some contended it served as a flood control dam during spring runoffs.

A number of groups and agencies supported the dam’s removal because they wanted to see the stream revert to its natural flow and promote the return of spawning species such as wild Atlantic salmon and alewives. One of those groups, Facilitators Improving Salmonid Habitat, or FISH, sided with Jones and spent approximately $200,000 on studies, permits and legal fees in the ensuing years.

Voters from both towns opposed the removal and raised nearly $80,000 to wage a legal battle. The fight dragged on for years until Jones finally ended the deal when the towns denied him permits and threatened to take land abutting the dam by eminent domain.

Under terms of the 2003 settlement, the towns agreed to drop their eminent domain claim and Jones agreed to restore the dam to its former condition.

Before he could do that, however, the parties had to await the outcome of appeals filed by environmental groups with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that authorized Jones to generate hydroelectric power at the site. FERC denied the appeals last winter and turned the regulation of the dam over to the state.

Pitula said Jones was concerned that he would be held liable for expenses if the state requires him to restore the dam and build a fish passageway. He said Jones believes that because the towns are his partners under the agreement, they would have to support his efforts.

“Under the terms of the agreement his hands are tied. That’s why he requested the Town Council to revisit it. The council is willing to put this matter back to the people as it has been dragging on forever,” Pitula said Thursday. “Jones hopes to get some finalization. He owns the property and he’d like to do something with it.”

Jones said Thursday that as long as the liability issue hangs over his head he will never be able to get insurance to build a home on the site. He is living there in a travel trailer. He said that once FERC put control of the dam in the hands of the state, the process had to be revisited.

“It’s a tough thing and I’m hoping to resolve this situation and get this monkey off my back,” Jones said.

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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