Woodstock selectmen Tuesday voiced their frustrations to Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patricia Aho over how the town was treated regarding the reconstruction of the Lake Christopher dam two years ago.
Aho attended the meeting after Town Manager Vern Maxfield wrote a letter to her in March.
Two years ago, after the town was granted a DEP permit for the project, the dam was rebuilt under the design and supervision of engineer Jim Sysko.
Sysko said Tuesday that during the construction, a heavy rainstorm followed by a strong wind churned up two-foot waves that started washing the dam material into the lake.
“We did not have rip rap [rocks]” he said, and they had not been proposed in the permit application.
Sysko said he added rip rap [over an area of 328 square feet, according to Maxfield’s letter], in order to stop the erosion.
’”The dam was on the brink of complete failure,” Sysko said. “I should have notified DEP, but we had to do it quick.”
Board Chair Ron Deegan said he had supported the move. “Jim made the right engineering decision,” he said.
DEP officials found out about the change a month later, when they came to inspect the site, Maxfield said.
A DEP engineer in the group agreed with Sysko’s decision to add the rocks, said Deegan.
But when the inspection concluded, said Sysko, another DEP official said the town would need to get another permit, at a cost that eventually totaled $603.
Sysko said he was “shocked.”
Deegan wondered why, instead of going through a full reapplication process for another permit, “couldn’t we have had a change order right there?”
In his letter Maxfield asked for a refund on the $603, but the town was told it could not be returned, Bies said.
Deegan said the town officials had been treated in a condescending way during the overall process.
Aho said the board had a valid point on having the flexibility to make changes on a project site, but any future changes in that policy could not be applied to Woodstock’s situation.
“It’s not going to help you out, but you can take credit for raising a valid question,” she said. The Woodstock officials also took issue with the initial $10,000 fee they had to pay to DEP for the permit.
Aho said such a fee is required when a project will have an impact on a wetland.
Sysko said the wetland was there before the project because of the damaged dam, and since the project completion the wetland has dried up.
The board asked if the application fees are different for municipalities and private companies. Aho said the state treats them the same.
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