By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Every thing has its season.

The conversation about a proposal to remove some remaining portions of the Edes Falls dam is being put on ice.

How much of the remaining dam to remove — in order to better facilitate the upriver journey of spawning salmon — will not officially be considered by the Naples Board of Selectmen until next spring or early summer.

That’s because residents living along the Crooked River would first like to know how the water levels would be impacted. That is the biggest concern — the potential water flow and the water levels if remnants of the dam are removed. 

Another major reason for the delay is that field tests to predict water flow cannot be done right now. The test would be conducted by a crew from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 

The Naples selectmen decided to wait on the dam removal following a public hearing, which took place on Oct. 29.

Resident Doug Bogdan, who lives near Edes Fall park, where the remainder of the dam is located, spoke.

“I think that we are going to lose some depth there if we remove the dam,” Bogdan said, adding the river was lower than usual this summer.

“I think what we are going to do is going to affect something for many years for something that is a problem except every four or five years. This is not a solution and may cause problems further down the road,” he said.

If you do this you will “take away something that we can never put back,” Bogdan said.

The idea of removing the rest of the dam was first presented last month (Oct. 7) to the Naples Board of Selectmen because the town owns the land where the dam exists. Later, the public hearing was scheduled and held.

It is important to note that the structure is no longer a dam. The Edes Fall Dam was removed and what remains is about an eight-foot opening with the base of the dam usually underwater. The sides of the dam, which are connected to the shoreline, are also remaining.

Another fact worth noting: the town will not be asked to spend money on the project.

In other words, no taxpayer money or town funding will be used for the dam-removal project. 

Instead, the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited plans to fundraise money for the project, which members say would enhance the salmon population in Sebago Lake.

The topic has been on the selectmen’s agenda twice in October.

On Oct. 29, the public hearing was held. The town had notified abutters living along the Crooked River to get input about the proposal. About a half dozen people spoke although more citizens may have showed up specifically to hear about the plan for the remaining dam structure.

Regional Fisheries Biologist James Pellerin, with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries, explained how the removing the base of the dam might help to boost the number of salmon in Sebago Lake.

“The Sebago fish industry brought $1.3 million into the economy,” Pellerin said, citing statistics from 2014.

“In 2014, about 2,300 to 4,600 adult salmon migrated up the Crooked River,” he said.

He later added that there is a salmon run in the spring and another run in the fall. 

He talked for a while about the history of the dam.

He said the problem is that the remaining base of the dam blocks the spawning salmon during years when water levels are low.

“Salmon need water depth to jump that high — four to five feet. During the drought years, we found that fish were passing on side of dam. That area is currently blocked by a log dam,” Pellerin said.

The salmon, unable to pass the dam base, wait in the pools, which makes them “very vulnerable to predation,” he said.

Using a slideshow presentation, Pellerin showed three options. One option was to “remove the center breach. Get rid of the one to three courses of stone in center to make a sluiceway,” he said.

The other options included removing the wings, and leaving the granite.

The option that the most people objected to the least was removing the middle base only and none of the wall-like stones built into the granite ledge.

Quite a few residents showed up to the public hearing to voice their concerns.

Ellen Fogg was very much against removing what remains of the dam. She said she had been communicating with people on Facebook.

“One hundred percent of the people I’ve talked to are against this project. We don’t want to lose our historic dam that we’ve grown up with,” Fogg said. “We love to hear the water rushing.”

“The fish have jumped this dam. They are still jumping it and going all the way up to Bolster’s Mills,” she said.

“I’ve been on these stones ever since I was a child. I have seen the fish jump the stones when the dam was much higher,” she said.

“If you take it out, which is what you want. The more you remove, this dam is eventually going to fall. And, I believe that is your objective,” Fogg said. “I read in State of Maine fisheries report about breaching the middle of this dam.”

“Do you need to go and damage our dam? That is vandalism in my book,” Fogg said. 

“We need to keep our historic Edes Falls,” she said.

A landowner named John, who has acreage next to Edes Fall Park, said, “I don’t want a mosquito factory. I have one of the best fisheries in my backyard and I don’t want to lose it.”

Chairman Jim Grattelo said he would not ask Pellerin to do the measurements to predict how the water would flow if parts of the structure were removed — unless residents were willing to be open-minded about it.

Marissa Barker, whose mom owns land on the Crooked River and who grew up in Edes Falls, said it could benefit the salmon industry and the economy.

Other people said if the water flow changes were minimal they would be open to the minimum amount of the dam being removed.

Pellerin said the water was rip-roaring right now and it would be impossible to take measurements this fall. The item was postponed until next summer.