Maine Emergency Management Agency officials advised a Rangeley-area dam committee to focus on testing emergency procedures and completing relatively low‑cost repairs for the Haley Pond dam rather than pursuing a costly redesign or relying on broad state funding. Steve Mallory, MEMA’s director of operations and response, said the agency had provided a written set of recommendations and offered engineering contacts and templates to help the town act.

Why it matters: MEMA staff said dam safety work is fundamentally about life safety and property protection, and that for small dams that are not classified as high hazard, state funding is limited. That reality shapes the town’s choices among routine maintenance, targeted concrete and riprap repairs, automation options and the more expensive option of redesign or removal.

Mallory told the committee that MEMA’s inspection report and prior recommendations include five concrete steps the town should prioritize: ensure there is an up‑to‑date emergency action plan (EAP), test the gate 1 cycle during runoff season (recommended timing cited in the file as February), remove brush and root growth from riprap before winter, prepare a remedial action plan addressing concrete and embankment settlement, and submit the remedial plan to state officials (MEMA/PEMA) as previously documented. “Dam safety legislation is life safety and then property damage,” Mallory said, describing the rationale for prioritizing practical, near‑term measures.

An MEMA engineer, Anna Papparajder (engineer, MEMA), described the site as a constrained channel with a single, restrictive gate and retaining walls that have “seen better days.” She said the gate structure shows cracking on both sides and that except for a redesign, the most effective mitigation before heavy rain is to lower the pond level in advance and to complete the concrete and riprap repairs recommended in prior inspection reports. “You don’t have a lot of wiggle room with this dam,” she said.

Local committee members raised operational concerns and lower‑cost monitoring options. One member suggested installing a transducer or an automatic water‑level system to provide continuous monitoring and allow remote gate operation; MEMA cautioned that such systems likely require redesign and carry substantial upfront cost. MEMA offered to share a list of five engineering firms familiar with dam work and said it could review proposals from the town.

On financing, MEMA staff said most public grant opportunities they’ve seen favor dam removal projects rather than rehabilitation of small, non‑high‑hazard dams. The agency pointed to recently drafted legislation that would create a municipal bond bank and could offer some forgiveness, but Mallory cautioned those provisions were not guaranteed and would depend on future legislative action. He also named two enacted bills from memory—LD 1382 (related to dam repair) and LD 1848 (recommendations for improved dam safety)—and identified Laura Pay at the Maine DEP as a recommended contact for permitting and regulatory questions.

Residents who spoke at the meeting favored repair over removal. One property owner, Arlene (committee participant), said, “My vote would be to just repair the dam as the report had suggested,” adding that she valued the pond’s look and recreational functions and wanted the committee to agree on an acceptable water level. Another attendee provided local measurements indicating the pond’s winter low is roughly 30–32 inches below typical high‑water marks and said prior gate operators had not been given precise instructions on how far to open or when to close the gate.

Next steps: MEMA offered to send the committee O&M and EAP templates and to provide contact names at DEP, Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and DOT. The group agreed to schedule a follow‑up meeting for January 6; the date was set by motion and approved by voice vote (exact tally not recorded). MEMA staff also offered to help facilitate development of an operations and maintenance plan that would clarify who acts and when before forecast storms.

The meeting closed with committee members agreeing to narrow the scope of work, pursue MEMA’s recommended checklist items, and coordinate with DEP and DOT before pursuing major structural or design changes.