Your story of February 20 regarding this June’s town vote on the recommendation to remove Montgomery Dam may have left readers with several false impressions.

First, the story quotes at length the view of one member of the Save the Dam group that it is too risky for the Town to start a full river restoration project by removing Montgomery Dam because taxpayers will be on the hook to foot the bill on the other dams if external funding is not available.

What this opinion glosses over is the fact that the Town of Camden owns two “high hazard” dams, characterized as risking catastrophic loss to life or property in the event of failure. These dams, upstream of Montgomery Dam, require expensive repairs in the near term. If no outside funding is available, millions of dollars of those costs will fall entirely on taxpayers.

The only current sources of private and/or government funding sources to repair these dams come from fish restoration projects. Fish restoration is a means of addressing the Town’s looming financial liabilities. Regardless of what happens to Montgomery Dam, the deteriorating condition of Camden’s town-owned high hazard dams is and will remain a high caliber financial gun aimed at
taxpayers.

In addition, the statements made by the Save the Dam committee representative suggests that “The Olmsted brothers and Mrs. Bok would be devastated” by taking down Montgomery Dam.

According to the Camden Public Library Board of Trustees, the Olmsted’s were focused on the grading of Harbor Park and the retention/planting of trees specifically to block the view of the dam from Harbor Park and to keep the dam out of the design they sought to create.

Tony Grassi, Ben Ellison, Frank O’Hara III, Geoff Scott, Ellen Reynolds, Courtney Cease, Richard Thackeray