By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The April 30 rainstorm event really did a number on the remains of Edes Falls dam. The water was four feet from the top of the dam remnants. On the West end, the floodwater loosened lots of rocks and washed a header downstream.

On Monday, the Naples Board of Selectmen addressed the hazardous condition of the dam remains. The board concurred that the area was a potential danger to the public.

This development altered the amount of the dam that will be removed during a demolition project by Trout Unlimited and Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Departing from the initial plan, more of the structure will be taken out of the river and only about a 20-foot abutment of the dam will be preserved. 

Also, on Monday, the Town of Naples posted no trespassing signs at the dam remains. 

During the past few weeks and over the weekend, Naples resident and retired engineer Ken Norton has been scheduling tours of the remaining structure of the Edes Fall Dam, located on the Crooked River.

“I was down there [Sunday] giving another tour. I was on Jugtown side and I saw some people walking on the other side. When I got to the other [River Road] side, I met the two young women. They were counselors from a camp in Raymond. They were thinking about bringing their kids there to walk out on the remnants of the dam,” Norton said.

“The biggest issue is when you walk in there the downstream face of the remains doesn’t look that bad. . .  The people walk up there, and they don’t realize what they are walking across, which is open space, rocks tipped down underneath,” he said.

“Like a freight train left at the station without the brake on. It will slowly gain speed until it is out of control. Or like a landslide that starts with some small stones rolling down the mountain before the whole mountain comes down. The dam remnants are very dangerous and eventually will fall into the river,” he said. “It is going to go. It’s just a matter of when.”

Norton spoke during the selectmen meeting on Monday. Chairman Ted Shane kicked off the topic, the declaration of a public safety emergency for Edes Falls Dam. It was listed under old business.

Naples Interim Town Manager Bill Giroux spoke.

“You do have a Comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan, which gives you the authority to decide if there is a hazard and decide to mitigate it. You could use the emergency declaration to expand the demolition that was previously planned,” Giroux said.

Chairman Shane took the floor, referring to the demolition project, which has been approved at town meeting.

“At this point, we already know that there is work going to be done there by Trout Unlimited and Maine Inland Fish & Wildlife,” Shane said. “What do you need tonight —  for us to say it is a safety issue and that proper signage needs to be put up to stay away from it?”

Giroux commented that the town posted the signs earlier that day.

“But, your declaration would be at no cost to the town. To allow them [Trout Unlimited] to demolish a larger area, based on the engineering analysis that Ken Norton had provided at a previous meeting,” he said.   

“It is clearly a hazard. Most of us have looked at it. It is dangerous. If the wrong person wanders out there, it could be big trouble for us, for the town. It is no cost to the town,” Giroux said.

Norton spoke briefly about the history of the demolition plan which was submitted a few years ago. Initially, residents voted on removing the JugTown side to the existing remains before the raceway, he said. 

“Since that time, the dam, the remains have continued to deteriorate. Every time I go down there, it is settling. It is happening quick,” Norton said.

“We would still preserve 20 feet of that abutment. We could stabilize that portion,” he said, adding that is not a certainty until work starts.

He warned the town it could be financially liable for fixing the dam if it falls.

“If you don’t decide to do it, and the thing falls down, it will be town’s responsibility,” he said. 

“The River Road side raceway continues to fall. You are going to have to take it all down. The other end is unraveled. To do it correctly and be safe, you are going to have to take down a large portion of what is here and rebuild it,” Norton said. “It seems to me the town gains and the river gains. We’ll make the river more natural.”

Selectman Steve LaPointe provided his viewpoint. 

“I had an opportunity to go tour both sides of that dam. I understand Edes Falls is historic and all that,” LaPointe said. “But, it is dangerous. It should be, in my opinion, taken down. Putting signage up there and you are going to try to stop kids or 17-years or young adults going out there having fun and enjoying themselves. Somebody is going to get hurt.”

He commented on the scenic and recreational aspects of the location.

“It is a gorgeous area. It would make a good park. It is a great fishing hole,” he said.

But right now, the danger of the dam is the drawback, he said.  

“It really truly, in my opinion, ought to come down,” LaPointe said.

The board voted, 5-0, to use the emergency declaration on Edes Falls dam remains and to authorize Trout Unlimited to remove the dam to the end of the raceway, leaving a 20-foot abutment. 

Following the vote, there was some discussion on how to be certain that the town is not liable for injuries. Selectman Colin Brackett expressed his concern.

“What are we going to do in the meantime? Is the town covered with the signage,” Brackett asked.

“The signs say, ‘No trespassing.’ It covers us,” Giroux said.

Resident Ed Cash added, “It’s better off to put up a no trespassing sign. You have legal right to haul people in.”