Jamie Moorby's Speech from the Curtis Pond Dam Ribbon Cutting
On Tuesday, July 2, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the beginning of the work on the Curtis Pond Dam. Selectboard member and Curtis Pond advocate Jamie Moorby was one of the speakers, and the text of her speech is below.
If you've ever been out on the pond on a sunny, summer afternoon, you know as well as I that this pond is a buzz of activity - boaters, swimmers, fisherman, ice skaters and more flock to the pond to get out of the heat - and that influx of people to our small community supports the store, builds the local economy, and brings vibrancy to our community. We have the dam to thank for that.
We’ve known the dam was on shaky ground for 30 years, and for those 30 years community members have put their heads together to find a solution. There is a 10 page timeline at the CPA table, take a look at all the twists and turns we’ve navigated.. We are all so grateful to be here today celebrating our collective success.
In more recent years, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the voters of Calais who came together to secure the town bond and to the more than 500 individuals who have collectively given $450,000 in private donations. Thanks also to my colleagues on the Calais Selectboard who jumped in full steam ahead with support for the project, and to the dozens of dedicated volunteers who have moved this process along. Thanks to these efforts, Calais residents and visitors alike will continue to know and love Curtis pond far into the future.
When the bids came in last fall at about half a million dollars above the funding we had, we were all distressed. Yet once again, the community came together, donations flooded in, and our engineers and contractors sharpened their pencils. Together, we found a path forward.
The final $200,000 came as a private loan to the Curtis Pond Association, which we need to pay back over the next three years. Please consider stopping by the table in the back before you leave this afternoon to make a contribution, to pick up a Men of Maple Corner calendar, or better yet, to sign up to be a sustaining monthly donor so we can be sure to pay back the loan on schedule.
Thank you.