ALLAGASH, Maine — The town of Allagash contends that 11 residents who recently filed a lawsuit against the town do not have legal standing to challenge a 2023 land swap deal approved by the Select Board.
In late November, the residents filed a lawsuit against the town because the Select Board did not hold a public meeting regarding the swap of a local couple’s small parcel of land for a larger town-owned parcel. In its response filed in Aroostook County Superior Court, the town alleges the residents were not harmed in the deal and therefore have no standing to sue the town.
The town admitted the Select Board did not call a town meeting relating to the conveyance and subsequent recording of the deed in the swap, according to court documents.
The Select Board violated the Maine Freedom of Access Act and exceeded its constitutional and legislative authority by not seeking town meeting approval to make the swap, as required under Maine law, according to the lawsuit.
“Essentially, the town is trying to make the case that average Allagash citizens do not have the right to challenge the Select Board’s actions,” said Portland attorney Kristin Collins on Monday. Collins represents the residents in the matter.
Last week, Aroostook County Justice Stephen Nelson granted the town’s request to extend their time to depose plaintiffs, giving them until March 3, 2025.
The dispute centers on a tenth-of-an-acre sliver, including a drainage ditch that residents Bobby and Cindy Hafford had owned since 1978.
The ditch portion of the land in question borders property next to the Allagash Town Office and the Allagash Volunteer Fire Department and runs toward the St. John River.
After allegedly threatening to block fire department access, the Haffords agreed in March 2023 to accept the town’s land swap deal, Allagash Volunteer Fire Chief Louis Pelletier III said on Monday.
In the swap, the Haffords exchanged their tenth-of-an-acre parcel on the left side of the fire station and town building for a 1.5-acre piece of the town’s playing field used for events including the Can-Am Crown International Dog Sled Races, he said.
Pelletier said that the exchange was not necessary because the fire department was never in danger of losing access to its station because the Haffords’ property did not interfere with the fire trucks passage.
“It’s a tight turn, but our trucks are not that big,” Pelletier said. “It’s kind of frustrating that we are fighting our own town.”
Pelletier said the town of 236 residents lost an important community parcel and the Haffords gained a large piece of riverfront property because the town field adjoined property the Haffords already held along a ridge and down to the river.
“A little bit of research could have saved all of this,’’ Pelletier said. “It was all hush, hush and it was done under this false pretense that they were going to block off the fire station.”
The Haffords’ attorney, Presque-Isle-based Alan Harding, shared the most recent court filings in response to Bangor Daily News questions regarding their involvement in the deal.
Prior to the November court filing, a different group of Allagash residents filed a 2023 lawsuit against the town regarding the swap claiming it was illegal.
In that case, the court dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice — permanently — because the plaintiffs failed to show standing, which means they did not show how they were personally harmed by the illegal action.
When a lawsuit is filed for remedy from an illegal act, the plaintiff must show how they were personally harmed, according to Maine law.
Because the court dismissed the first lawsuit with prejudice, the original plaintiffs did not have the right to refile a lawsuit regarding the land deal.
The town’s attorney, Bangor-based Kady Huff, said in a December affidavit, that the town intends to ask each plaintiff about their personal use of the land swapped with the Haffords as well as their relationship to the plaintiffs in the previous lawsuit on the matter.
Pelletier said a 1986 survey plan, paid for by the Allagash School, clearly shows the Haffords’ property line adjacent to the town property does not interfere with town vehicles entering or exiting.
The 5.9-acre property, now used for the town administrative offices and the fire station, was originally deeded to the Allagash School and the inhabitants of Allagash Plantation in 1951 by David Jackson Jr., according to the survey filed with the recorder of deeds.
In recent weeks, someone has been placing road construction cones along the driveway blocking the fire department access, said Pelletier who removed the cones, adding that he does not know who is responsible for the action.
”We are trying to get this survey map circulated and get the truth out there so if it comes to a vote people should know the truth,” he said. “As fire chief I’m trying to take that role to get people to look at the survey map.”
In December, the town also attempted to have the current lawsuit dismissed, but the court denied the motion on the grounds that the November complaint made a primary case for standing.
In the end, the plaintiffs — Alison M. Bartlett, Betty J. Gardner, Roy Erik Gardner, Casey J. Hafford, Clayton N. McBreairty, Dale J. O’Leary, Daphne J. O’Leary, John B. O’Leary, Josie M. Pelletier, Mable L. Pelletier and Patricia E. Pelletier — are seeking to reverse the swap.
In addition to the November court filing, Allagash residents have circulated petitions, asking for a town vote on an article declaring the two deeds be treated as null and void for not having been authorized by a town meeting.
The petitions needed 14 signatures and they received 38, Collins said, adding that they believe the town is holding a meeting in January or February regarding the land deal.
A scheduled Dec. 6 meeting, slated to explain the land swap deal, was canceled. And officials did not return multiple calls by the Bangor Daily News regarding the meeting schedule.
“This was a bad deal for the town,” Pelletier said. “We’re hoping to get it settled as quickly as possible. I have no hard feelings for anyone. We just want to get it fixed, get those deeds reversed and get it back the way it was. “
