On Monday, Nov. 28, Westport Island selectmen met with Code Enforcement Officer Gary Richardson to review a draft legal document on violations at the Anthony Keefe property on Old Woods road.

The discussion continues more than a year after the town first notified the Woolwich-based contractor of the issues at the property. In September 2015, a notice of violation sent to Keefe cited failure to obtain building and pier permits.

Keefe was also cited for clearing vegetation in a protected 75-foot buffer zone along the Back River. According to the letter, the violations included the removal of saplings, ground cover and trees less than three feet tall.

At that time, Keefe was instructed to apply for after-the-fact permits and to submit a tree plan and “proposal to plant trees to bring each plot into compliance.” The fee for after-the-fact permit applications is triple the usual fee.

In Keefe’s case the amount totaled $450, which he paid by check to the town in December 2015 after submitting applications for the permits one month earlier. The tree plot was received last April and officials have been waiting since that time for Keefe to comply with the vegetation plan.

Keefe and his wife Courtney have listed the property for sale and they appeared at the Nov. 21 selectmen meeting accompanied by local real estate agent Nancy Carleton.

At that meeting, Keefe informed town officials he had completed planting the required saplings the previous day. Keefe asked when the matter would be resolved because an offer had been made on the property and the closing date was in mid-December. Selectmen wanted to confer with Richardson to discuss what financial penalties might be involved. The said they would notify Keefe when they had reached consensus.

The CEO drafted a consent decree which was reviewed by the selectmen at their meeting Monday evening. Among the issues discussed was the need to monitor the tree/vegetation plantings to make certain they continue grow and fill in the shoreland buffer zone.  Another issue pending is the amount of a penalty, if any, for the violations and delay in addressing the concerns.

Richardson commented that the triple permit fees and the penalty would not have been necessary as Keefe “could have easily gotten a $25 permit for the work that was done.” Selectmen expect to have a final consent decree for Keefe’s signature by next Monday’s meeting.