Oct. 19 in Alna, Second Selectman Steve Graham and Third Selectman Coreysha Śtone agreed to end the town’s enforcement action on a Golden Ridge Road boat ramp and settle with Jeff Spinney. For the town, the deal is more a surrender than a settlement, the pact’s opponents argued. Others in the hearing at the fire station and over Zoom supported the proposal.

With no fines for Spinney and with the ramp getting to come with the property from one owner to the next, “(It) rips the heart out of the ability of the town to enforce the town’s ordinance,” said abutter Allen Philbrick, who disputed the deal’s legality. Fellow abutter Carol Ervin said of the settlement’s lack of a payout by Spinney to the town, “There should be some payment. A rollover like this, I don’t think it can be justified.”

Ervin said the deal sends the “clear message” anyone with the money to do what they want, can, because the town will fold.

Cathy Johnson felt the same. Johnson, Philbrick and Ervin were among those who appealed the project’s approval to the town appeals board. Johnson commented in Thursday night’s hearing about the would-be settlement: “No need to comply with the ordinances. Just grist the town to spend on attorney’s fees until the town gives up, and you can keep whatever illegal structure you want.” And a selectboard-approved settlement undercuts the planning and appeals boards’ authority, said Johnson, who recently became chair of the planning board. 

Town attorney David Kallin and Spinney’s attorney Kristin Collins said even if the court decided in the town’s favor, the town’s costs could still go largely or entirely un-recouped, and Collins said she would argue removing the ramp would harm the environment. “So ... I hope you give (selectmen) some grace,” she told attendees. “Because they are in control of your money as taxpayers. And I’m sure they do not want to see a result where they continue to hemorrhage money and not get the result they are expecting or that you who are opposed to this project are expecting.”

Collins added, unlike a settlement a prior selectboard approved in January 2021 and a court found invalid, this one declares the ramp an illegal, non-conforming structure; so, although it gets to stay, Spinney cannot expand it or move it and, if there is ever erosion or other harm, “then absolutely there’s a complaint to be made to the state agency and the town.” 

The settlement’s supporters included Greg Shute, one of the then-selectmen who nodded the first deal. He said he signed it in the best interest of the town – not his or the abutters’– and he was pleased that much of that deal is in this one. He applauded Stone’s and Graham’s “very similar approach” to the issue.

Linda Kristan, one of the selectmen who in November 2021 called for a violation notice on the ramp, said the proposed deal lacked the teeth to protect the river.

Resident Christopher Cooper said the deal’s similarity to the first one speaks to its reasonableness; and the issue has gone on too long. “This struggle is not about protecting a river, or defending an ordinance. It’s a contest between a small group of persons and a single citizen (who) is at least wasting his money on attorneys, while his opponents are spending yours and mine.”

Cooper added, Stone and Graham “have risen to the burden of (their oaths), and deserve our respect, and our thanks.” Beth Whitney thanked them, “for having the courage to put this (matter) to rest. It’s time we stop spending Alna’s money.”

Selectmen thanked attendees for their order in the hearing and described comments as well thought out. Graham said given the litigation’s cost, the uncertain outcome, and the importance of the town to be able to enforce ordinances, the agreement is the best decision. 

Stone recalled trying to think creatively and once proposing funding the continued litigation with donations, if enough people wanted to give. She learned that would not be legal; and she said, without the settlement, the case could go on another two years and cost thousands more, “and we don’t get the answer we want.” Stone also noted a suggestion in the hearing, by a lawyer for some of the opponents, the settlement risks a legal challenge.

“There’s no out of it this, there’s no way out of this. It’s like everybody wants to stick to their side until the end,” Stone said. “It’s distracting from the other things we need to do for the town,” Graham said at another point.

Townspeople’s differing views are valid and can be gone around and around with, painfully, Stone concluded before the 2-0 vote. “But it does feel like it’s time to try to move forward, to close this chapter, and get to a different place,” she said. They approved the proposed deal and authorized its filing in court.