Attorney James N. Katsiaficas addresses the Alna Board of Appeals on Monday, Aug. 14. The board unanimously accepted Katsiaficas’s advice, voting they did not have jurisdiction to consider an appeal of a June 8 select board decision. (Sherwood Olin photo)
After a two-hour meeting on Monday, Aug. 14, members of the Alna Board of Appeals unanimously agreed they did not have jurisdiction to consider an appeal of a decision by the Alna Select Board.
At issue was an appeal filed by Golden Ridge Road resident Jeff Spinney regarding the select board’s decision after an ethics hearing June 8. At that time, the select board determined actions by board member Ed Pentaleri prior to his election in December 2021 could be construed as biased. The legal activities at issue relate to Pentaleri’s personal opposition to Spinney’s efforts to build a private boat ramp on Spinney’s property.
In its June 8 decision, the select board censured Pentaleri and recused him from further participation in litigation issues related to Spinney’s boat ramp. Spinney and the town both have suits pending against each other in Lincoln County Superior Court. The current dispute began with Spinney’s original application to the Alna Planning Board in July 2020.
Via his appeal, Spinney was seeking to amend the record of the June 8 hearing to include up to 18 pages of documentation supporting the case against Pentaleri.
The appeals board met briefly July 26 to take up the appeal, continuing the meeting to Aug. 13 in order to obtain independent counsel after Spinney objected to the presence and participation of Alna town attorney David Kallin.
In the interim, the appeals board retained Portland-based attorney James N. Katsiaficas.
The board’s decision turned on the interpretation of section five of the board of appeals ordinance for the town of Alna.
Katsiaficas advised the board the ordinance should be weighed in entirety noting the subsections of the ordinance specify decisions by the planning board, select board, and code enforcement officer as they relate to licenses, permits, variances or other required approvals, and state regulations.
Katsiaficas advised the ethics complaint, filed by Alna resident Ralph Hilton, was brought under the town’s ethics policy, which is not under the appeals board’s jurisdiction.
After a reading a draft summary of Katsiaficas findings the board struck some passages deemed irrelevant and adopted the findings as their own, 3-0.
