This week, the lawyer representing nine residents who filed suit against the town of Waldoboro last month filed a defense of their lawsuit with Lincoln County Superior Court.
The filing comes in response to the town’s motion to dismiss the case. “What the town filed is a pretty uncommon type of motion for dismissal,” the plaintiff’s attorney, Clifford Goodall said in a telephone interview on Sept. 13. “It’s very close to calling to the lawsuit frivolous.”
The lawsuit alleges that a July 2011 special town meeting is invalid because it was held by traditional open town meeting. The plaintiffs cite a November 2008 referendum special town meeting, at which voters approved an article calling for all future town meetings to be held by referendum.
The residents – Dennis Blanchet, Travis Reed, Michael Robitaille, John Higgins, Doreen Weiss, Wallace Walton, Patricia Chapman, Duncan Morrell and Scott Dupuis – argue the 2008 article created an ordinance that binds all future town meetings and special town meetings to referendum votes.
In the town’s motion for dismissal, Waldoboro argues the 2008 article does not create an ordinance. “It is nothing more than an advisor, non-binding warrant article passed at a particular town meeting in 2008,” according to the defendant’s motion for dismissal.
“The big thing is that the town doesn’t agree that there is an ordinance, and even if there was, it would still be non-binding,” the town’s attorney, William Kelly, said in a telephone interview Aug. 29.
In an email to his clients written with his response to the motion for dismissal, Goodall wrote that the town’s motion is likely to fail because “the plaintiff’s complaint has to be given the benefit of the doubt.”
Goodall went on to suggest that because the motion is likely to fail, “It is unfortunate that the attorney representing the town chose to file this motion because it has required the expenditure of time and money by both the town and [Goodall’s clients], as well as causing delay in having the issues determined on their merits.”
In an email to The Lincoln County News on Sept. 13, Kelly defended his motion, arguing that in order to throw out the suit, “the court merely has to acknowledge the undisputed fact that no charter exists, and then read the statutes the same way I, and others, do. This is the most cost-efficient way to dispose of the case for the town.”
At the Sept. 13 meeting of the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen – with no reference to the new filing – Waldoboro Town Manager John Spear informed the board that he expects the town to exceed its $6000 budget for legal fees this year due to the costs of union negotiations and the lawsuit.
“I see no way that we’re not going to” overspend the budget, Spear told the board.
Now that both parties in the suit have filed opinions on the motion for dismissal, a judge will review their arguments. The judge will either decide the motion on paper, or request oral arguments. If the motion for dismissal is denied, the parties will then take up the lawsuit itself.
However, after checking with the state bond council, Spear reported to the selectmen on Sept. 13 that the bond council will not be able to issue a clean opinion on the bond refinancing.
“It’s the cloud of doubt due to the presence of a lawsuit” that creates problems for the refinancing, Spear told the board.
Without the lawsuit, the town would likely be refinancing the bond this fall, with an estimated savings of $140,000 over the life of the bond.
If the refinancing receives voter approval on the Nov. 8 ballot, the town will likely refinance the bond in the spring, Spear said. Estimated savings drop to $114,000 over the life of the bond if they wait until the spring.
The decrease in savings is based on interest rates remaining the same between now and next spring. If interest rates go down, the town could potentially save more money, if they go up, even more potential savings could be lost.
