Man sued for clear-cutting> Guilford wood harvester accused of breaching contract

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A civil lawsuit filed in Piscataquis County Superior Court last week claims a Guilford wood harvester breached a contractual arrangement by clear-cutting property in Greenville.

Elton and Wilma Burky, husband and wife, of Canfield, Ohio, are suing Michael Davis, who they say clear-cut rather than selectively cut wood on their Sawyer Pond property. The couple are represented by their son, attorney Elton A. Burky of the law firm Burky, Wiers and McCarthy.

In their lawsuit, Elton and Wilma Burky claim they had a contractual arrangement with Davis for him to cut timber selectively from their real estate. The trees to be removed were those designated by a forester.

In the five-count lawsuit, the Burkys claim Davis harvested and removed virtually all of the timber from the real estate, failed to limit his harvesting to only those trees marked for selective cutting, failed to remove all unsightly slash and failed to reseed yarding areas.

By failing to honor the contractual arrangement, the Burkys claim the conduct of Davis was intentional. They pointed out that Davis was fined $1,000 by the town of Greenville for the cutting practices on the property in question. He also signed a consent agreement that required he regenerate the forest stand on the property, which he failed to honor, according to the lawsuit. They seek triple damages from Davis, along with attorney’s fees, costs for professional services, and other relief.

The Burkys also claim they paid Davis $11,000 for construction of the drive on their property, but have yet to receive an accounting of the funds, which they asked the court to approve. They also want the return of any funds that were not used for the project, along with attorney’s fees and costs.

The fifth count filed by the Burkys involves the harvest and removal of timber from real estate they own on the Goodwin Hill Road in Canaan. The couple claim there was an understanding that Davis was to pay them for stumpage fees for the harvest and removal of timber on the property. He paid them $800 in advance, but has not provided them with an accounting of the amount of trees harvested or stumpage prices received or the amount that might be owed to them above the initial payment, they claim. They ask the court to order Davis to provide a full accounting and for him to pay any amounts owed to them, along with attorney’s fees and court costs.

A similar lawsuit filed against Davis by another couple who also claimed Davis clear-cut their property was settled recently in Somerset County Superior Court. While the settlement was not made public, Judy and Carl Lucas, who filed the suit, did sign a statement that said Davis did not engage in fraud, theft, deception and intentional misrepresentation at any time during their dealings.

A few days before the Burkys filed their lawsuit, Davis had filed his own lawsuit against Burky, Wiers and McCarthy, alleging legal malpractice.

Davis, doing business as Kennedy Slate Mine, had retained the services of the law firm to represent him in a suit he filed against Randall C. Banks of Banks Brothers. The suit involved allegations of negligent repairs to Davis’ D-8 bulldozer.

Davis claimed the law firm failed to comply with the court’s scheduling order and designate expert witnesses necessary to the prosecution of the case. As a result, he lost the case against Banks. He is seeking a fair and equitable amount based upon the case along with costs and interest.