Town to broach eminent domain St. Albans to weigh public access to boat launch vs. private owner’s rights

ST. ALBANS – The issue of whether or not to take a private way by eminent domain will be the hot topic of Monday night’s St. Albans selectmen’s meeting.

The selectmen will discuss the move at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at the Town Hall.

Eminent domain is a mechanism by which municipalities may take, in exchange for a fair market value, property they deem necessary for the public good. It is rarely pursued because of the animosity it often stirs up in communities.

In St. Albans, the issue centers on a strip of property owned by Gary Jordan Sr. that provides access to a boat launch on Big Indian Lake.

If the decision were just that simple, there may not be any controversy, but the details surrounding Jordan’s battles with the officials of St. Albans stretch back years. He is expected to have as many supporters at Monday’s meeting as opponents.

Town Manager Larry Post was not in the office Friday and Administrative Assistant Lori Lary would not comment on Monday’s meeting.

But Jordan sketches out the issues as illegal and improper changes in tax maps, tax bills and deeds surrounding his property and Town Landing Road, the disputed area. He has extensive documentation to prove his statements.

The dispute about the boundaries of Town Landing Road have resulted in Jordan’s filing lawsuits against the town and a neighbor and prompted Jordan to attempt to place concrete barriers on the road last November.

When the lawsuits were delayed a month ago, Jordan maintained it was a maneuver to give town officials time to condemn the right of way and take it by eminent domain.

Jordan has maintained that all he has ever wanted was for the town to put back a stone wall that was disturbed and to replant trees that were cut, while recognizing that he is the legal owner of the land that provides a right of way to the lake.

Jordan’s paperwork indicates that the property he now owns, known as the Town Landing Road, was owned formerly by Arthur Vicnaire, who deeded the town of St. Albans a right of way in 1963 to create a boat landing on Big Indian Lake.

The deed indicates the right of way was measured from the base of a stone wall across the road from Jordan’s home.

Other property owners’ deeds also indicate that the stone wall is the property line and boundary. Maps filed with the Registrar of Deeds and on file with the town also show the stone wall as the property line until 1978.

Jordan maintains that Post took over surveying the boundaries that year in a cost-cutting measure and all town maps from that point on indicate the stone wall is outside Jordan’s property line, no longer the boundary.

As the debate unfolded over the past four years, town officials maintained that the dispute is a civil matter. But recently, the town’s attorneys have been asked to review the land for possible purchase by eminent domain by the town of St. Albans. Such an action would render all lawsuits null and void.

Other items on the agenda include the March town meeting warrant, the appointment of a fire chief, and various reports.