Blue Hill undecided on Long Island suit

BLUE HILL – Selectmen are keeping their options open on whether to appeal a Superior Court decision earlier this month regarding tax-acquired property on Long Island.

The selectmen have instructed the town’s attorney to keep the application for appeal open, according to Selectman Jim Schatz.

“We may pursue it,” Schatz said Monday.

In a summary judgment issued early in October, Justice Jeffrey Hjelm ruled that the town’s foreclosure on Bison Free Range Inc.’s 3,265-acre parcel, which is owned by Roy and David Florian, was invalid. The town had acquired the property in 2001 for unpaid taxes.

The town generally does not choose to keep tax-acquired property and often is willing to return the title to the original owners if the back taxes, along with interest and other charges, are paid in full. Members of the Florian family had attempted to reclaim the land, but not before voters had made the Long Island property a special case.

At the 2002 town meeting, voters authorized the selectmen to dispose of all tax-acquired property, but required that the Long Island property not be returned to the previous owners or sold to anyone without voter approval at a regular town meeting. A year later, they upheld that vote.

Earlier this month, Justice Hjelm, in a summary judgment, ruled that the town had erred in its foreclosure procedure, citing problems with references to deeds and property descriptions and “flawed” map references. He ruled that, even though the corporation owned no other property in the town, those errors were sufficient to legally negate the foreclosure and that the taking of the property was “invalid and of no effect.”

The judge did rule in the town’s favor on a second count reaffirming that Bison Free Range Inc. still owes the town $24,456.62 in back taxes and interest.

The selectmen need to decide whether to simply accept the verdict and collect on the second count or to contest the judge’s ruling. The townspeople’s opinion on keeping the property could be a factor in their discussions, Schatz said, although there is, and has been, some sentiment that the property should go back on the tax rolls.

Schatz also said the selectmen did not yet have an idea of how much an appeal might cost.

The deadline for filing the appeal is Nov. 15. Schatz said the selectmen would have to make a decision early enough to give their attorney time to prepare the appeal. He said the Nov. 5 selectmen’s meeting would likely be the latest date for a decision, but added that they could make a decision as early as this Friday’s meeting.