Woman ordered to leave her home

ELLSWORTH – An Otis woman living in a small dwelling with no bathroom is contesting the town’s order that she move away from her Point Road property until a septic system can be installed there.

In documents filed in Hancock County District Court, the town claims Ellen Tice is violating the town’s land use ordinances by living at 261 Point Road in a storage shed that has no septic system.

David F. Szewczyk, the attorney representing the town, said the law requires all residential structures to have subsurface wastewater disposal systems. Tice, he said, has been violating that law since she moved onto the property several months ago.

Any violation of the ordinance carries a minimum fine of $100 a day.

Tice claims town officials are unfairly trying to force her from her property. She said the structure town officials keep referring to as a storage shed is actually her home, built by her son two years ago. The house is 12 feet by 22 feet, and has no running water and no bathroom. One solar panel provides electricity and a wood stove gives her heat. She has lived there since last fall.

Her son started on the septic system, she said, but quit halfway through out of frustration with town officials. Because there is no toilet, she has been using buckets that she takes to a friend’s house in Bangor to flush.

Tice said it has been a difficult year for her and she was hoping for better treatment from town officials.

In court Thursday, she asked Judge Robert Murray to throw out the case. He denied her request and set a hearing on the merits of the case for Monday, Feb. 28.

She has also asked the court for a continuance of three months to allow her to complete the unfinished septic system with rural development funding she received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Szewczyk said he is trying to negotiate an agreement between Tice and the town. If an agreement is reached, he would present it to the judge before Monday’s hearing gets under way, he said.