Chesuncook residents irate over road relocation

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A Cumberland County attorney asked Piscataquis County commissioners on Wednesday to reconsider their authorization to relocate a section of the county road in Chesuncook.

The commissioners decided on Tuesday to proceed with the project, which would move about 20 feet of the road from private land to the north onto the actual roadbed they said was identified in a survey they commissioned. The commissioners first gave their approval for the change four months ago, but they delayed the project because of the threat of litigation from property owners opposed to the move.

Wanting to get the work done this year and since no lawsuits were filed in the case, the board on Tuesday gave David Surprenant, Chesuncook’s road agent, the OK to begin the work.

Surprenant started construction on the project, which includes the removal of trees and the filling in of a portion of a gravel pit, later that day. It is estimated that the road work will cost about $1,000.

Surprenant had requested that the section of road be moved from his property because it presents a barrier to the opening of one of three housekeeping cabins he constructed. The Land Use Regulation Commission has ruled that the cabin closest to the road does not have enough setback as required by law. The relocation of the road will eliminate the violation.

After learning of Tuesday’s action, attorney Terry Snow of Cumberland sought to halt the project on behalf of Bruce Bailey, who owns land on Olive Street in Chesuncook Village. In a facsimile sent on Wednesday, Snow asked the commissioners to reconsider their vote at their Oct. 18 meeting. He also requested that his office be notified in writing of the results of his request within five business days of the meeting.

“If I have not received written notice of the Commissioners’ decision not to proceed with the relocation of Main Street by Oct. 25, 2005, my client has instructed me to commence legal proceedings including injunctive relief for that purpose,” Snow wrote in his letter.

Longtime property owner Sandy Henry said she was outraged that the commissioners took the action without notifying any of the property owners who opposed the project.

“I don’t think the county is working for us; I don’t see how the county can work for one individual,” she said Wednesday. “This is a poor way of spending taxpayers’ dollars.”

Both commissioners Fred Trask and Tom Lizotte were informed on Wednesday of Snow’s request by Piscataquis County Manager Mike Henderson.

Henderson said neither of the commissioners moved to halt the project already under way. The third commissioner, Tony Bartley, is on vacation.