Lawsuit over Chesuncook’s Main Street dismissed 2007 accord left to be implemented

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A lawsuit that stemmed from a dispute over a short stretch of Main Street in Chesuncook Village recently was dismissed with prejudice.

Seasonal resident Bruce Bailey had filed the civil lawsuit in 2006 in Piscataquis County Superior Court against the Piscataquis County commissioners and David Surprenant, former road agent in the Unorganized Territory and owner of Chesuncook Lake House. The suit came after the commissioners authorized and Surprenant moved about 20 feet of Main Street from Surprenant’s land to the north.

Although the case has been dismissed, an agreement signed last year by the parties involved needs to be implemented, Erik Stumpfel, the county’s attorney, said Thursday.

The agreement allows for use of part of the new road approved by the county commissioners late last fall and the use of a short stretch of abutting state-owned land, according to Stumpfel. The county is working to get signatures on property release deeds, including one from the Department of Conservation. Once those deeds have been secured and signed, the county will proceed with the layout, he said.

The location of the road has been an issue since 2005 when Surprenant discovered that one of three housekeeping cabins he had constructed violated state regulations because it was within 75 feet of the county road. Researching his deed, he said he found an error in the location of the road.

Based on that information and a survey they commissioned, the commissioners authorized Surprenant to move a section of the road. That move upset other property owners who said Main Street had been in the same location for more than 50 years and should not have been moved.

Bailey claimed the “retracement survey” Surprenant had performed depicted Main Street as laid out in a 1922 subdivision plan, but Main Street did not exist at that time. He claimed the former road was the legal road because it had been used for more than 50 years.

The agreement signed by both parties also allows Suprenant the 75-foot setback he needs, and will provide a release deed to Bailey for the portion of the original deeded right of way used by the Bailey family to reach their camp, according to Stumpfel.

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