The Bank of Maine is claiming that if the Boothbay Country Club's former owners wanted to get the club's sale voided, they went about it the wrong way.

Responding to a lawsuit filed March 6, the bank claims James Reeves and his company, Boothbay Country Club, should have gone to a state agency that deals with banks, not to a court, to challenge the sale.

The bank also claims Reeves and his company didn't show how they have been harmed by the allegedly flawed sale. And without harm, there's nothing for the court to remedy, the bank argues.

The suit Reeves and his company have brought claims the sale was supposed to be public, but wasn't; that it was held was too far from the club; and that the bank misused confidential information.

The suit raises conspiracy theories that have no merit, the bank argues in documents filed March 28 in Lincoln County Superior Court.

The bank claims the law dealing with the foreclosure process the bank used, known as power-of-sale, calls for the Superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions to enforce it, not the judicial branch.

“It is wholly within the Superintendent's purview to declare whether a violation … has occurred, and it is improper for Plaintiffs to request that this Court usurp this executive prerogative,” the bank's lawyers state in their request to have the claims dismissed.

Reached April 4, the bureau's superintendent, Lloyd LaFountain, declined to comment on the bank's assertion because it was made in connection with pending litigation.

By advertising the planned sale in the Boothbay Register for three weeks, and notifying the club's owners as well as the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds, the bank claims it complied with state law.

The bank's lawyer in the foreclosure process, Wendy Paradis, has signed an affidavit about the January 28 auction. It states: “Prior to the opening of the public sale, all parties in attendance were asked to register to bid ....” There were two registered bidders at the sale, but neither bid, Paradis wrote. The bank's own $1.5 million bid was the only one received, the affidavit states.

A Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper reporter was denied entry to the auction, for lack of a $50,000 deposit to register as a bidder.

Southport philanthropist Paul Coulombe has since bought the club from the bank for $1.4 million.

Lawyers for Reeves and his company declined comment on each of the new issues the bank has raised.

The bank's claims have no merit, George Kurr, Reeves' lawyer, said.

Reeves' company maintains that it and Reeves still own the club property, because the sale was invalid, the company's lawyer, Sumner Lipman, said.

Meanwhile, plans are still on target for a May 22 opening of the renamed Boothbay Harbor Country Club, said Daniel Hourihan, whose HF Golf is helping Coulombe manage the club.

In a telephone interview April 8, Hourihan said improvements will include a new deck for the clubhouse, and a new driving range where a prior one was. Bruce Hepner, who just completed one at Cape Arundel, is designing it, Hourihan said.

“In choosing Bruce, Paul was very happy with the work he's done and the direction he wants to go with the new range,” Hourihan said.

Hourihan declined to say how many people have joined the club so far this year. “People are excited, and we're getting a favorable response,” he said.

A 10-percent membership discount has been extended from May 1 to May 22, Hourihan said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.