Wiscasset selectmen’s 3-2 vote Nov. 7 to direct Town Manager Marian Anderson to hire a lawyer to file suit against the state to try to force it back to the bargaining table over parking and Haggett’s Garage came as a surprise. Not only were town officials and most members of the audience surprised, two of the selectmen were as well.

“The information that the press and public received at the meeting was given to me right before the meeting,” said Chair Judy Colby.  “I didn't have enough time to read or digest the contents of the information.”

According to Town Manager Marian Anderson, prior to the meeting, neither Colby nor Selectman Jefferson Slack were aware of the motion’s drafting, but the other three – Katharine Martin-Savage, Ben Rines Jr., and Bob Blagdon – were aware of the motion in advance.

Seaver Leslie, a member of the Public Advisory Committee for the Maine Department of Transportation project, said the motion was drafted with the help of several attorneys and put together “over the last month or so.” He said that in addition to the individual and business members of a group called Citizens for Sensible Solutions, which is opposed to the elimination of most Route 1 parking, the group had been discussing a motion to direct the town to sue MDOT to reverse the parking decision and to prevent MDOT from demolishing the Haggett building on Water Street. He wants MDOT to put the building back on the market.

Leslie said his group had reached out to selectmen and that some of them had attended meetings with the group. He said he wasn’t sure if more than one selectman had attended together.

Rines said that while he was aware of the motion in advance, he hadn’t seen it until the meeting. “Katharine called me and told me there was going to be a motion made, but I didn’t see it beforehand. But I was going to make a motion in response to the downtown parking issue. I only had time to skim through the motion before the vote,” he said. He also said attorney Peter Murray was writing up a draft to send to the selectmen. 

Blagden, the other member who voted for the motion, also said he didn’t see it before the meeting, and that, like Rines, he hadn’t had time to read it.

Blagden said he did not meet with Martin-Savage before the vote. Rines also said he did not.

Neither Rines nor Blagden said they had attended any meetings held by Citizens for Sensible Solutions, and Colby said she had never heard of it.

Leslie said he had given the draft to Martin-Savage. She is currently out of town on family business. She did not respond to emails to either her selectman’s or personal email addresses before press time. 

Anderson said to the best of her understanding, a member of the Robert S. Hark law firm, which represents the Ralph Doering family in their lawsuit against MDOT and the town, assisted in the motion’s preparation. She said the draft was not developed in open session or in executive session in consultation with the town’s attorney, nor was the motion on the agenda. She said Murray was aware of the circumstances surrounding the motion, and will render an opinion to the town with all due haste.

In the meantime, the demolition contract for the Haggett building was to be awarded by MDOT on Wednesday, Nov. 15.