A temporary restraining order (TRO) may be the next step in the legal battle between the town of Westport Island and Albert Greenleaf Jr. as the town faces the need to plow Baker Road this winter.

A lawsuit against Albert Greenleaf Jr. and his wife, Barbara, was filed by the town’s attorney William H. Dale in Lincoln County Superior Court in August. The suit asks the court to order Greenleaf to remove debris currently obstructing the road and to bar him from doing so in the future.  As Dale explained in a phone interview, “He owns property on the road and the parties dispute where the boundaries are.”

Boothbay Harbor attorney Richard Elliott, who represents the Greenleafs, agrees. “This is a property dispute,” he told the Wiscasset Newspaper by phone.

The town of Westport Island has the results of a previous survey but Elliott explains that his clients believe that those survey results were wrong. 

“References for the property line have disappeared and landmarks like ‘the old oak tree’ are no longer there. A new survey will be conducted by Leighton & Associates, Inc. of Boothbay using “archival evidence,” said Elliott.

No court date has yet been set for the lawsuit which may not be decided for one or two years, according to Elliott, but winter is coming and with it concern is mounting among Westport Island officials. In a letter sent to Elliott, Dale explained that “materials that Mr. Greenleaf has put in the town’s right-of-way will serve to impede the town’s road maintenance ability especially if those materials should get frozen in place.”

The town has now established Friday, Nov. 13 as a deadline for the debris to be removed after which time it will “re-evaluate the need to take prompt court action,” according to Dale’s letter to Elliott. If the Nov. 13 deadline is not met by Greenleaf, Dale said the town “will head to court on Monday, Nov. 16 and file a motion for the TRO.”

Because of the need to plow, the town will file the TRO so that the materials can be moved before colder weather arrives. Dale explained that a TRO can be filed and would quickly come before the court, so a decision could be received within a week from filing the motion.

Although Elliott says that the Nov. 13 deadline is not for completion of the survey, in an interview by phone Terry Leighton expressed his assurance that his company could complete the work needed by that date, barring any serious weather that might cause a delay.