An Edgecomb woman on January 7 questioned the validity of a document the town has been relying on for years, regarding tax incentive payments.

Jarryl Larson's comments to selectmen come as the town continues  looking into who should be getting those payments, established when Roger Bintliff's Edgecomb Development was going to pay for some utilities on Davis Island.

Selectmen have said a 2009 document calls for the payments to go the Bank of Maine, instead of Bintliff. Bintliff, of Dresden, has been claiming the money should go his way again now that he owes the bank no money.

Larson told selectmen Monday night that the document isn't valid. She could find no record of a selectmen's vote authorizing Selectman Stuart Smith to sign it, and she said Bintliff, who also signed it, had no authority on properties he had already sold. So the new property owners should have been receiving some of that money, she said.

If the selectmen didn't vote on the 2009 document, Smith couldn't legally sign on the town's behalf, Larson said. “There is no public record of any vote before you signed that,” she told Smith.

The board did vote, Smith responded. “I would not sign anything for the town without the board's approval,” he said.

Larson said a town vote should have been called, rather than it being a board decision. Now the town should be giving the money to a court that could determine who should get it, she said.

The town's attorney is still studying the matter, including the original agreement regarding the payments and Bintliff's and the bank's claims on the money, selectmen said.

Reached later, Bintliff said Larson might be right about the 2009 document, or aspects of it, not being valid.

“I don't necessarily agree yet with everything she's saying, but she has opened my eyes,” Bintliff said. “This is a very complicated agreement, and this is yet another new twist to it.”

He'll have his attorney look into the issues Larson raised, he said, adding, “I'll continue to fight my fight.”

Auto graveyard violations go unanswered

Edgecomb is moving closer to possible court action on two properties town officials say have illegal automobile graveyards on them.

The town has gotten no response from either property owner Code Enforcement Officer Marian Anderson wrote letters to, citing violations of state law. The letters, dated December 19, were sent to Rachael M. Murphy, owner of a Route 27 property, and Stephenson Marine Trust, owner of a Gleason Road property, selectmen said.

The town will now send each owner one more letter and if those go unanswered as well, the town will proceed with court action, Selectman Jack Sarmanian said.

Budget panel picked

Selectmen named Nort Fowler, Richard Davison, Chet Clark, Anita Sprague and Karen Potter to this year's budget committee. Potter, Fire Chief Roy Potter's wife, will not take part in committee actions on the fire department budget, Chubbuck said.

Chubbuck said she's trying to corner Fowler to chair the committee. Larson thanked selectmen for putting some women on it this year.

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