Table of Contents

It’s time for the Town Fathers to say “Uncle”
 

We are on the verge of going to trial to resolve a dispute that should never have proceeded this far. At issue is who owns a parcel of land on Pottle Street adjacent to where the town’s ballfields will be built. Sharon Davis, who lives in the family house on Pottle Street, next to the parcel of land in dispute, has produced records showing that her father, the late Tony Bettencourt, purchased the parcel from the town in 1975 for a sum of $4,000. However, there is no record of a deed having been recorded.

This ownership challenge was a no-win for Kingston from the beginning. Perhaps selectmen and counsel have gone forward on the premise that there were legal grounds to challenge Sharon Davis’s ownership claim. However, there were never any moral grounds for doing so.

If the town is ruled to be the owner of the property, it will mean that 11 ballfields can be built. If Sharon Davis is found to be the rightful owner, there will be 10 fields instead. Either way, our youth will have ample recreation space.
The paper trail showing that Tony bought the land should be reason enough to have acknowledged Sharon and her family as owners of the land. But without a recorded deed, the town is claiming the land essentially on a technicality. Sharon filed suit against Kingston to protect her claim to the land. Counsel, acting on behalf of the selectmen, petitioned the court to dismiss her case. The judge refused. The next step is a trial.

Bear in mind that this dispute (and mounting legal tab) is over a $4,000 transaction 28 years ago. Remember also that the total dollar amount for this quixotic challenge on the town’s part has not been made public. One selectman told me that the legal costs were “not that much.” I wonder, given the hourly rates at which legal services are billed, what “not that much” translates to in real-life taxpayer dollars. $10,000? $20,000? $100,000?

If there were no credible claim to the land by the Davis family, this challenge might be more understandable. But it is clear that Tony Bettencourt paid the town $4,000 for a piece of land, and that the selectmen in 1975 corresponded with him about the purchase. Remember that in 1975 it was a different world. Things were done more informally. That was a pre-Internet, pre-fax, and largely pre-computer era. It’s not difficult to imagine how an important detail such as recording a deed could have fallen through the cracks.

This is a case that hinges on a technicality. So why is the town pursuing this so vigorously and at such expense? What do the selectmen know that the rest of us don’t? Is there an oil deposit under the property, or a vein of gold or silver?
Our Town Fathers have the capacity to exercise leadership here. They should belatedly take the neighborly approach, acknowledge that Sharon’s family owns the land, and settle the case out of court. It’s the right thing to do, morally. And it has been ever since those documents came to light.

It’s also the right thing to do, fiscally. This is not a time to be squandering tax dollars on a court case. We have more serious expenses to address. Kingston’s Silver Lake assessment has been reported as coming in higher than expected; we face the possibility of having municipal positions eliminated, we couldn’t afford to provide three cruisers to our police department, and, despite the escalating tax rates we pay, we are forced to pay higher and higher fees for services. We live in a town that is struggling to make ends meet. We don’t have tons of extra cash on hand to play this game of brinkmanship.

Let’s send the lawyers home and call it a day on this case. If this goes to trial, the town will likely lose. Win or lose, however, the taxpayers have already lost and are losing more with each telephone call, fax and conversation between the town and counsel. Don’t you think it’s time to cut our losses?

Does this action on the town’s part make you proud to call Kingston your home? Don’t you think we should be spending our tax dollars on something that is more beneficial to the community as a whole? This waste of time and taxpayer money should stop immediately. If you agree, contact our selectmen and tell them how you feel.

Paid Advertisement