News

Council hears three hours of comment
Pennell still emotional for public
By Elizabeth Prata

Gray--About 45 people came to Stimson Hall Tuesday, July 5 to express their opinion on how the Pennell issue was proceeding, but waited through completion of the other Council business that was ahead of that issue on the agenda first. Councilor Denise Duda was excused absent and with one vacant seat on the 5-member Council there was just Councilor Skip Crane, Vice-Chair Andy Upham, and Chair Gary Foster leading the meeting, with Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz on hand to assist.

Mr. Foster read several pieces of Council Correspondence. One was sent directly to Town Attorney Bill Dale and Manager Berkowitz from Gray resident Lynn Olson regarding her opinion of recent Council actions (text below). Other correspondence read was reaction to the Council's discussion about Pennell Institute at a meeting held Thursday, June 23.

Chair Foster said that that particular meeting was not noticed to the public and as a result people had been excluded from attending. He said that he had spoken with Mr. Berkowitz about that and Mr. Berkowitz said that he felt it was a staff function to organize meetings, and this specific meeting was an outgrowth of the previous Council's action on Order 88 in early June. Mr. Foster said that to minimize confusion in the future that the Council would develop a policy that explicitly states that all meetings are to be noticed to the public and have an accompanying agenda.

As to the ongoing zoning review, Mr. Foster said that Councilor Upham had met with Planner Dick Cahill and that the notes resulting from their meeting would be discussed at the July 11 workshop. Mr. Upham, who had been an alternate on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) prior to his election to Council, said that he would like the ZBA to receive a copy of the zoning draft proposed changes, since they are the body that must interpret and administer the results of changes to zones.

Gray resident Pam Wilkinson spoke to that, saying it was a good idea and such review could only help the process as it unfolds. Ralph Wink was re-appointed to the Community Economic Development Committee, the Manager's $10,000 purchasing authority was renewed and the Council's Rules were reaffirmed. Chair Foster stated that he had received two Freedom of Information requests, one from Pam Wilkinson and the other from Paul Proudian. Text of their requests is below.

Order 7 was to allow a full and complete discussion on the Pennell Institute issue, and for almost three hours, discuss it they did. The Pennell issue was been ongoing for three years. A historic building in the middle of Gray, it was built in the late 1800s under terms of a trust left by Henry Pennell stipulating that the building is to be used for educational purposes. Along with the one-acre of land and the building itself, other trusts were thrown into the mix along the way. One was for a Science Lab (from Mr. Anderson) and land now used as a baseball field (from Mr. Haskell). In addition, a 30,000 cash trust was left to the town of Gray for use as teacher salaries fuel and repairs to the Pennell Building. When the School Administrative District (SAD 15) was formed, the Pennell Institute and land, the Anderson Lab, and the Haskell land trust were slid over to the SAD but the cash trust remained under control of the Town of Gray.

When the SAD decided three years ago that it could no longer use the Pennell building, the Board began discussing how best to dispose of it. The trust complicates the disposal process, removing it from disposal under the School Closure Act and putting it under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General, who manages trusts in the state of Maine.

Enter two citizens a year and a half ago who researched the deed and history surrounding the building, and discovered that when the Pennell building and land was removed from the trust to use as collateral for the bond to expand the building, it was never put back in, leaving a question as to which process should be used for disposal.

The SAD and the Town had been talking with the Gray Public Library Association about transferring the trust to them. The GPLA is a separate and distinct corporation from the Library. Its status as a Library Association separate from the town enabled the educational stipulation to be upheld. The SAD cannot just give the building back to the Town because the town is not an educational entity, but a tax-exempt corporation such as the GPLA is. However, if a judge rules that the building and one-acre of land is out from the trust, it may be that Gray owns the building free and clear and that the educational stipulation it totally removed.

At the Thursday Pennell meeting with the SAD, GPLA and Town of Gray, that Mr. Foster had said he wanted to ask a judge to rule on this question, clearing it up once and for all, a question that would be required to be settled through a title search, anyway, before any negotiations to transfer the building and trust commenced. It is from this stance that the comments by citizens stemmed.

Before citizens spoke, Vice-Chair Andy Upham said that he felt that the Thursday meeting was a success. He said that he had asked for two pieces of information and had now received them. He had wanted the Town Attorney to offer an opinion on the probability of a successful judgment and asked the GPLA to offer a draft lease. Te June non-binding referendum has overwhelmingly stated that citizens wanted the Town to work with the GPLA and the SAD in transferring the asset of the trust to the GPLA and he felt that the Town is doing that. The principals met, they talked, and information was exchanged. "Relative to the GPLA and the referendum, I have every intention of working with the GPLA and I always have."

First up was Gray Library Trustee Claudette Simms. She was dismayed that the Library Trustees have become embroiled in a political mess. She said that quality service was the Library Trustees and staff's intention. She said that the Trustees hired an attorney to assist the GPLA in forming the Tax-exempt Corporation and "lately has represented us in acquiring the property." She said that the library has outgrown its Hancock Building location and that the Trustees' progress toward expanding has been the result of a lot of hard work and that they want to "take our time and do it right."

SAD 15 Board Chair Dr. Alan Rich said that he saw no problem with the SAD submitting a request to the Attorney General asking if a transfer of the Pennell Trust to the GPLA is something consistent with the trust stipulation. Dr. Rich said that "this is something we need to discover if we can do in the first place…requesting this opinion from the Attorney General is not a mutually exclusive action from Gray's action in Superior Court and this can be done on a parallel track."

Mike Brown of the GPLA sent his concerns in a letter read by GPLA Director Peter Gerardo. Mr. Brown said that eh was concerned that further negativity surrounding the GPLA and the trust transfer may hamper the corporation's ability to raise funds. Mike Salvetti said that no person in their right mind would transfer real estate with a cloud hanging over the true title of the building. "No prudent person would go further knowing that there was a cloud on the title. It is to nobody's advantage to proceed without clearing up the cloud."

Julie Sheets said that the Council's interest in pursuing the judgment in court as to the ownership of the building is akin to setting aside the non-binding referendum wherein citizens stated that they wanted the Council to work with the GPLA in transferring the trust to them. She asked Mr. Foster to explain his position. Mr. Foster said that he has consistently stated that he would like to see the ownership cleared up and would like to use the already existing court case, which was lodged by a previous council and has been stayed several times, to determine that point.

Paul Proudian quizzed the Council for almost an hour, asking them to comment on The Monument's characterization of the recent publication of e-mails and if they agreed with it. Mr. Foster said that Mr. Proudian should speak to the editors of the Gray News and The Monument to determine their opinion of the recent articles. Mr. Proudian asked several times for Mr. Foster's explanation of his interest in determining the final disposition of the building, which Mr. Foster repeated. Mr. Proudian asked whether the Council felt they bore any responsibility for the recent outpouring of emotion regarding their stance, and Mr. Foster said that the outpouring stemmed from assumptions made that were inaccurate and/or incomplete and then distributed to others. Mr. Proudian said that Mr. Foster had created the impression the litigation was more important than settling the issue, and Mr. Foster reminded Mr. Proudian that the litigation already in court was initiated by the previous Council.

Fran Monroe said it was a good idea to ask for a judgment of ownership.

Sarah McCleary said that the request by Mr. Upham of Bill Dale to offer a probability of success in litigation was counter to their stance that they dislike litigation. "I think somebody's backpedaling," she said. Steve Bunker said that he works for a living and does not have time to comment on political scraps. He thought that Pennell as a Library is a good idea and that the Council should move forward. "If there's a wrinkle later we can deal with it. Meanwhile, let's get it done."

Pam Wilkinson, who was chair of the Council for the entire three years that the Pennell issue has been disputed, said that the Council had worked hard to get it to this point. She told the Council what they should have done to prepare for tonight and also what they should do to ready the agenda on July 19. "you've created wedges between the GPLA and the Historical Society and between the Town and the SAD." The Council will have an Order ready on the July 19 agenda to take action on the Pennell issue. Public comment is welcomed.

Text of Freedom of Information Requests:

Dear Town Manager:

This is a formal request that once the council has received any information regarding council business I wish to obtain a copy as well. I request to receive the information if possible via email to dingwell@maine.rr.com or pwilkinson@syrisscientific.com. I realize not all communications will be in this format so I will pick up the materials at the Town Office once a week or as it is assembled. This is particularly true of the present zoning and Pennell issues.

Warm regards, Pam Wilkinson

Councilors:

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I request all information you have sent or received relating to the Pennell Institute, the Pennell Trust, the Pennell properties themselves, the Pennell referendum of June 14, 2005, and any other matter relating to the Pennell situation, as well as all correspondence that mentions or originates with Gray News Editor Ray Clark or Monument Editor Elizabeth Prata. This request is for all information that you have sent or received in any form since the majority of you were seated on the Council on June 21, 2005. In the case of Council chair Gary Foster, this request covers his entire term in office.

This is a comprehensive request that includes all electronic or hard copy that has been sent, forwarded or cc'd to you and your subsequent replies, as well as copies of any correspondence you may have initiated. This request includes but is not limited to correspondence that was circulated among yourselves, town staff, SAD 15, the public, or the media. This is an urgent request.

Please provide the information with all due haste. To facilitate the process, you may send easily retrieved information such as email separately from information that may be more difficult to retrieve. Please forward all email, file attachments, computer faxes, digital media and other electronically-submitted correspondence to me at the email address contained in the header of this request: jpo@maine.rr.com. Hard copy may be placed in a folder under my name and left with the staff at town hall for my pickup.

Paul Proudian