News

Council to ask Judge about Pennell
By Elizabeth Prata

Gray--The Gray Town Council voted 3-1 to bring the lingering question of Pennell Institute's ownership to a Superior Court judge for a final judgment.
The previous Council's three-year sojourn with attempting to resolve the contentious issue of how Pennell Institute should be disposed of was not concluded by the time the four previous councilors left office. This new Council has decided that resolving that key question is one way to break the gridlock that plagued the previous Council.

SAD 15 (Gray and New Gloucester) is Trustee of a Trust left by Henry Pennell at the turn of the nineteenth century for a building in the middle of Gray to be used for educational purposes. The Inhabitants of the Town of Gray, through the Selectmen, were Pennell Trustees until the early 1960s, when the School Administrative District was formed.

The Trust transferred to the SAD at that time, who managed it. Three years ago, the SAD decided that they no longer needed the building, and looked for appropriate ways to dispose of it that would ensure that the Trust would be perpetuated.

Finding another educational institution to take over the Trust has been hard, and several ideas were played out, to no avail. Along the way, the SAD had asked the Attorney General for an opinion on the disposal, and not liking the answer, under former Chair Pam Wilkinson, the Town of Gray Council voted to lodge a suit in Superior Court to halt progress until more legal nuances were fleshed out. So began the contention.

The suit has been 'stayed' several times as the two parties negotiated with varying degrees of success. In June, the Council turnover was significant, with Richard Hall voted out, and Pam Wilkinson and Lynn Olson not seeking another term. Andy Upham, Denise Duda, and Skip Crane were voted in, and at the very first meeting of the new Council, Matt Sturgis resigned. That left Gary Foster, a one-year Councilor, the only elected official tied to the previous council actions and discussions.

This new Council has decided to pursue information that was found by two citizens who researched the Pennell problem. The legal issues surrounding this building and Trust have been extensive over the last decades, but the two still found that at one point the building itself was taken out of the Trust to be used for collateral, and never put back in. That action puts a cloud on ultimate ownership, something that new Council wants to have an authoritative source such as a judge decide.

Tuesday night the Council heard citizens speak for and against the proposed Order authorizing the Town Attorney to file the necessary pleadings and documents with Superior Court regarding whether the Pennell property still comes under the Pennell Trust or whether it is unencumbered by the Trust restrictions and subject to the State School Closing Law.
Gray resident Richard Barter said that, "I am not in favor of this personally but I urge you to pass it. It has been batted around with distortion, so let's get moving with clarity."

Jim Monroe had the same opinion. "This is one court case that I want to lose because I don't want to end up with an albatross around my neck, but it is a question that must be asked."

The SAD holds three Trusts, Pennell, with the Institute and one acre of land, the Anderson Trust that contains the asset of the lab building, and four acres of ball fields behind Pennell. Pam Wilkinson was not agreeable to bringing the question to the Court. Her contention was that the Town would receive more property in the various Trusts associated with the issue than if a Court judgment was rendered, giving only the one building and one acre of land to the town. The SAD has not indicated, though, that it would refuse to transfer the Anderson and Haskell Trusts to the Town of Gray if Gray was successful in court.

Don Crandall thought that the Order was divisive. "It is disturbing that this has created these divisions. It should be our heritage 150 years from now that we have a beautiful library in Pennell. We need to move forward and work together."

John Welch and Mike Salvetti, the two citizens who had researched the Trust issue and brought the new information to light, supported the Order which asked a judge to settle the ownership question. Mr. Salvetti said, "Some people think that asking this question means it is the end of the world. It is not. Finally, it is the beginning."

Most Councilors were in agreement, too. Mr. Crane, Chair Foster, and Vice-Chair Upham wanted to obtain a definitive answer to the ownership question while proceeding with other Pennell-related tasks at the same time.

Councilor Duda was opposed, saying that going to court is not consistent with the non-binding referendum that was supported by citizens, which stated that the Town work with the GPLA to ensure that the Trust is transferred smoothly.

Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz offered an amendment to the Order which would have pushed the Court question to a later date. Council rejected that notion, with Chair Foster saying that doing so would mean that the current stay would expire August 31 without an opportunity to get a final determination. He said that in any case, the title search will uncover this problem, and it would have to be resolved at some point.

As Vice-Chair Andy Upham said, "work equals mass over distance. We've had mass, now let's gain some distance and move this dime." The vote was 3-1 with Ms. Duda opposed.