HARPSWELL

The Harpswell Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to include an article on the 2015 Town Meeting warrant requesting funds for a citizen group for legal expenses associated with gaining public access to Cedar Beach.

Cedar Beach/Cedar Island Supporters formed in 2012 and filed two lawsuits against property owners abutting Cedar Beach who blocked public passage to the historically open beach area.

“Cedar Beach/Cedar Island Supporters had come before the board with a warrant article,” said Rick Daniel, chairman of the selectboard. “We worked with that warrant with our attorney … and I believe that we are in agreement over this.”

If passed by residents at Town Meeting, the article authorizes the town to place $110,000 in a reserve fund and authorizes the Board of Selectmen to expend funds from the reserve to reimburse legal expenses and other costs incurred by CB/CIS after Sept. 15, 2014.

Access to Cedar Beach via private Cedar Beach Road, which was initially closed in 2011, was reopened in September after Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills ruled in favor of CB/CIS, finding that there is a prescriptive public easement on Cedar Beach Road that allows public use.

After the case was tried in court in May, but before the court’s ruling was issued in September, the road was purchased from Charles and Sally Abrahamson by Gables Real Estate LLC, of which Betsy Atkins — a Florida-based business executive and codefendant in the case — is the principal.

Litigation now continues as Gables Real Estate attorney Christian Chandler, of Curtis Thaxter, has filed an appeal of Justice Mills’ ruling with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

“We believe that the court made a number of errors,” said Chandler in a September interview with The Times Record. “The decision really does have fairly broad implications and calls into question some long-standing Maine law.”

In December, the Harpswell Board of Selectmen voiced unanimous support for CB/CIS’s request to place an article on the annual Town Meeting warrant. A previous authorization approved by the town for the use of up to $220,000 for the acquisition of an easement expired, unused, on Dec. 31.

“I think CB/CIS is an example of something you don’t see as often as you’d like to,” said Selectman Elinor Multer. “And that’s a group that puts its money where its mouth is.”

In a November interview with The Times Record, CB/CIS president Mike Helfgott said the group has received roughly $200,000 through fundraising efforts to support their pursuit for access.

Robert Jackson, a Cundy’s Harbor resident and member of CB/CIS, said that if the article is passed by residents at the March Town Meeting, it will be the first public dollars involved in the effort.

“We have 300 members of CB/CIS. It’s a large group who have stood united in support of public access to the beaches,” said CB/CIS board member Martin Eisenstein. “This support will help get us over to the finish line … and we hope for a favorable vote at the Town Meeting.

“We’ve sought only a reasonable amount — what our anticipated expenses will be after Sept. 15, 2014,” said Eisenstein in an interview outside the selectmen’s meeting. “We’ve not asked for the entire cost, and we don’t want to burden taxpayers with amounts that are not necessary.”

The appeal process is currently underway, said Eisenstein, and a final ruling is expected by the end of the summer.

If it passes …

IF PASSED BY RESIDENTS at Town Meeting, the article authorizes the town to place $110,000 in a reserve fund and authorizes the Board of Selectmen to expend funds from the reserve to reimburse legal expenses and other costs incurred by CB/CIS after Sept. 15, 2014.