Paris defends position in lawsuit

PARIS — Paris town officials refuted claims that they should be held responsible for maintenance on Town Farm Road.

The claims are the basis for a legal action against the town.

"The issue seems to be who owns the road, and the risks are high for each party bcause the costs to fix the road are high," Town Manager Phil Tarr said during a meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Monday.

Residents of Town Farm Road, which stems from Parsons Road, claim that the town should assume ownership of the road.

The town has agreed to take over ownership of the road if, and only if, the road is brought up to minimal town standards.

The residents claim that they have met that requirement, at an expense of more than $16,000.

Selectman Ted Kurtz, who is an attorney, said that the town's risk is limited, based on what he called "an interesting inconsistency of the facts."

"If, in fact, it's a town road and they have brought it up to town specifications," said Kurtz, "...  if they can prove that, it's not going to be much money [the town is] going to have to spend on it."

Presumably, if the court finds that the road is indeed up to snuff, then the town's financial obligations related to the road would be in line with routine maintenance of all the other roads in town.

According to Tarr, the town voted to discontinue the road in the mid-1930s.

Selectman Ray Glover, who Tarr described as having "years of experience on this particular road," said that the road is simply not in an acceptable condition.

"We had an outside independent expert come in and make that evaluation for us," said Glover. The expert made "a report to the Board of Selectmen as to whether in his judgment it met our standards or did not."

Tarr noted that voters at a town meeting agreed to accept the road if it met town specifications.

"As judged by the board of selectmen," Glover qualified.

The legal action was filed by 13 plaintiffs, many of whom currently live on Town Farm Road, on March 8.

Tarr speculated that the court would make a decision within about six months.

"It's not a full-blown lawsuit," said Tarr. "It's a declaratory judgment request, where the judge looks at the facts, makes a decision. Usually it's done within a few months as opposed to a year or two."

The town's defense may be overseen by Trident, an insurance company. Tarr said that Trident had accepted a letter from the town on the matter, and was reviewing the case before determining whether to get involved.

Tarr said that the outcome could be expensive.

"If the court finds in the town's favor we have nothing to worry about and nothing to do, except maybe later on accept the road if its built to town specifications," said Tarr. "If the court finds in their favor, then its going to be expensive to the town to fix that road up."