Selectmen drop suit against ConCom

Westminster Town Coordinator Karen Murphy said the Selectmen dropped the lawsuit against the Conservation Commission.

The Selectmen went into executive session on Thursday, May 8, to discuss what Murphy later said was an ongoing issue concerning the Conservation Commission, and Selectmen called a discussion that fell under the open meeting law as pending litigation.

Before they went into the closed portion the May 8 meeting, Chairman John Fairbanks said Selectmen would take a public vote on the undisclosed matter later that night. However, Murphy said they did not do so, because they still have some questions to discuss with town counsel. But in the past week Murphy said the Selectmen plan to drop the lawsuit and were going to release a public statement during their meeting on Wednesday, May 21, which occurred after press time.

As of press time the court records for the Superior Court in Worcester showed the cased was disposed of by a settlement without costs and waiving the right to appeal as of Tuesday, May 20.

The town was suing the Commission in Superior Court as an appeal of their denial of a proposed access road for the Crocker Pond Recreation area. The town's only option to appeal the decision was through the Superior Court because of the town's wetland protection bylaw and through the Department of Environmental Protection for the appeal of the state Wetlands Protection Act.

For more information on the Selectmen's decision checkout The Community Journal's Web site www.thecommunityjournal. com.

The Commission members asked for the money to hire an attorney to defend themselves against a lawsuit filed by the town on April 30. The Selectmen after a brief executive session that night granted that request with no public discussion.

Michael G. Sites' filed papers in the court stating he would appear for the Westminster Conservation Commission on May 9, the same day the Commission was served with the suit.