February 2009 to March 2011
2/19/09 Ron Huber files petition to review agency action.
2/25/09 Harlan McLaughlin files petition to review agency action
2/20/09 Douglas Watts files petition to review agency action
3/24/09 MDOT motion to stay production of record.
3/24/09 MDOT motion to consolidate the three lawsuits
3/24/09 MDOT motion to dismiss Huber's case
3/31/09 Huber Motion to Exclude Untimely Responses
4/8/09 NEWS Republican Journal coverage by Tanya Mitchell
4/13/09 Huber reply to MDOT Motion to Dismiss
4/13/09 McLaughlin reply to MDOT Motion to Dismiss
4/24/09 MDOT reply to Huber reply of 4/12/09
5/15/09. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hjelm consolidates all 3 cases
9/8/10 Judge Hjelm rules: Case not ripe yet. Dismissed!
9/15/10 NEWS Archived BDN article on decision
9/29/10
Ron Huber files appeal to Maine Supreme Court (pdf)
10/22/10 Maine Supreme Court sets Briefing Schedule
12/17/10 Ron Huber files Appellate Brief with Maine Supreme Judicial Court. (pdf)
Tells Court:The controversy over 23 MRSA §4206(O) is a "Solemn Occasion" that only they can resolve.
March, 2011
3/25/11 Maine Supreme Judicial Court clerk
notifies Huber that the case will be reviewed "on the briefs"; i.e. wthout oral argument.
Court rules against petitioner.
EXCERPTS from the filed complaints.
Ron Huber Mr. Huber has been an avid user and protector of the natural resources and wild residents of Sears Island and her surrounding estuarine water complex since 1992. Mr Huber hikes the island and snorkles the island's shallows in communion with the natural residents he was charged in 1992 by God Almighty with stewarding and restoring; in particular the brackish water nurseries and diadromous fish shelter habitats surrounding Sears Island in Searsport Harbor, Long Cove and Stockton Harbor.
Douglas Watts: "Mr. Watts has been an avid user of the Penobscot River and its tributaries near Sears Island since 1982. The final agency action he seeks to be reviewed will irrevocably harm his ability to continue using and enjoying the Penobscot River and these tributaries as he has done since 1982."
....Mr. Watts seeks relief for the failure of the Maine DOT to "evaluate the full range of reasonable transportation strategies to address the transportation need"; to "identify and develop strategies that are context sensitive and minimize adverse effects to environmental quality"; to conduct a "strategy evaluation process" and to fulfill other requirements of the Sensible Transportation Policy Act and its rules prior to executing the conservation easement on Jan. 22. 2009."
Harlan McLaughlin: "Mr McLaughlin hiked the island and swam in the island's shallows with his grandparents and now enjoys those same activities with his own grandchildren....Mr McLaughlin feels a strong responsibility to ensure our generation passes on the treasure that is Sears Island as a gift to future generations. The final agency action he seeks to be reviewed will irrevocably harm his ability to enjoy, use, steward and restore this area."
