Opera House Belongs to Norway

by John Governale
     
     NORWAY - Who owns the Opera House?
     
     Last week, town manager David Holt wrote to the state of Maine and told them that Norway does.
     
     Holt based his assertion on an email exchange he had with attorney Norman Rattey, of the firm, Skelton, Taintor, and Abbott in Auburn.
     
     On February 25, Holt wrote to Rattey concerning a $150,000 Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] the town had applied for to stabilize the historic building. He wrote:
     
     "It is imperative that we either move forward to acquisition or that we be able to reassure the CDBG folks that this is imminent so that communities with whom we are competing are not able to take the funds away from Norway. Please help."
     
     In an email to Holt, dated February 26, Rattey said this:
     
     "According to the statute ((Title 30-A M.R.S.A.§ 5204(2)(C)(2)) after the bonds are deposited in the Superior Court, and notice is given to the owner and published in the newspaper, title to the property vests in the municipality in fee simple absolute and the municipality may take possession of the property.
     
     "In my opinion, all steps have taken place in this matter so that title to the real estate has now vested in the Town."
     
     Holt, in an interview on Tuesday, said he had forwarded the information to the state.
     
     "I represented when I wrote the application [for the grant], that we would own the building by the time they awarded the grant. Looking at the calendar, I could tell when they were going to make the decision and also when we should meet the steps to acquire the building. They came at about the same time. I think we have concluded the steps and now expect to hear about the grant.
     
     "I wouldn't be surprised to get something in the mail this week."
     
     Asked if the town was going to change the locks on the building or if the town would take over the responsibility of shoveling the roof, should shoveling be necessary, Holt chose not to speculate as to what the town might or might not do.
     
     "I don't think those are the important things. The important thing is that if we should be lucky enough to be awarded this funding, we'll be able to tell the state that we've met the requirements and we have title to the building."
     
     On December 8, 2009, Norway citizens voted at a special town meeting to take the Opera House by eminent domain, based on evidence provided by a structural engineer that the 156-year-old building is dangerously unstable and upon concerns of selectmen that the building is a threat to public safety.
     
     At that same special town meeting, citizens voted to allow the the town to apply for a $150,000 CDBG grant to make the building safer.
     
     Early in January, Barry Mazzaglia submitted a document to the clerk of courts in South Paris, asserting that his corporation, BiTiM Enterprises, no longer owned the Opera House, and therefore Norway had filed it's eminent domain case against the wrong owner. The appeal didn't make clear who the new owner was, no bill of sale or deed was attached, and no filing of a change of ownership was submitted to the Oxford County Registry of Deeds.
     
     Mazzaglia's appeal said, "The law does not require that Deeds be recorded. Its validity stands upon the signature of the Seller and not whether or not they are recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
     
     "The Resolution should be rescinded based on its improper initiation against the wrong party."
     
     During a selectmen's meeting last year, Holt said that if a municipality correctly followed the statues governing eminent domain, a change of ownership during the process should have little effect on the outcome.
     
     In January of this year, the town, based on a professional appraisal of the Opera House, submitted a check for $185,000 to the Superior Court in South Paris, to be paid as compensation to the owner of the property.
     
     In the interview this last Tuesday, Holt said, "The money will remain with the court. Mr. Mazzaglia has a couple of choices. He can decide to take the money or he can decide to contest the amount. Neither action, in my understanding of the law, will delay fixing the building."