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BY BETTY ADAMS
Staff Writer 05/16/2008

Staff Writer

The Maine Supreme Court has ruled against Hallowell homeowners in a property dispute with the railroad.

In a memorandum of decision issued Thursday, the state's highest court upheld a decision by Superior Court Justice S. Kirk Studstrup.

He had ruled against Andrea Lapointe and her husband Michael Barden, who live on Academy Street.

The couple had maintained their deed said they owned the land up to the railroad. The state Department of Transportation claimed the property as well.

The state won a trespass and nuisance lawsuit it brought against the couple in 2006 in Kennebec County Superior Court. The couple had erected a 10-foot privacy fence where the state said DOT had an easement. Studstrup granted summary judgment in favor of the state.

Lapointe and Barden appealed Studstrup's ruling in 2007. The case was decided on written submissions.

"We're obviously disappointed," said Barden on Thursday. Lapointe was unavailable for comment as was the attorney who represented the state.

In December 2007, the state erected a 7-foot wooden fence within 10 inches of the couple's garage.

It separates the garage from a 19-foot strip of land between their property and the state-owned tracks.

In March, state Department of Transportation general counsel Toni Kemmerle said that the fence was installed after Lapointe and Barden had put property a few feet from the track and crews couldn't get by to maintain the line.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

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