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Mayor Wm. Brad Van Nest July 6, 1980 <br />Page 6 <br />Council, in deference to the Lauers, has stipu­ <br />lated that the -carriage house roust be torn down. <br />This carriage house, which is located close by <br />the Lauer's house, will, upon its elimination, <br />further improve the value of the Lauer's house. <br />It should be clear, therefore, that this is not <br />a case of the Lauers being "nice people" and the <br />Beckers being "bad people." It is a question of <br />"Whose ox is being gored?" By placing the Rhode <br />house close by the Beckers' house on a substandard <br />lot, it will decrease the value of the Becker <br />house, as testified to by three different people <br />on three different occasions. By removing the <br />carriage house and placing the Rhode house at a <br />distance from the Lauer house, the value of the <br />Lauer house goes up. The Council should examine <br />its conscience on this issue alone. Should this <br />matter go to court again, I intend to pursue the <br />issue of whether the dealings with the Lauers <br />and the Beckers have been at "arm’s length." <br />The Council is ignoring its own Code and ruling <br />as stated In Resolution 851, Paragraph 28D(1). <br />This paragraph states that the existing easements <br />are an illegal subdivision of the Rhode lot. <br />For this reason, the Council decided that Rhode <br />must extinguish these easements before he has a <br />"buildable lot." My lawyer and I have argued <br />continuously and without interruption that the <br />easements are legal and that* therefore, the lot <br />has been subdivided, is a multiple-use lot, and <br />is, by Orono's own definition, an "out lot." It <br />would be used by no less than three families-- <br />Rhode plus the two easement holders--and any <br />friends of the easement holders who were invited <br />by the easement holders to swim, bathe, or boat <br />on the 55 feet of beach and docks granted by <br />the easement. That the City of Orono would <br />overlook the damage to the Becxer property by <br />the multiple use of the lot is unprecedented <br />in the history of Orono. (I have researched <br />this matter by reading the minutes of all Council <br />and Commission meetings for the past four years.) <br />Since the City, in its own resolution (8S1) <br />• i.1 <br />t i