RUMFORD – Justice Robert E. Crowley on Thursday denied a temporary restraining order that would have prevented selectmen from entering into a contract with Town Manager Stephen Eldridge.

The decision was handed down after a telephone hearing with town attorney Jennifer Kreckel and attorney Thomas Carey, who requested the order on behalf of some unidentified town residents.

Crowley, a Superior Court justice in Portland, wrote that the request did not meet the criteria for a successful injunction. That criteria included: the plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if the injunction is not granted; that the injury outweighs any harm which granting the injunction would inflict on the defendant; and that the public interest will not be adversely affected by granting the injunction.

Crowley also found that Carey must include the names of the people challenging the town its selectmen.

In his complaint, Carey names the “citizens of the Town of Rumford,” as plaintiffs. Crowley wrote that the plaintiff, Carey, fails to comply with rules of civil procedure, a serious defect that would result in the dismissal of the plaintiff’s case. Carey was given 10 days to provide the names, which he said Thursday he would do.

Carey said Thursday afternoon that he was “ecstatic” with the results of the complaint because he believes it triggered the town to do the right thing.

He was referring to the swearing in and appointment of Eldridge on Monday. Although Eldridge has been on the job since January 2005, Carey has said that selectmen did not follow the town charter’s procedure for appointing a town manager.

Carey also said that if selectmen signed a contract with Eldridge at Thursday night’s meeting, that action would be a violation of the charter. He said he would deal with a possible invalidation of the contract at a later date.

Kreckel said Thursday afternoon that the judge’s denial of the temporary restraining order allows the town to go forward with correcting existing charter errors.

“To follow the course of action by Tom Carey to terminate the town manager would likely result in an expensive lawsuit,” she said. “We can resolve all the issues identified (by Carey) by redoing the contract.”