RAYMOND — The Select Board on Monday revealed details of a $650,000 settlement in one of the biggest shoreland zoning violations cases in the town’s recent history.

The settlement with Auburn businessman Donald Buteau and his real estate holding company, Management Controls, was more than two years in the making. The settlement also includes contractors Q-Team Tree Service of Naples;  Durant Excavating and Big Lake Marine, both of Windham; and Robert Durant of  Casco.

It comes as Gov. Janet Mills is expected to sign L.D. 2101 into law, giving municipalities new and significant enforcement authority for similar violations.

 

Q-Team Tree Service will pay the town $10,000 within a week to settle its notice of violation for tree work at 18 Fernwood Road on Sebago Lake, one of the two properties involved.

“Durant Parties,” referring to Robert Durant, Durant Excavating and Big Lake Marine, and Management Controls and Buteau will pay $640,000 in fees and fines, plus the cost of environmental restoration of the two adjoining properties owned by Management Controls and Buteau at 18 Fernwood Road and 28 Whitetail Lane, on a specified timeline.

An initial payment of $540,000 for fees and fines must be made to the town by June 15, with the balance of the negotiated amount due by Oct. 31.

The $640,000 is to cover civil penalties and to reimburse the town for attorney fees, expert witness fees and costs incurred for enforcement actions. The attorney fee is about $440,000 in “recoverable” fees, with the remainder characterized by town officials as the fine.

All three parties, Q-Team Tree Service, ‘Durant Parties’ and Buteau, each acknowledged responsibility for the shoreland zoning ordinance violations at both properties, with the exception of violations previously dismissed by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved the restoration plan for the properties and approved a permit for the work on Dec. 11, 2023. According to the DEP, the restoration plan consists of the removal and replacement of significant sections of the riprap installed in 2021, which it notes was installed improperly and is now failing. The plan also calls for planting native shrubs, trees and other vegetation.

To ensure the success of the replanting, the plantings must be monitored, maintained and replaced as necessary to achieve an 85% to 90% survival rate after five full growing seasons, according to the shared agreement. Buteau or his contractor has to submit photographs and a narrative to document survival of the plantings after each of those five growing seasons.

Furthermore, Buteau or his contractor agreed to remove a concrete hot tub pad and a proposed boat ramp and submit weekly inspection reports of the restoration efforts to the town.

Buteau has also agreed to reconstruct a 300-foot-long engineered retaining wall along the shorefront at 28 Whitetail Lane, which the DEP notes is also failing.

The restoration work must be completed by Oct. 31, 2025, although there is an exception to extend the completion by one year if Durant does not begin the work in a specified timeframe, at which point an alternative, qualified contractor must be identified and retained.

There are also specific penalties for failing to complete the restoration, at up to $2,500 a day per deficiency, according to the agreement.

The complete settlement document and restoration plan can be accessed on the town of Raymond’s website.

Execution Copy of Settlement Agreement by Maine Trust For Local News on Scribd

Abel Bates of Raymond, who has spent considerable time and energy supporting the town and speaking out for protection of Sebago Lake, testified in Augusta in favor of L.D. 2101.

He monitored Monday’s Select Board meeting from Kansas.

Reached on the road in Missouri on Tuesday, he said, “It’s a fair settlement as far as it goes under the circumstances. Now the town and residents can move on and spend time doing something more productive.”

Town Manager Sue Look said Tuesday, “We are hearing that citizens are pleased with the outcome, as is the board.”

Buteau wrote to the Sun Journal: “For over two-and-a-half years the town and their attorneys didn’t want to let the truth to ruin a good story. The process was brutal and unnecessarily expensive. The settlement amount was the result of the facts being clarified during mediation. We look forward to completing the work as promised as soon as possible.”

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