PALERMO, Maine (WABI) – A Palermo man faced with a hefty fine from the town has upset local officials with how he decided to pay it.
In April 2024, contractor Kirk Sherman purchased waterfront property along Lake Sheepscot in Palermo.
That December, he, along with building partner Dusty Haskell, was faced with a $20,000 fine due to violating the town’s lake shore ordinance.
“We actually approached the town before we bought the property about what could be done on it,” explains Sherman. “[Palermo’s Code Enforcement Officer] stated that we could do a six-foot meandering path for 100 feet, then the next into the next 200 feet we could fill in 1/10 of an acre.”
Palermo Selectman Robert Kurek confirms those parameters, but said Sherman took the construction too close to the lake: “What we got was a 20 to 12-foot road built with a bulldozer, basically. The area, the 250 feet, is also an area that that cleans the water that that different wildlife use and things like that and you start to compact that soil, you can affect the health of the lake.”
A statement from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection , which also had a hand in this case, confirmed Sherman did disrupt wetlands with the construction. But, if quickly rectified, the pair would not face any penalty from the department.
Per Sherman, that is exactly what they did: “Within a day of the notification, we’d hired the people that we had were supposed to. We’d contacted DEP. We’ve done exactly everything the DEP asked us to do, and the DEP is fine with it without, they didn’t write a violation or even give a fine.”
However, the DEP also confirmed it was up to the municipality if they would like to pursue further disciplinary action.
The town’s selectboard unanimously decided to pursue the violation to ensure property owners on Lake Sheepscot know that they must follow codes and ordinances, even if they remediate damages once a violation has been issued.
“We can’t fine people for shoreland zone violations, but we can enter into an agreement if they agree to pay the fine,” Kurek describes. “Before [Sherman] signed the consent agreement, we had already established a court date to to go to the District Court with him, and then the next day he signed it.”
Feeling targeted with no desire to pursue the issue in court, the pair decided to agree to Palermo’s ask, but not without payback of their own.
Last Thursday, Sherman dropped off the $20,000 payment entirely in loose change, weighing over 12,000 pounds, to the Palermo Town Office.
In response, Palermo Select Board say they felt the gesture was unnecessary due to the option of taking the violation to court.
“While we can’t speculate why they did what they did, we find it very unprofessional on their part,” comments Kurek. “And we believe everybody that deals with the town ought to deal with the town in a respectful manner.”
Sherman, however, says the change is meant to send a message: “I’m paying it, and I just want them to realize that they weren’t fair with us. So this is our kind of one fun way of saying, ‘Here’s your payment, good luck.’”
Kurek says the town is looking into possibly issuing Sherman a handling fee, citing the work placed on town clerks to count the change.