Timeline of Events
2011 - Karen and her brother David purchase Rockcraft Lodge.
2012-2013 - The Lodge is restored. It costs a lot more than we had expected.
2015 - David exits the project and Karen’s husband Larry replaces him as an owner.
2015 - When not in use, we begin renting the Lodge for occasional use by private parties. This includes about 5 weddings per year (fewer during COVID, and more right after COVID). The Town approved liquor permits for these weddings the whole time until the separate matter of the boathouse renovation came up in the last year.
2021 - We begin working with Sebago CEO Brandon Woolley, an architect, and Sebago Technics on the expansion and renovation of the boathouse.
2022 - Permits were issued by the Town and DEP for work on the boathouse. Work commences.
2024 - The Boathouse work is 90% complete. The Code Enforcement Office calls saying that CEO Woolley is no longer the CEO and that they have no record of the project. We spend significant time sending code office all permits, plans, documents, etc. The Town says not to worry - we can continue the work, and we’ll be able to finish the project once everything is sorted out.
2024 - Kristiina Robinson, the Sebago CEO at the time, tells Karen in August that she’s been speaking with the Town attorney, Amy Tchao from Drummond Woods. Kristiina said that both she and the Town Manager want to move this project forward as they feel we have worked in good faith with Sebago. She said the issue was more with Brandon Woolley, and that there were a number of other pending construction projects in Sebago that are under question.
2024 - The Code Office later says the project was "illegal". They get their attorney, Amy Tchao involved. We feel like we have to hire an attorney now, too. We hire Sean Turley from Murray, Plumb, Murray.
2024 - In November, the Town offers a draconian consent agreement that requires us to admit blame for the Town’s mistake in issuing permits and to pay the Town fines and attorney’s fees. It said we removed vegetation for the project, which is simply false. There was no vegetation around the boathouse when we began the work, and our landscaping plan - which we provided to the Town - called for us to add vegetation. We rejected the agreement.
2025 - We hire Joe Siviski from Perkins Thompson.
2025 - Joe Siviski executes a FOAA request from the DEP. Over the next 8 months there is a back and forth with Amy Tchao, the Town’s attorney. Attorney Tchao's position becomes increasingly punitive, and she finally threatens to "cancel" weddings if we do not cave in to her demands on the boathouse.
2025 - We attend the 8/5/25 Board of Selectman meeting. During Public Comments, we asked how we could get on the agenda to talk about these issues with the Board. We were told we could get on the agenda by having our attorney speak to the Town attorney. Our attorney did that, but the Town’s attorney wouldn’t put us on the agenda. And the next day, she again threatened to cancel weddings issue violations if we didn’t give in to her demands within 24 hours.
2025 - We talk to the Town’s Manager, CEO and attorney, and the Select Board Chair on 8/19/25.
Amy Tchao says our septic permit was invalid because a box was not checked on the form. This is based on the records we shared with the Town because the Town lost its own records. She says we have to remove the septic because it can’t be permitted.
Our attorney explained we’d consulted with an LSP (Licensed Site Provider), who confirmed there was a way to move part of the system to comply with all applicable rules and obtain a permit.
Amy said the Town would not approve the septic under any circumstances because boathouses do not have bathrooms or kitchens. A quick search shows that some do. Strangely enough, it was Brandon Woolley, the Sebago CEO, who suggested we could include bathrooms and a kitchen when we drew up the plans.
They again threaten to withhold liquor licenses for events scheduled in August and September and threaten additional "action".