No “riff-raff” on the beach!
Public statements by Dale Baker on June 18, June 4, and May 21 —- 2024
If you are riff-raff, stay off this beach. Otherwise you might find yourself under federal investigation.
Florida man says Town of Wells target of federal investigation
Dale Baker demands withdrawal of beaches lawsuit from Maine’s highest court, threatens retaliation lawsuit
(Wells, Maine) A man from Boca Raton, Florida says he and his lawyers have taken steps to trigger a federal investigation because the Town of Wells has recently announced it will support arguments to reclaim the public’s right to use Moody Beach.
“We’ve got attorneys talking to federal agencies,” Dale Baker told the Wells Select Board on Tuesday night, while also telling town manager Mike Pardue that, “You’re going to be the centerpiece of that, unfortunately.”
Baker owns a beachfront vacation home on Moody Beach at 363 Ocean Avenue in Wells. He is the president of Nano Dimension Americas in Boca Raton, a printer company.
On May 21, the Wells Select Board announced that in general it supports expanded use of beaches in the town. It also held an impromptu public hearing after announcing it would file an amicus curiae brief in support of a private beaches lawsuit, a case that moved to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) last Friday. Then on June 4, the Board announced it would pursue a transaction agreement with Eleanor Wright, after the town’s legal team had discovered that at Moody Beach she held “rights, title and interest” originally bequeathed by George Tibbetts, the original developer of Moody Beach. Baker indicated he and his lawyers have been researching the town’s actions to secure an agreement with Wright, and that federal agencies are looking into the matter.
“We’ve got a copy of the documentation of the purchase,” he said.
During public comment in the public hearing on May 21, Baker approached the podium to object to the town’s support for expanded use of beaches. Turning to address the capacity crowd, he stated that he had paid $4 million for his beachfront home and it’s important to keep “riffraff” off Moody Beach. He also announced that he hired attorneys to “counter-sue” Peter Masucci.
Masucci is one of 24 twenty-four private citizens who filed the original beaches lawsuit on Earth Day in 2021. The press conference announcing the litigation was widely covered by newspapers and television stations throughout Maine. Seven months after the media coverage about the lawsuit, Baker paid $4.3 million for his six bedroom beachfront property on Atlantic Avenue. At Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Select Board meeting, Baker’s threats of investigation and retaliatory legal action appeared to be directly connected to the citizens’ lawsuit.
“I would encourage the board to withdraw their amicus brief again, and then Mr. Masucci withdraw his lawsuit, get it out of supreme court,” Baker told the Select Board.
Our Maine Beaches a volunteer organization (www.OurBeaches.me) that follows developments in legal and legislative efforts to return the use of Maine beaches and intertidal lands to the public.
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