St. Mary’s County government cut a check for about $8,000 to Minnie Russell for some of her land leading to a public pier, but she won’t take it.
The money was part of a court-ordered settlement that Russell refused to sign. A judge ordered that a third-party attorney sign on her behalf.
Russell, 77, is not happy with the judgment and told the commissioners that at their public forum earlier this month.
“Right now my hands are tied,” she said in a recent interview.
The case started when she put up a silt fence across Dunbar Road in Ridge in February 2009, blocking access to the Fox Harbor public pier at the end of the county road. She said she was tired of watermen and others using the pier, crossing what she said was her property to do so.
The county’s department of recreation and parks took down the fence and the matter went to circuit court.
As part of the settlement ordered earlier this year, a survey was done on the road and county government bought 3,723 square feet of her property to open up access.
Russell wrote the commissioners in August 2009 asking why Fox Harbor Landing couldn’t be combined with the landing at St. Inigoes. “The watermen on Smith Creek use whichever is most convenient for their needs — Fox Harbor Landing, St. Inigoes Landing or their private piers. At one time some used Point Lookout Marina seawall, until the owner started charging a fee. I believe this type of person is called a freeloader.”
Russell wants two matters resolved, she said. She wants the commissioners to reply to her August 2009 letter and she wants rebar and caps set into the ground from the recent survey.
“They never answered it,” she said of the letter. “I have no boundary line if I want to sell the property. I want to be able to say that’s mine and that’s yours. There is nothing in the ground.”
She cited what she said were several errors in the legal paperwork. Her address wasn’t correct. Her husband’s name would be on some documents and not others.
“I would have given the damn piece of land if it fit. It doesn’t fit a park,” she said.
There is no room for parking, picnicking or a portable toilet at the pier, she said.
So with no resolution to her liking, “I’m right back where I started,” she said.
Because the matter was in litigation, the commissioners told Russell the matter was out of their hands.
David Weiskopf, deputy county government attorney, said there will be a hearing to have a trustee assigned to sign the settlement on Russell’s behalf. As for the two things she wants addressed, he said, “We’ll just have to see what the judge says.”
jbabcock@somdnews.com
