WOOLWICH

After being forced to take ownership of the Nequasset Brook Bridge just a few months ago, Matt Richards said he no longer wants to live in Woolwich.

“I’m still super pissed off and upset about the way that the whole thing happened,” Richards said this week. “It could have been so much better handled than the way it went down.”

Once owned by the town of Woolwich, at April’s Town Meeting, voters opted to give ownership of the bridge to Richards, whose property was the only one served by the 24- foot bridge. While presently in good condition, the town was aware that it would eventually need to be repaired — to Maine Department of Transportation standards — at an estimated cost of $600,000.

Their estimates of it being repaired as a private bridge — which would not be held to the same standards — came in between $100,000- $140,000.

Selectmen determined they didn’t want the town on the hook for a $600,000 repair bill and put the matter before voters at Town Meeting. Richards was also awarded $75,000 in damages for having to take ownership of the bridge.

Richards, who opposed discontinuing the bridge from the start, remains bitter about the ordeal.

“The town lost. I lost. Nobody was a winner on this except for the lawyers,” he said. “I just think it’s kind of sad and ridiculous that with spending that kind of money, not one penny went into making the bridge any better.”

Richards maintains that the town should have bought the property from him — instead of forcing him to take the bridge — and then sold it to somebody who would be made fully aware of the condition and status of the bridge. He said he paid $200,000 for the house, which is what he proposed the town should pay for it.

Unhappy with the lengthy bridge battle, Richards said that he is selling off all his properties in Woolwich and leaving town. Last week, the property in question and its bridge, was sold for $170,000 to the tenants who have been living in the home for the past several months.

Combined with the damages awarded to him and sale price, Richards came out financially ahead, walking away with $245,000, minus legal fees.

“I made out OK on this,” he said. “I’m not proud of it. I’m not bragging.”

Richards noted that the new owners of the house are OK with the bridge situation.

“It’s the best of a bad situation,” Selectman Jason Shaw said of the sale. “Matt Richards might not be totally happy … but the folks that are going to live there are going to be all right and the town is OK.”

Shaw maintains that the selectmen acted in the town’s best interest by discontinuing the bridge as a public road. Financially, it just didn’t make sense to put so much money into a bridge that served a single residence. Shaw added that it wasn’t fair to other Woolwich taxpayers to continue paying for the bridge.

“This is one of those things that I don’t think any town selectperson enjoys going through,” he said, “but at the end of the day what you’re really doing is looking out for the greater benefit for the majority of the community.

“I’m glad that we’re able to put this behind us,” Shaw added. “I do wish the Richards’ well.”

He added that while the timing was unfortunate for Richards, there never would have been a good time to discontinue the bridge.

nstrout@timesrecord.com