HARTLAND — The owner of a lakefront brewery whose business is subject of an ongoing lawsuit against the town is set to face off against an incumbent selectman who says his opponent could have a conflict of interest because of the pending lawsuit.

Hartland voters are set to choose between Selectman John A. Hikel or Robert C. Bryant, his challenger, for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen in the only contested race in Friday’s municipal election.

Polls are scheduled to be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Irving Tanning Community Center at 62 Elm St.

Voters return to the community center at 9 a.m. Saturday for town meeting to vote on spending and other yearly town business.

Hikel, a 66-year-old former Republican legislator in New Hampshire, is running for his third term on the board.

Hikel, who grew up in Pittsfield and moved to Hartland full time in 2018 after spending most of his adult life away from central Maine, said he wants to continue serving the people of Hartland.

“So many times, I get phone calls about things that I can help on and things that I don’t really understand but I find out quickly,” Hikel said in a phone interview. “And then I go work on that — for anybody that asks that’s in need of anything to do with their town.”

Bryant, 64, is retired from a career in information technology. He moved to Hartland full time in 2020.

Bryant, like Hikel, grew up in Pittsfield and worked out of state for most of his life before coming back to central Maine. In 2022, he opened Bryant’s Brewing, a nano brewery and coffee roastery, in his garage.

“I’m running to help the town of Hartland,” Bryant said in an interview at his lakefront home on Great Moose Drive. “I’m tired of lack of action on the tannery, and I feel strongly that until the tannery building is addressed and taken down, Hartland is not going to be able to move forward.”

Both candidates cited economic development as among their chief reasons for running for a seat on the three-member board.

The town has been struggling economically after the loss of the tannery that operated for decades in its downtown, both said. The tannery, last owned by Tasman Leather Group, closed in 2020.

But Hikel also said he is concerned that an ongoing lawsuit against the town regarding the permitting of Bryant’s brewery and coffee roastery would put Bryant in a questionable position, if he was elected.

“I do have my concerns — I can’t help but say it — that he had a big favor bestowed upon him,” Hikel said.

Bryant said, if elected, he would recuse himself from anything to do with the lawsuit, in which he and his brewery are named parties-of-interest.

“That’s how you handle a conflict of interest of that nature,” Bryant said. “You remove yourself from any consideration in regards to the matter.”

THE LAWSUIT

The lawsuit stems from articles voters approved at a June 2023 special town meeting vote to amend Hartland’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance and Shoreland Zoning Map.

Four plaintiffs — Karen Towle, James Towle, Dana Jandreau and Patricia Jandreau — filed a complaint against the town in Somerset County Superior Court a few weeks later. Bryant and his business were named as parties-of-interest.

The Towles and Jandreaus, who have properties on Great Moose Lake near Bryant’s home and brewery, have alleged in court filings that Bryant had opened his brewery and coffee roastery in his garage in violation of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance and illegally installed a holding tank on his property.

Town officials learned of this and then began working on the ordinance changes to allow Bryant’s Brewing to continue to operate, the Towles and Jandreaus allege. Among other changes, the ordinance amendments created a “Limited Commercial District” consisting only of Bryant’s property.

The original complaint, written by attorneys Cameron A. Ferrante and Stephen L.F. Langsdorf of the law firm Preti Flaherty, alleged that the 2023 ordinance updates constituted “spot zoning” and conflicted with Hartland’s comprehensive plan. It also said the town did not follow proper procedure while developing the updates.

The lawsuit was expanded later in 2023, after the town worked through further editing of the ordinance in consultation with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Planning Board issued permits for Bryant’s Brewing and other businesses, court records show.

The Towles and Jandreaus also took issue with that process.

The Towles and Jandreaus now are asking the court to rule that the 2023 Shoreland Zoning Ordinance changes were illegal spot zoning; that the ordinance is invalid because the town made procedural errors; that the Planning Board-approved permit was invalid because the ordinance lacked DEP approval at the time; and that the DEP-approved ordinance was invalid because it was not approved at town meeting.

Both the town and Bryant, through their respective lawyers, have challenged the lawsuit in hundreds of pages of back-and-forth filings with lawyers for the Towles and Jandreaus.

The town, represented by Jonathan Pottle and Kelsey C. Olesen of the law firm Eaton Peabody, has argued that the rezoning of Bryant’s property was consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan, the town followed all required processes and the DEP review of the ordinance did not change what voters approved.

The town’s lawyers have also argued that the Towles and Jandreaus have not challenged any permitting decision through proper legal channels.

Bryant, represented by Timothy A. Pease of the law firm Rudman Winchell, has argued that the ordinance changes were for the benefit of the entire town, not just for him or his business.

He has also said in court filings that the business has fostered community and strives to limit its impact on neighbors.

Lasting nearly two years so far, the lawsuit has been costly. As of February, the town had spent more than $53,000 in legal fees related to the lawsuit, according to Board of Selectmen meeting materials.

Superior Court Justice William R. Stokes, who is active retired, is now considering whether to issue a summary judgment — essentially a decision issued without a full trial — on some aspects of the lawsuit.

Stokes, a former deputy attorney general and mayor of Augusta, arranged to visit Hartland earlier this month to better understand the area, court records show. Bryant said Stokes’ tour included a stop inside his garage-turned-brewery.

It is not clear when Stokes will issue a decision.

ECONOMIC ISSUES

Bryant largely declined to comment on the lawsuit in an interview, referring to his public court filings that state his position.

But he did characterize it as an attempt to overturn what voters, by majority vote, approved at a town meeting. And he also said neither he nor his business are the reason the town has spent thousands of dollars in legal fees, as he is not the one who brought the legal challenge.

“It’s there. There’s no question about it,” Bryant said of the lawsuit. “I haven’t shied away from it. … Effectively, the voters of the town have to make up their minds appropriately.”

Bryant said he is more focused on his top priority: addressing what he calls the “blight” in Hartland.

Hartland, like other central Maine communities, has experienced significant economic downturn in the last few decades, he said.

Bryant serves as a commissioner of the Maine Redevelopment Land Bank Authority, a quasi-governmental agency that he said could provide funding to resolve a situation like the tannery.

He said, if elected, he would also recuse himself from any votes the select board takes involving the development authority. He also said he has no intentions of establishing his brewery at the tannery site, contrary to what he said some people have rumored.

“By removing blight from the town, we can build pride in the town,” Bryant said. “And I’m hoping that we can attract … clean industry into town to provide economic benefit, jobs, etc., so we can move the town forward.”

Hikel, too, said he wants to help facilitate a “growth spurt” in the downtown area.

He said the current Board of Selectmen has been working on gathering information about the area and putting together a downtown plan. If elected, he said he wants to see that the plan is finished.

“It’s a big conversation because, the tannery, a lot of people want it gone, and a lot of people think we could reuse it for something else,” Hikel said.

Hikel said he also supports a proposal for a solar farm in North Hartland in the Burrill Woods area that could lower the town’s property tax rate.

“I’ve been a supporter of that since the beginning, since I heard of it,” Hikel said of the developer. “I’d like to see that one go through.”