Dear Editor:

I read the letter from Paul Coulombe on the town website and the article that Executive Editor Joe Gelarden has posted on the Register website.

Coulombe's letter to the town manager is a “letter of intent,” not a guarantee of the bond and is very narrowly focused: If he has not finished the clubhouse grounds construction by the end of 2016, he would pay the principal and interest from January 1, 2017 to such time as it is finished.

But if the tax value of the Club should decrease at any time for any reason, if it should burn down or if he should declare bankruptcy (and any lawyer who deals with this kind of thing could easily come up with other possibilities), he would not be liable to pay anything.

The editor's article quotes Coulombe as saying he's made “arrangements” with his family foundation to build the club house and keep the Country Club running for 20 years even if he should die. That is not guaranteeing the bond. Such a guarantee would have to be a legal document, with a check held in escrow by the town.

In addition, we don't know the wording of his “arrangements” with his heirs. Is it an oral arrangement? Is it a written document? Is it legally binding? Are there loopholes?

Clearly, Paul Coulombe very much wants the articles to pass which help his country club project. It is a fine project. But he has not done what he publicly committed to at the town meeting on August 9. He said he'd write a check for the total amount of the bond (which should then be put in an escrow account).  No way has he done that or even come close.

Fred Kaplan
Boothbay