By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

GOFFSTOWN – Homeowners in two manufactured housing parks have been granted a preliminary injunction that will halt the sale of Medford Farms and the Village of Glen Falls to manufactured housing park operators Hometown America and a trial date has been set for early next year.

The group of residents is known as Medvil, with 208 residents between the two housing parks. Representatives of Medvil appeared at the Hillsborough County Court on Aug. 3 to ask for a preliminary injunction that would halt the sale, alleging the park’s owners violated an agreement to sell the properties to them.

On Monday, Aug. 22, Judge Philip Mangones granted the injunction, as well as denied the park owners’ request for an injunction bond that would cover the costs that may be suffered if they are the subject of a wrongfully issued injunction. The trial date has been set for Jan. 4 at Hillsborough County Court. Attorneys from Devine, Millimet & Branch, who are representing Medvil, said the trial should take a few days.

“On behalf of the tenants of the two parks, I am very pleased the court gave them the opportunity to make their case,” said Ovide Lamontagne, an attorney for Medvil. “They should be permitted to exercise their right of first refusal and control their own destiny. For people in their elder years, this is especially important – they can stabilize their existence and living circumstances at the park.”

Medvil representatives say Beverly Kilmartin, who opened the parks in 1980 and is the current owner, violated an agreement to sell the parks to the residents and instead entered into an agreement with the Chicago-based manufactured housing park operators Hometown America LLC.

The original contract between Hometown and Kilmartin stipulated that if residents could match the $10.55 million price for the parks, she would sell them to the residents association. Medvil matched the original price, Kilmartin raised it to $10.7 million and Medvil matched it again. Lamontagne said Kilmartin then switched legal council and created new terms.

At the Aug. 3 hearing, Scott Harris, an attorney for Beverly Kilmartin, said the owner is hesitant to sell the parks to the residents for reasons of upkeep and wants to preserve her legacy. However, Lamontagne said this issue was not mentioned in the original terms of agreement for the parks’ sale.

“It is not a credible position to take,” he said. “It was not part of the purchase and sale agreement. All of a sudden, it has become important at the last minute. If it was as important as was represented at the (Aug. 3) court hearing, it would have been represented (as such) from the beginning. I was surprised to find it a part of the key argument.”

In Mangones’ review of the Aug. 3 hearing, he wrote that Medvil would likely stand to lose more if he did not grant an injunction than would Kilmartin if he did grant it.

“The Court is also persuaded that the balance of hardships to both parties weighs in favor of issuing a preliminary injunction,” he wrote. “If the Court did not issue a preliminary injunction, the Parks potentially may be sold to Hometown during the pendency of this litigation, resulting in the plaintiff losing the opportunity to purchase the parks. However, it the Court issues a preliminary injunction, the sellers will suffer minimal harm during the pendency of this proceeding.”

Lamontagne said the purpose of the trial goes beyond giving the residents group the opportunity to buy the parks.

“This is not about ownership, but also issues of amenities and whether the owner can convert (the parks) into condos or do things that are inconsistent with the interest of the people who live there,” he said.

The spokesman for Medford Farms and the Village of Glen Falls could not be reached for comment due to illness.