about Darlene's consulting payments. Kent put his name on the record. He was nervous enough to ask Andrea twice whether she would accurately include the distinction between questionable payments and proven criminal theft. She promised she would, and the published story did exactly that. It reported substantial undisclosed compensation, potential self-dealing, and an association struggling to produce valid approvals.
That mattered when Mitch finally brought me the complete Old Mill Road records. We sat at my table while he unrolled the 1952 plat beside newer subdivision documents. The oldest map showed the original private road corridor running through Sullivan land. Later documents established limited crossing rights for neighboring farms. But the Meadowbrook developer's recorded package contained an ambiguity: it assumed the old corridor was a county-maintained public way, although no deed in our search established that conveyance.
"This is leverage," Mitch said, tracing the line with a pencil. "But don't mistake leverage for a final ruling. A court could recognize other easement rights, or the county could pursue an acquisition if it meets legal requirements. You're not locking a gate tonight."
I had already imagined the gate. I admit that. There was a darkly satisfying picture in my head of eighty-five beautiful garages and a line of expensive cars facing a sign that said PRIVATE ROAD, NO ACCESS. Mitch's caution punctured it, and I was grateful afterward. The people living in those houses had not all stood beside the bulldozer. Their children needed school buses, their parents needed ambulances, and their fire department needed roads that remained available while lawyers argued.