The route still faced numerous approvals, but establishing a paper claim was a valuable first step for a developer.
Walter telephoned the planning office and asked whether the public hearing had been scheduled.
The receptionist said a preliminary meeting would occur in three weeks.
The developer had submitted a neighborhood support letter signed by the Cedar Glen association president.
Brenda had not told the six property owners about that letter.
Walter asked for a copy through the public information process.
Later that afternoon he called George Finch to ask whether he remembered any discussion of warehouse traffic.
George laughed without amusement.
“Brenda said the new road was for the fire department.”
“She told you that?”
“She said it would keep the insurance rates down.”
“Did anyone ask whether your yard could be used?”
“Not until after she had my signature on what I thought was a volunteer list.”
George paused.
“Walter, I spent my life carrying other people’s mail.”
“I know the difference between delivering information and deciding what people ought to receive.”
His words stayed with Walter after the call ended.
At dinner Walter searched the county’s meeting archive for references to the project.
He found two minutes from earlier planning sessions, both attended by representatives of Harrow Ridge.
The minutes referred to a possible neighborhood access agreement.
One attendee was listed as B. Watkins, community liaison.
The title had no governmental meaning, but it gave Brenda a way to appear authorized to negotiate.
Walter found the first payment to Glenway on an old association bank statement published on the neighborhood website.
It was labeled consulting advance.
He found a second entry for boundary surveys and a third for document preparation.
The statements ended abruptly six months earlier.
Brenda had explained the interruption as a software migration.
Walter had accepted that explanation at the time.
Now he wondered whether the records had simply become inconvenient.
He contacted a lawyer named Nina Patel, whose office had helped Lorraine with a small inheritance matter years before.
Nina agreed to review the materials but warned him against treating suspicions as established facts.
“Ownership documents, HOA authority, and proposed access rights are separate issues,” she explained.
“If we confuse them, the people benefiting from the confusion will have an easier time defending themselves.”
Walter understood.
He wanted a clean answer to a dirty-looking problem.
Nina gave him a list of records to request and a list of statements not to make publicly without evidence.
