WARREN, R.I. -- Attorney General Peter Kilmartin announced Thursday that his office has recovered the $7,300 that the town spent overseeing the removal of more than 100 wooden floating docks that had been installed illegally on the Kickemuitt River by a former landowner.
The docks, which were originally part of a plan by Thomas Koolen to create an unpermitted marina, were installed in July 2011 and were only removed only this year after a judge ordered Koolen jailed for defying earlier directives.
The money to reimburse the town came from foreclosure on Koolen's property. Kilmartin said "it is rare that public expenditures and outlays of this nature are fully compensated by the wrong-doer" and that he was pleased that the cleanup came without taxpayer cost.