Mathews resident Dee Russell has a bone to pick with the Mathews County Planning Department and the county administrator.

Speaking at the June 25 meeting of the board of supervisors, Russell asked that the county attorney be consulted to give an opinion on a permit issued by Planning and Zoning Director John Shaw. The permit would allow Russell’s neighbors to demolish and rebuild a pier that Russell and her husband, Brian, share with those neighbors. She said she objects to issuance of the permit and had asked County Administrator Mindy Moran to consult the county attorney on the matter, but Moran had refused.

Board chair Edwina Casey told Russell that she had to get her own attorney to address the matter, since the issue involved a private property dispute that was a civil matter, not a county problem.

But Russell said that by issuing a permit with no proof that the pier belonged to the applicant, the county had allowed that person to "circumvent the civil system you&rsq...