Hampstead leaders have filed a lawsuit asking a Circuit Court judge to bar the planned auction of the old Hampstead Elementary School this month.

The school belongs to the county, but the town wanted to develop the property as part of a downtown revitalization effort. Lame-duck Commissioners Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier have pushed for the auction, saying it's time for a resolution on the fate of the deteriorating property.

"We did this because we had no other option," Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin said of the lawsuit, filed Friday in Carroll County Circuit Court. "It's unfortunate, but we think it's in the best interest of the town."

The lawsuit asks the court to halt the sale of the property until a legal hearing can be held and "a formal determination has been made regarding whether the school is needed for any public purpose."

The lawsuit describes the history of the case and the town's objection to the auction in a series of 55 points. Town officials hope for an injunction hearing as soon as possible.

The filing followed a letter from County Attorney Kimberly Millender rejecting the town's request for an administrative appeals hearing on the auction. The letter also denied a final plea from town leaders to stop running advertisements for the auction.

"I respectfully deny such a request as I have been given specific instructions by the Board of County Commissioners to proceed with the auction without delay," Millender wrote in the letter, dated Wednesday.

Nevin and the Town Council say the 91-year-old school is the centerpiece of their downtown redevelopment efforts and that the auction, scheduled for Nov. 26, will unfairly remove its fate from their control.

The county had agreed to let the property be redeveloped into a senior housing center by a town-approved development team.

But when state tax credits needed to finance the project failed to come through this year, Dell and Frazier said they were tired of waiting and wanted to sell the property.

Nevin has said he sees political vindictiveness in Dell and Frazier's decision. The mayor wrote in the town newsletter that he hoped the two would not be re-elected.

Town leaders have joined many critics who say Dell and Frazier shouldn't cram significant policy decisions into their last few months in office.

"There are two commissioners who have a vendetta and are determined to push this thing," Nevin said Friday. "It's pretty clear the county isn't following all of its rules and procedures."