MIDDLETOWN — The Town Council last night once again rebuffed former Town Administrator Gerald S. Kempen in his last-ditch effort to persuade them to hear him out.

This time, refusing Kempen’s request for a sit-down may very well land both parties in Superior Court.

Kempen last week informed the council that he plans to sue unless it allows him to counter what he calls “disparaging” comments recently made about him by some council members.

Instead, a majority of the council followed their lawyer’s advice last night, voting to pass on word of Kempen’s threatened lawsuit to the town’s insurer, the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust, for its review. Council President Paul M. Rodrigues and members Shirley R. Mello, Barbara A. Barrow and M. Theresa Santos supported the move. (Councilman Louis P. DiPalma was absent.)

Barrow said she’s had enough of the Kempen controversy, which is in its ninth month and counting.

“I wish the energy and effort that went into this issue went into regionalizing or something more productive,” she said. “I’m almost reaching a limit with this.”

Councilman Edward J. Silveira Jr. tried twice, in vain, to persuade his colleagues to meet with Kempen once and for all and avoid a lawsuit.

Local activist Antone C. Viveiros, a Town Council candidate, urged the board to reconsider.

“This whole issue has divided the town deeply,” he said. “The original intent of the separation agreement [with Kempen] and to keep it quiet was to protect the town from a lawsuit, and apparently, it’s leading to a lawsuit. Eventually the taxpayers are going to have to pay to go to court and have a judge decide this. Personally, I think the whole matter is ridiculous.”

Then there was the unexpected move by Councilman Robert J. Sylvia — long an opponent of the council’s separation pact with Kempen — to recuse himself on the vote.

Sylvia has been represented for the last few months by Kempen’s lawyer, Michael T. Brady, in a Middletown Probate Court case concerning Sylvia’s late mother’s estate. Sylvia said he recused himself “out of an abundance of caution,” although he’s unsure if his relationship with Brady represents a conflict-of-interest.

Minutes later, resident Carol Cummings criticized Sylvia’s ties to Brady and his failure to remove himself from the Kempen debate earlier. Cummings claims members of the state Ethics Commission told her that Sylvia’s actions violate ethics rules.

“It is my opinion that [Sylvia] has potentially put the Town of Middletown in potential danger in litigation,” Cummings told the council.

For his part, Sylvia said after the meeting that he’s hopeful his probate issue will be settled within weeks. He questioned Cummings’ motives.

“She’s always looked upon herself as Robin Hood, and Middletown’s been her Sherwood Forest,” Sylvia said. “This is not being as transparent as she said she always wanted to be.”

Sylvia said his opinions on the council’s handling of the Kempen matter haven’t changed.

“The route we’re taking is shamefully wrong,” he said. “It’s going to continue to drag this out and cost the town. We shouldn’t be this stubborn.”

The threat of a lawsuit, he added, could be “eliminated by the mere presence of an individual airing his mind.”

mwims@projo.com