Thu, 12/08/2022 - 10:59 am

SUSAN JOHNS

The same night a Wiscasset man shared with selectmen his struggle to not “end up a homeless person in Maine,” two fellow attendees of the board meeting Dec. 6 at the town office, and carried over Zoom and YouTube, aired their concerns over homeowners’ physical or financial ability to comply with potential rules on property maintenance.

Justin Foye was asking for 30 more days to buy back a Willow Lane property he lost to unpaid taxes. He said when he inherited it, the pandemic hit and he was making about $12,000 to $15,000 a year; he got notices about the taxes, “but financially, for myself it’s been a struggle.” He said he lost electricity to non-payment “because I couldn’t keep up with paying for food and fuel.” He said he has someone who will loan him the back tax money of about $6,200.

Selectman Terry Heller told him the matter was very serious and at one point she asked Foye, “Going forward, do you feel like you’re going to be able to pay the taxes every year?”

“Yes,” he said. He added, “And actually, I know it’s just a drop in the bucket, but I can give my day’s pay today,” $200 from a second job he has gotten “just so I didn’t end up a homeless person in Maine.” Selectmen did not ask him for the $200.

Town Manager Dennis Simmons said to Foye, “I did send you a letter back in August, telling you that you needed to come in and see me to work on something to do this. And you waited right til the twelfth hour ...”

Foye said he had tried his best to get to the post office to get that letter, but he “was trying to work, and was finally getting hours.”

Simmons told selectmen it was incumbent on them to, as scheduled, open the four bids received on the property, and if selectmen wanted to give Foye more time it was up to them. Joseph Brickel bid $38,744; Lester Morse, $39,900, but without a required, certified check, Simmons said; L.T. Investments LLC of Bath, $66,600; and Carol Schmidt of Tampa, Florida, $32,501.

The board voted 5-0 to accept L.T. Investments’ bid if Foye does not pay within 30 days.

Later, when updating the board on the sale of another tax-acquired property, Simmons commented, taking someone’s property for taxes is not something anyone wants to do. It is also hard letting someone stay in a home for years without paying taxes and thereby adding to other people’s burden, he said. Issuing tax liens has woken a lot of people up to come in and pay their taxes, Simmons said.

Later, Chris Reed and Linda Adams each questioned a draft of possible town rules on property maintenance. “We’ve had people last meeting and this one who can’t afford to pay their taxes,” and not everyone can afford to get their lawn mowed or the broken window in a shed or peeling paint fixed, Reed said. Paint is $70 a gallon now, he said. “We’ve got people in town who aren’t going to be able to afford their groceries and heat this winter ... This (draft) is what you’d find in some gated homeowner community.”

“I think this whole thing is just not Maine. It’s not what everybody comes here for, it’s not the Maine way of life,” Reed said. He said a lot of people have lumber, old machinery, or junk around — but fewer people do now, because they are getting bought out or kicked out, he said.

Adams called the ordinance over the top and needing to be toned down. She predicted the ordinance would keep the code enforcement officer busy going to broken down trailers and to yards with items like Reed was talking about. And as for paint, she said the front of her garage has been peeling really badly, and she and her husband have been unable to work on it due to both having had surgeries this year. “So is someone eventually going to come around and fine us $100? Because that’s what this (language) is leading to. Once someone gets hold of this and they have a neighbor they don’t particularly like and who can’t take care of their place, they’re going to file a complaint. And then it’s going to have to be addressed. It’s opening a huge can of worms.”

Those are fair points, Simmons said of their comments. The board sent the draft back to the ordinance review committee (ORC) with the night’s comments and selectmen and Simmons noted a public hearing would precede a town vote.

Reached Dec. 8, ORC Chair Karl Olson said the committee was asked to draft an ordinance, did so, including, as usual, checking for any similar ordinances in other area towns, and has since been awaiting any feedback on the draft.

Another possible ordinance also came up Dec. 6. A man stating he represents Seagrass Group told selectmen the company has a chance to buy commercial property on Route 1, contingent on what the town decides on marijuana. He asked where that stands.

Chair Sarah Whitfield explained the proposed rules await a public hearing and likely June town vote. Simmons said he would get the man more information.