Tackling one property at a time, the Town of Wiscasset has zeroed in on a glaring junkyard cleanup operation on Foye Rd. on tax-acquired property.
“The work has been progressively going faster than anticipated,” said Town Manager Arthur Faucher, who inspected the work on Friday along with new code enforcement officer Rick Lang.
The town has hired Selectman Bob Blagden as the contractor for the massive task on land Glenn Lewis formerly owned on Foye Rd., which the town acquired in February in lieu of roughly $4300 in delinquent real estate taxes.
The town has assessed the land there at $60,000 and personal property, including a mobile home that was there April 1, at $8290, according to Sue Varney, assessors’ agent.
“The cleanup is meticulously being done,” Faucher said. “The cleaner the property, the better the price. It would definitely bring in a good price.”
The town has other projects it plans to pursue following completion of the Foye Rd. cleanup in an effort to put more land on the tax rolls through tax acquisition as one means of increasing the tax base for the community.
Blagden and workers have to remove piles of motor vehicle tires and rims, scrap metal, several old cars and boats, and an old school bus at a cost of roughly $5000. Blagden was the lowest bidder for the project. A mobile home that used to be on the property has been removed.
Before voting on the accepting of Bladgen’s bid, the board received legal advice from both the Maine Municipal Association and Atty. Linda McGill that the could legally accept the bid without any problem of conflict of interest. Blagden abstained from the voting on the bids.
Lewis had asked the town through town attorney Dennis Jumper for more time to remove some of his items from the property, but at a recent meeting, the board voted to deny the request and instead move ahead with a bidding process for the cleanup work.
The cost of the town’s cleanup operation on the Foye Rd. land will include the legal fees, property recordings, legal notices in the newspapers, and the town manager’s and code enforcement officer’s time spent on the issue.
“The town plans to sell the property for nothing less than the total cost,” Faucher said.
The property is located in wooded area along Foye Rd., which, once cleaned up properly, would make a possible site for new home construction.
At previous selectmen’s meetings, board members have mentioned how progress on the various projects throughout town send a message different from the past when little has been done to settle delinquency and acquire new property for resale. Several pieces of property still exist for both tax acquisitions and cleanup operations, according to Faucher.
Treasurer Jim George recently gave a report a few months ago on how much property throughout town has remained on the list of delinquency and the need to clear the books.
