Home / News / Brewer council OKs selling abandoned South Main Street property
Brewer council OKs selling abandoned South Main Street property
BREWER, Maine — The derelict little house at 587 South Main St. that has been abandoned for several years and has numerous foreclosed tax and sewer liens may soon be up for sale.
City councilors on Monday authorized City Manager Steve Bost to seek a buyer for the property, once the city has the clear title to the property.
"This is a home that has been in a state of disrepair for years," Bost said. "There is some interest to either rehab the building or take it down."
The assessed value of the small white house, which sits on a 0.09-acre lot on South Main Street across from the end of Elm Street, is $24,100. The land is valued at $8,600 and the building is assessed at $15,500.
The city has notified the out-of-state owner about the past-due property tax and sewer bills and has tried to get the bills paid, to no avail, and City Solicitor Jody Dearborn now "is close to perfecting the city's title to the property," the council order states.
In other meeting news, the city council also thanked Penobscot Job Corps Academy students for their work in educating residents in 2009 about how to prevent toxins from getting into stormwater runoff, and for participating in the annual spring cleanup.
Mayor Kevin O'Connell presented 32-year veteran Mike Jellison, who is the business and community liaison for the academy, with a plaque thanking the academy students. Jellison said the Bangor facility is one of only six in the 120 academies nationwide to be honored for going "green" with the installation of natural gas, new windows, improved water consumption and other environmentally friendly changes.
Arthur "Archie" Verow thanked Ken Locke, the city's environmental services director, Lou Colburn, chief operator of the Brewer Wastewater Pollution Control Facility and Collections Systems Supervisor Tracy Drew for their work getting the Job Corps students involved in the community.
"We really appreciate your initiative here in pulling this all together and getting young people involved in our community," Verow said.
During the meeting, councilors also:
• Accepted grant funds totalling $2,958 from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program that will be used to purchase training pistols, paint marking cartridges and protective equipment.
• Authorized changing phone companies to FairPoint Communications for an estimated 40 percent savings, dropping the monthly bill from approximately $1,630 to $960, the council order states.
• Enacted an amendment to the land use code to allow churches in the rural, general business, industrial, office residential and professional business zones of the city.