At their meeting Thursday, selectmen voted unanimously to direct Town Manager Michael Chammings to move forward with the process for the single-story home at 260 King St. owned by Leon Morse.
According to Rodney Smith, the town’s code enforcement office, the town has asked Morse to clean up the property and attempted to contact him by phone multiple times, without success.
Maine law allows cities and towns to declare structures that are unsanitary, unstable or fire hazards “dangerous buildings.” The designation allows the municipality to order the disposal of the structure, after a public hearing.
An overgrown lawn surrounds the weathered home, and its front porch is crammed with trash and debris. The remains of a collapsed shed are behind the building, along with other detritus and a large motorboat.
At the meeting Thursday, Selectman Scott Owens said that to his knowledge the home is currently uninhabited.
In a Dec. 3 letter to Morse, Smith noted that attempts to reach him by phone have not been returned and a request for Morse to clean up his property during a chance encounter on the street was rebuffed.
“… during our conversation I asked you if you would clean up your residence,” Smith wrote. “You stated that you did not have the time.”
The letter puts Morse on notice that Smith intends to move forward and declare the building dangerous.
The next step is the public hearing. State law requires the town to publish a notice about the public hearing once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper circulated in the county before holding the hearing.
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