OTISFIELD — Heniger Park Association members have been told by the town’s attorney, Bernstein and Shur in Portland, that the Board of Selectmen will not reconsider the terms of the 99-year lease offer.
They have advised those whose leases end on Tuesday, July 7, to reconsider signing the 2040 lease.
“I do hope they recommit. They have been good neighbors,” Selectmen Chairman Hal Ferguson said this week.
Only eight of the 37 lessees at Heniger Park on Pleasant Lake signed new 99-year leases with the town by the April 30 deadline. The 15 leaseholders whose leases expire on July 7 have the opportunity to sign a lease until 2040 if they have not signed the 99-year lease.
Only three of the 15 have signed up for the 2040 lease.
Without signing, they risk losing possession of their camps. If the lease is surrendered, selectmen say they will put it out to bid. The camp owner has the right to move his or her camp, destroy it or leave it on site. If it is left onsite, the structure will become the property of the town.
Last week, a woman from Massachusetts won the only vacant lot in Heniger Park in a sealed bid process that provides her with a 99-year lease.
Linda Cleary submitted a sealed bid of $57,500, that was unanimously accepted by selectmen at their meeting on Wednesday, June 3. The town advertised Lot 4 in Heniger Park for a minimum bid of $25,000. The minimum price was developed based on factors such as the asking price of several Heniger Park lots that are up for sale.
Board members say Cleary has visited the area and is looking forward to coming back to spend many years with her family on Pleasant Lake. She and the town have 30 days to complete the paperwork and lease document signing.
The future lessee can improve the building shell on the property under the direction of the local code enforcement officer or apply to the Planning Board for a new building permit, Ferguson said.
The lease requires the lessee to have a taxable structure on site within two years.
The town acquired Lot 4 for nonpayment of taxes at least 20 to 25 years ago, according to Code Enforcement Officer Richard St. John.
Lot 4 is part of about 100 acres the town acquired in 1943 from noted Broadway producer Jacob Heniger. His will stipulated that the Board of Selectmen decide what would be done with the real estate. The land was eventually divided into 35 or so lots and leased by the town.
In 1965, the first Heniger Park leases were drawn up between the town and camp owners for fees ranging from $0 to $50 per year for 50 years. Lessees were allowed to build camps, paying taxes on the full value of structures. Since the late 1970s they have also paid taxes — $15,000 for back lots and $30,000 for lake front lots.
But in recent years the board and others have re-evaluated the leases saying they need to reflect values of other Pleasant Lake camp properties.
If all 37 had signed new leases, property taxes were expected to increase from $9,528 to $100,551 annually, based on the current tax rate.
SIDEBAR
99-year leaseholders say they are “stewards” of the lake
OTISFIELD — Kay and Jack Harward of Florida, one of only eight of 37 lease holders who have signed the 99-year lease, told the board on Wednesday, June 3, that they did not get a “free ride” on Pleasant Lake for decades.
“We’re not freeloaders. We paid our taxes. We didn’t get a free ride,” Catherine Harward said.
Harward was reacting to comments by Selectman Len Adler last month when he told leaseholders they could take the 99-year lease or leave.
“This is the lease. If you don’t like it, take your house and go,” Adler said at a board meeting.
Those who do not sign a new lease must raze or move their structure or they become the town’s property.
The Harwards, who are in their 80s and have leased the land for the last 30 years or so as the second owner of a lakeside lot, said they have not only developed the property, putting in an artisan well and making other improvements to the raw land, but they consider themselves “stewards” of the lake. Selectmen said they fully agree the leaseholders have protected the health of the lake for years.
“We only did what you asked us to do,” Jack Harward said.
Although the Harwards’ attorney told the couple they should “walk away” if they couldn’t accept the terms of the new lease, the Harwards said they have too much invested in the property that they want to continue to share with their children and grandchildren.
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