Wiscasset selectmen are preparing to turn up the heat on a pair of property use issues and a slew of property tax deals that may have gone south. They're also moving toward a lease-for-heat deal with Lincoln County Healthcare at the former primary school and taking two former Ferry Road Development properties off ice.

Over six months, the former school will cost about $85,000 to $90,000 to heat, Town Manager Marian Anderson said. Instead of paying rent on the half-building that will host training from Dec. 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016, Lincoln County Healthcare is prepared to cover the entire building’s heating costs, Anderson and a Lincoln County Healthcare official told selectmen Sept. 1.

The town is trying to sell the property, but selectmen have been willing to lease it. The board expressed support previously for pursuing the short-term lease to Lincoln County Healthcare. Details of the tentative deal came out Tuesday night, including the heat payments instead of cash; Lincoln County Healthcare’s willingness to share the building with another tenant as long as Lincoln County Healthcare’s rooms are kept secure; and partnering with the town on snow removal.

Local restaurants and other businesses stand to also benefit from having Lincoln County Healthcare workers in town, Anderson said. “So that’s an added value.”

Patrick Parson of Lincoln County Healthcare estimated that 40 to 80 staff would be at the building on a typical week, but at times the number could be 100.

Mason Station update

The town’s real estate agent on several high-profile properties, Sherri Dunbar, told selectmen that in order to sell Mason Station lots, board members need to decide what they want to sell in light of the fact the town doesn't own the lot with the plant.

Sherri Dunbar told the board she spent a lot of time around the plant in recent weeks with the town planner and code enforcement officer, a scrap metal dealer and a commercial broker to try to gather information, when town officials thought the town owned it. “I think ... the board needs to decide where you want to go with this .... it’s in your lap.” Commercial brokers need to know what type of buyer they should be seeking for the town’s properties, she said.

Dunbar said she has heard from someone interested in the subdivision parcels. Selling them could mean the plant would always be there because any prospective buyer for it would also want control of the more than 30 related acres, she said.

Anderson and some selectmen said they had thought the town owned the plant, but then Anderson reviewed court documents that referred to the few lots the town doesn’t own, including that one. Mason Station keeps paying the back taxes on it just before the times kick in when the town could take it, Selectman Jeff Slack said.

“They pay at the drop-dead date,” he said. He called the situation frustrating. “I don’t think we’re ever going to get our hands on the plant.”

Ferry Road

The board decided to have Dunbar market the smaller two of the town’s three former Ferry Road Development properties. A May 2015 court ruling in a 2014 case confirmed the town’s ownership, Anderson said. One of the two lots headed for sale is 38.5 acres; the other, 72 acres, selectmen said.

They held off on marketing the 327-acre parcel while the town considers keeping some of it.

Neighbor issues, tax issues

Selectmen plan to give Leslie Wentworth of 26 Hodge St. until Sept. 30 to clean up the property or face legal action. Neighbors Eugene Stover and Butch and Jeanne Main called on the board Tuesday night to work to get unregistered vehicles, propane tanks and other items off the lot. The items are within sight in the winter and pose a hazard to children in the area, the neighbors said.

“This has gone a little too far,” Stover said about the extent of items he and the Mains said are there.

The Mains expressed frustration that a prior letter the town sent Wentworth has not resulted in the property’s cleanup. They also said a member of the town’s staff told them the wrong start time for Tuesday’s meeting, which started at 6 p.m. They were told 7 p.m., Jeanne Main said. She considered it another example of the town giving them the run-around about their concerns, she said. She later told the board that its new decision regarding the property made her feel a little better.

Wiscasset Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz tells Wentworth in a January 2015 letter, “There cannot be any outside storage of appliances or materials or junk in view of surrounding properties.”

In another matter, two property owners complained together about the town not having taken a neighbor’s land for back taxes. According to Anderson, Currier Langley, owner of land at 157 Hale Pond Road, has not followed a tax payment deal he made with the town in 2013.

The neighbors, Brian Murray and Colby Thayer, raised a right-of-way issue and commented on an excavator’s use, but Anderson said nothing Langley has done there requires a town permit. The two men questioned why the town hasn’t taken the land. Murray said he offered to buy three acres from Langley for up to $20,000 but that Langley wanted $25,000.

Anderson planned to check on the property’s status and those of several other properties whose owners may have not stuck to tax payment deals they made with the town.

Selectmen discussed sending letters to those property owners and telling them to pay in full or risk the town seeking to taking the property. Anderson said she could have the information ready on the Langley property ready for the board to review at its next meeting.

The property has no home on it; selectmen said that in any instances where people are living on a property that is taken, the town, as the landlord, would be able to let them continue staying there.

Cherry wondered what the town would do with the surplus of land it could wind up with if it takes several properties. Anderson asked selectmen to review the existing policy on tax-acquired properties and see if they want to make any changes. The board decided 4-0 to have the town enter into no more tax agreements for now.