City may take house on liens> Structure in Bangor ruled unfit

BANGOR — A deteriorating gray-shingled house at 51 Seventh St. will be on the agenda of the Bangor City Council on Monday, June 26, when the council will consider taking the property on matured tax liens.

“The liens matured back in December,” said Ken Gibb, director of Community and Economic Development. The council committee for that department discussed the matter at its Wednesday meeting. The Seventh Street structure, which has been placarded as unfit for habitation, has “major deficiencies,” Gibb said.

The owner of the property is listed at G.G. Graham Trust, but Gibb said that ownership was a complex matter.

According to the file in the Code Enforcement Office, 62-year-old Benjamin F. Fairbrother gave the trust $2,000 in 1990. He then began renting the house for $475 a month, with $50 of that amount going toward the purchase price of $49,000.

“He moved in there with an option to purchase,” said Dan Wellington, code enforcement officer.

In December 1994, just as the tax liens totaling about $3,000 were about to mature, the trust gave Fairbrother a quit-claim deed to the property. The representative of the trust is Gerald Graham of Lakeland, Fla., said Wellington.

Wellington added that it did not appear that Fairbrother gave the trust any additional money for the deed. At that point, he would have paid a total of $7,000 toward the purchase price.

In December, there was still a $40,000 mortgage held by Fleet Bank.

“Fleet allowed the redemption period to lapse without paying back taxes,” Wellington said. Representatives of the bank did examine the property, he said.

“They have the option of suing the trust on the note,” Wellington said. He said the city’s current assessment of the property is $30,000.

As of Thursday, Wellington said he didn’t expect the house to be repairable, but he said he would reserve judgment until he visits the property today. He said his information indicates that the electricity was shut off a year ago, the water was shut off in October 1994, and the boiler is inoperative.

Wellington described Fairbrother as a hard worker with limited income. He said that the man probably thought that the mortgage was being paid off a lot faster than it really was.

Fairbrother was severely injured in 1987 when he was attacked by a bull pastured on a farm where he was working. Wellington said that Fairbrother was not supposed to be living in the house, since it has been placarded, but he thinks the man has been staying there.

Gibb said that some of Fairbrother’s neighbors attended the Wednesday committee meeting, and expressed concerns about the safety of the house and its impact on area property values.

Also on Wednesday, the committee talked about a third cruise boat that would like to come to Bangor this summer. A lease agreement has been drawn up and will be subject to the approval of the full council. The vessel, captained by Frank Foss, would not be here at the same time as the other cruise vessels.

Other committee topics included promotions and discounts to encourage use of the parking garage, and a request from the Post Office Consumer Advisory Council to make Spring Street a one-way street from Harlow Street up to Market Street.

“The committee said we need to talk about this some more,” Gibb said.