ORRINGTON, Maine — Local officials are waiting for the legal green light needed in order to begin the cleanup of three properties belonging to residents who are deceased.
At issue are houses at 5 and 12 Baker Lane and lot 32B, a land parcel, according to town documents. Only 5 Baker Lane can be seen from River Road because visibility to 12 Baker Lane is obscured by vegetation.
The owners of the properties, who were related to each other, died without legal heirs. Consequently, there’s no one to hold responsible for maintaining them, Town Manager Paul White said.
In addition, he said, neither house is habitable. Both lack a functioning well and septic system and neither has electricity.
“There’s a lot of trash that needs to be cleaned up there,” White said. “One problem is that a lot of trash could be conducive to rodents.
“We have no right to be on the property and that’s the problem,” he said.
Linda Brundage, owner of the two house properties, died last year and left her land and buildings to her heirs but no one has stepped forward in probate court to claim them, White said.
Ella Baker owned the land lot and identified no heir. When she died was not immediately available.
“This is an unusual case,” White said. “It’s not normal. This is the first time I’ve ever had a case like this.”
All three properties are on the verge of foreclosure, White said.
A bank has started the foreclosure process for the property at 5 Baker Lane and the town is pursuing intervenor status in probate court, he said.
Although Brundage’s daughter squats at 5 Baker Lane from time to time, White noted that she has no legal claim to the property. Attempts to reach Robin Mayo, Brundage’s daughter, for comment were not successful.
The town’s tax liens on 12 Baker and the land lot are slated to mature before the end of the year.
White said that once the town obtains access to the property, it can proceed with the cleanup, which he estimated would cost about $1,000 and might involve demolishing the houses. The town would recoup its costs by placing liens on the parcels, he said.
“So it’s a long process and we do have some concerned residents who have come forward about it,” White said. “We’re going to try to eliminate the problem by cleaning it up.”