01-11-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, December 7, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 13 of 15 MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT – Continued Attorney Conklin said any time one is entering an abode, home, or property, they would need judicial approval to do that. That could be through a search warrant, or sometimes are administratively issued by a judge, other times it is part of the litigation. It is always dependent upon whether or not the judge finds there is sufficient evidence showing there are substantial issues within the property. This would be a determination as the proceedings move along. The member of the public said 5-6 years ago a young couple rented that property and they were sick all the time and could not figure it out. That couple pinpointed it to all of the black mold in there. It has been an ongoing problem. Johnson said the reason he asked about the online complaint system is because that keeps a record. Rather than a member of the public keeping a notebook, if they put a complaint in the system, the City keeps track of those complaints. If this litigation continues or needs more current data, they can go into the system to access that rather than relying on the public. It is a way to keep track of all of the complaints. Crosby asked if the house has been under foreclosure. The member of the public answered yes. The property owner told her husband that the bank does not want the property, he will let it go that way, as he owes them twice what he paid for it due to the equity that he took. Crosby said they would figure the bank would want to get their money back and foreclose. Johnson said they are doing a lot of figuring. Mayor Walsh noted they have not seen this house, either. Crosby said basically it looks like someone is buying a lot; it is not a house. H stated it is not big enough to build another home on. The member of the public answered because the house was built in the 1930’s is maybe 6 feet from the lot line. Johnson said it is an unfortunate situation for the members of the public present. He suggested they keep logging the complaints and perhaps it will help them get to the end of this. Mayor Walsh said they have authorized it to go to the City Attorney so they will probably be in touch. The members of the public thanked the Council. Mayor Walsh said the next meeting is January 11, 2021.