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Home My WebLink About2025-03-17 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—MARCH 17, 2025 Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM Chaired by Councilor Tremble Councilors Absent:Pelletier and Hawes Meeting adjourned at 7:23 PM Motion made and seconded to nominate Councilor Tremble as Chair Pro Temp Passed PUBLIC COMMENT Emily Ellis fe[t money should not be spent on arclzitectural plans from a company ' in Scarborough. She felt professionals jrom Bangor should be utilized. Connor Winchenbach spoke regarding the vacant property ordinance. Doug Dunbar felt homelessness was being criminalized CONSENT AGENDA ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR *Explanatory Note:All items listed in the Consent Agenda are considered routine and are proposed for adoption by the City Council by one motion without discussion or deliberation.Any member of the public may request that the Council remove an item fi�om the Consent Agenda for discussion. An item will only be removed if a City Councilor requests its removal to New Business. MINUTES OF.• City Council Meeting of February 24, 2025,Business and Economic Development Committee Meetings of February 19,2025, and March 3, 2025, Finance Committee Meetings of February l9, 2025, and March 3, 2025, Government Operations Committee Meeting of March 3, 2025, and Infrastructure Committee Meeting of February I9, 2025 Action: Approved 25-084 ORDER Authorizing the City Manager to Accept a$S00 Grant FDURNIER Award from the Rotary Club of Bangor Breakfast for the Purchase of Supplies for Bangor's Postpartum r�nd Breastfeeding Support Group called Milk& Cookies Action: Passed 25-085 ORDER Authorizing the City Manager to Accept a$2,000 Dor�c�tion FISH from the Walmart Community Grant Prograin for the Purchase of Training Equipment for the Police Department Patrol Canine Unit Actio�z: Passed ' 25-086 ORDER Aut{zorizing t{ze Ciry Manager to Execute a Memoraiadum TREMBLE of Understanding with Wabanaki Public Health and Communily Services for a Syringe Waste Program Actiorz: Passed Page 1 MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—MARCH 17, 2025 CONSENT AGENDA ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-087 ORDER Appointing Constable for the Year 2025 LEONARD Action: Passed 25-088 ORDER Acknowledging Receipt of the Official Results of the FOURNIER February 2S, 2025 Special Election-District 24 Action: Passed 25-089 ORDER Authorizi�cg the City Manager to Apply for Grant Funding MALLAR from Maine Health Access Foundation Grant to Plan a Program to Assist Individuals Without Immediate Access"to Primary Care Action: Passed 25-090 ORDER Authorizing an App[ication to the John T. Gorman TREMBLE Foundation for Grant Funding to Help Address the Immediate Basic Needs of People Experiencing the Adverse Effects of Poverty Action: Passed 25-091 ORDER Amending tlze Ciry of Bangor Renzote Meeting MALLAR Participation Policy Action: Passed 25-092 RESO�i�E Authorizing the City Manager to File Applications with the LEONARD Federal Transit Administration for Federal Transportation Assistance Authorized by 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53; Title 23, United States Code;or Other Federal Statutes Administered by tlze Federal Transit Adrninistration Action: Passed REFERRALS TO COMMITTEE AND FIRST READING ASSIGNED TO ITEM NO. COUNCILOR 25-093 ORDINANCE Amentling Chapter 165,Land Development Code,Districl FISH Map to Re-zone a Property Located at 44 Center Street from Urban Residence 2 District to Downtown Development District Action: First Reading and Referra!to Planning Bo�rd Meetiizg on March 18, 2025 Page 2 MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING BANGOR CITY CO UNCIL—MARCH 17, 2025 UNFINISHED B USINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-079 ORDINANCE Amending Cltapter 165,Land Development Code,District FISH Map to Re-zone a Property Located at 870 Broadway from High-Density Residential District(HDR) to Shopping cF Personal Service District(S&PS) Action: Motion made and seconded for Passage Vote: 7- 0 Councilors Voting Yes:Beck,Deane, Fish, Fournier, Leonard,Mallar, Tremble Councilors Voting No:None Passed NEW BUSINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR None. ATTEST: Lisa . oo � in, MC, City lerk Pccge 3 �-) '7-��5 He��o, My name is Connar Wfnchenbach ancf I am a real estate investor thafi owns prnperty in Bangor. My.business model revolves around buying d�stitute vacant properkies, improving them to a higher end code compfiant product where ! will either renfi or se(f. Thus improving the neighborhood it is in and the city of Bangor as a whole. ' (wauld imagine that everyone here is familiar with the vacanf properry ordinance? I comple�ely uncJerstand why this ordinance was voted ln and is currently being enforced. As everyone can agree vacant properties owned by financial institutions are an issue in the city. Jusfi like any legislation that is being pushed through to create positive change, there c�n be key factors thafi get overlooked. What I am about#o bring up will show that this ordinance has a large negative effect•to the cammunity as a whnle. Clting current verbiage from the orelinance in Section 223-7 "this article do not apply to primary residences of inembers of the armed forces on active duty, vacation or resart faoilities, or residences of persons an extended vacaflons or alternative living arrangements wfth the intenfion to return to the property and ifve(e.g "Snowbirds}" They are required to have a properky manager as a form of contact if anything happens, afong with their own contact information, These are the only individuals where this ordinance does not apply. After talking ta the city solicitor and multiple code enforcerrzent officers, property owners are required tn filf out the app[ication and pay the initial $50d fee within 60 days of vacancy on the property.The fee then continues ta grow every 6 months until fihe building is no longer vacant. Based on the current ordinance this applies to all sfngle family homes that are currently listed for sale assuming the property awners are not living in them. Even if the listed single family vacant home goes under contract the same day, the 60 d�y feeway to get the $500 vac�ncy permit mosf likely ends up applying unless it was a fast cash closing. Most closings take anywhere from 45-90 days, and there can always be delays. . Upon discussion with the city solic�tar and multiple code enforcement officers they are not actively pursuing this example because it is being sold presumably with a rea! estate agent. There is no verbiage in the ordnance that states that listed hames are exempt from this ordinance. This also applfes to individuals that are actively renovating a property which in turn makes the city of Bangor a bettsr place to live for all. If working with a real estate prafessinnal is helping make these properties "exempt"from this ordinance, why can'fi working with � contractor working and maintaining the property make that exempt as well? llpnn the same discussion wlth the city solicitor and multipfe cade enfarcement officers if a vacant buiiding has met the cap of$4,000 every 6 months and a person purchases the property, it is from my understanding based on that conversatian fihat the new owner picks up where the prevlous owner left off in the fiee structure. There is no verbiage in the ordinance#hat states this, along with the fact fihat this will keep vacant properties vacant longer because it eats into the profit margin/renovation budget of dealing with these des#itute properties. If we tease this trend out infia the future, these properties wi(1 sifi vacant longer, potentially causing the city to have fio possess them and demo them. Putting a financial burden on the tax payers money and the city budget. The median income in Bangor is around $40,000/year, if one of these individuals inherits a place or finds a cheap house to fix up and move their family into. This becomes a larger financial burden because of this ordinance. People wi!! have to ehoose to feecl their families rather than finish up the project faster. With the ever increasing fine, it ends up stretching out a project fonger than it needs�o, e�fectively keeping the house vacant for(anger leaving it susceptible ta the criminai activity thls ordinance is trying to avoid. The budget and timeline on construction projects is chalfenging enough as it is, adding in the addRtional fee's to pay the city more money will make the average person and rea! estate professionais shy away from improving the city. A lot of individuals will then take their money eisewhere and improve a different area instead. There is an active push with the council and the state of Maine to add rr�ore housing to the city ta help with fhe housing crisis. Myself, along with many others da not see how the current structuring of this ordinance accomplishes that. Instead of making it harder on the real estate professionals and the average person to improve the community and their lives as a whole, why not incentivise them instead. Rafher than the current fine structure, lets give peapfe a break. I'm using this as an example, but.. Why not waive building permit fees and waive property fiaxes on the vacant buildings they are renavating. Just doing something as simple as that would create a spike in vacanfi property sales. I think mnst everyone on the counsel would be shocked to see haw fast fihese vacant properties are bought up and renovated, The counsel is lie�•e to make decisions far the betterment of the Bangor Community, as the current ordinance stands it is not structured in the best way that it could be. I urge the counsel tn fast track an amendment to help these individuals thafi are trying to Eaetter their lives and the Bangor community. (n my opinion it is not enough to amend the ordinance ta help peopfe that are actively bettering the community by renovating these vacant properties, but to reimburse these peopfe with the money that they afready paid far this vacancy ordinance as long as they faN under the new amendment. It is the only fafr and just way to fix this current issue. Thank you