Town Secures Debt on Controversial Blight Fine

A controversial fine on a blighted property, which was reduced by the town's Board of Selectmen from $110,000 to $16,500 in a closed-door meeting about nine months ago, was secured by the town last week through a mortgage deed filed on the town's land records.

Town Attorney Richard Saxl said Thursday that Michele Waggner, who owns the 26 Dalewood Ave. house, didn't receive any money from the town. He said the town just secured the debt Waggner owes. "We never wrote her a check. She has a penalty of that amount," he said. "The town is securing her obligation to the town."

Saxl said Waggner, beginning March 1, has to pay the town $200 a month, and the amount increases to $500 a month on April 1, 2014. Waggner's debt would be paid off Oct. 1, 2015, according to Saxl.

The selectmen's decision to reduce Waggner's fine by 85 percent created a stir at the Representative Town Meeting last month, especially because the town hadn't secured the remaining 15 percent when the selectmen voted to do that. "To reduce the fine by that extent and not exact a lump sum payment really makes no sense to me," Peter Ambrose, a Republican from District 2 and the legislative body's deputy moderator, said at the time.

But First Selectman Ken Flatto said some of the blight had been fixed before the $100-a-day fines kicked in, and Saxl said Thursday that the intent of the anti-blight ordinance wasn't to make money for the town but to clean up blighted properties.

If Waggner doesn't make payments within 15 days of a due date, the town can levy a 12-percent interest rate, and if she doesn't make payment within 30 days, the town could recover the principal and interest by foreclosing on the property, Saxl said.

The mortgage deed also created somewhat of a stir because the language appeared to indicate that the town had given Waggner $16,900 and the document wasn't signed by a town official. But Saxl said the town didn't give Waggner any money and that a town official wasn't required to sign the document. He said the Board of Selectmen approved the mortgage deed in a closed-door meeting.

Saxl said the Board of Selectmen was justified in meeting behind closed doors because the town had a claim pending against Waggner.

Several RTM members felt that the process by which the selectmen can reduce blight fines was too arbitrary and that a more formal process should be established. James Millington, the RTM's majority leader, said the process by which the selectmen choose to reduce or not reduce blight fines needs to be more open.

Waggner's property has been on the blight list for five years. It was originally on a condemnation list but moved to blight after Waggner tore down a garage with a collapsed roof, according to Town Building Official James Gilleran. As of Thursday, Waggner's property had seven liens on it.