WATERVILLE — City councilors took a first vote Wednesday to approve an ordinance that would require owners of vacant buildings to register them with the city and provide the city with a way to reach a contact person for the buildings. They were unanimous in their approval.

Councilors are required to take two votes to approve an ordinance but could only take one vote Wednesday.

City officials now find it hard to get in contact with the owner of a vacant building when problems arise, councilors said. The new ordinance would require owners of vacant buildings to pay a registration fee to the city and provide the name and contact data of a person responsible for the building.

“We have to take our neighborhoods back from a public safety standpoint and from a criminal activity standpoint,” Ward 4 Councilor Sydney Mayhew said.

The original draft of the ordinance would have required that a vacant building’s owner pay the city a $250 registration fee, but the draft the council voted on Wednesday night included a $500 registration fee that could be waived if a building’s owner was marketing the building actively for sale or redevelopment.

If the ordinance is approved, anyone violating it would be subject to a civil penalty for failing to register a vacant building with the city.

The idea behind the ordinance was well received by the council, but Garth Collins, a Waterville code enforcement officer, cautioned that implementing the ordinance might be more difficult than the council realizes.

“(The ordinance) is a good start to where we want to go, but we have to use discretion with it,” Collins said.

He expressed concern that while the ordinance would give the city some teeth in addressing the problems that vacant buildings cause, enforcing it will be difficult. Collins suggested that at least one more code enforcement officer should be hired if the ordinance were to pass, as well as another secretary to handle the paperwork that will come with the registration process.

Councilors also approved the return of a $25,000 check to the Friends of Quarry Road. The $25,000 was the final payment on a $100,000 loan that the council had given the group to build a maintenance building at the Quarry Road Recreation Area.

In light of the work the Friends have done to raise $2 million for equipment, buildings and other improvements at the recreation area over the last seven years, councilors thought it was appropriate to return the final $25,000 payment to the group and accept $75,000 as the full repayment of the city’s financial commitment.

The Friends of Quarry Road have committed to spending the $25,000 on additional improvements to the recreational area.

In other business, councilors took a final vote to approve the sale of 13 Ann St., property the city acquired for failure to pay taxes, for a price of $10,000 to Maciej W. Swiercz. After the payment of outstanding taxes, interest and fees, demolition costs, as well as water and sewer balances, any remainder of the $10,000 will be placed in the City’s South End Capital Improvement account.

City councilors also accepted a $146,680 bid proposal for the construction of a new rescue vehicle for the Waterville Fire Department. Custom Truck & Body Works, Inc. of Woodbury, Georgia, will be completing the construction of the new rescue vehicle.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Mayor Nicholas Isgro declared Nov. 28, 2015, as Small Business Saturday. Isgro urged members of the community to recognize Small Business Saturday by shopping at locally owned businesses, subsequently supplying jobs and generating tax revenue for the Waterville area.

Typically councilors meet the first and third Tuesday of every month, but this week they met Wednesday because elections were held Tuesday.

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate

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