Liens to be Placed on Astoria Flavel Properties

Flavel House Courtesy Theo Elliot

Monday night the Astoria City Council again took up the matter of the long vacant Flavel properties, both downtown and the well-known vacant residence ot 627 15th Street.  The council adopted 3 resolutions that will allow the city to place liens on each of the properties.  Brett Estes, Astoria’s Community Development Director, said the liens would allow for future foreclosures on the downtown properties.

Council member Arlene LaMear expressed frustration at the ineffectiveness of the strategies so far to effect improvements on the properties, and questioned the proposed new round of liens

LaMear1.wav   (:11)  It seems to me the a lot of liens have been placed on these properties ....what good has that done, and what do these new liens mean?”

City Attorney Blair Henningsgard explained the liens would give the City an additional mechanism for acquiring the vacant properties. 

Henningsgard1.wav   (:23)  “With the commercial properties there was a tax foreclosure.  The property was purchased at the tax foreclosure sale, then there’s a redemption period, The Flavels waited until the end of the redemption period and purchased the property back under Oregon law  They could do the same thing if we foreclosed our liens, but then at least we’d recover our money.”

Placing the new liens on the properties was made possible by the derelict buildings ordinance the city adopted in 2011.  Monday night’s resolutions to place the liens were adopted by the council by unanimous vote. (:53)