$400,000 grant to help Brewer clean mill site
Saturday, April 01, 2006 

When potential developers hear that there is a half-buried hazardous waste dump abandoned in a back lot of the defunct Eastern Fine Paper Co. mill, it's not a selling point.

That's why news that the state has given Brewer a one-time $400,000 redevelopment gift to help with issues at the century-old industrial site - now owned by the city - is such good news, D'arcy Main-Boyington said Friday.

"Developers are leery of the environmental issues," Brewer's economic development director said.

"The environmental issues have developers wary and have been a hard nut for us to crack," she added later. "It's been the city's goal to try and come up with as much public funds for mitigation, so the developers can focus on the redevelopment."

State legislators on Wednesday approved the 2006-07 supplemental budget in the amount of $219 million, which includes the funds for Brewer. Gov. John Baldacci signed it into law later that afternoon.

"The governor's been committed to any effort to redevelop that mill site, and he's pushed any tools he's been able to give the city the tools to reposition that mill," Alan Stearns, Baldacci's senior policy adviser, said Friday.

After Eastern Fine closed in January 2004, city leaders met with Baldacci to discuss the redevelopment effort, and soon after, the state issued Brewer a $15,000 planning grant. The city acquired the site five months after it closed and is in the process of redeveloping it into a multi-use facility.

Brewer selected a developer last year, but after numerous changes were made to the original plans, officials decided to go out for a second round of concept plan proposals. The city is seeking a developer to make the former South Brewer mill site into a development that includes retail shopping, high-end condos or apartments, and a hotel - while stressing historic preservation.

Office space, public spaces, including recreation or performance areas, and more than one form of transportation to the site, such as a bike-walking trail or marina, also are stressed in the development proposals, but none are requirements. The deadline for concept plans is April 21.

A majority of the new state money will be used for environmental cleanup of the 41-acre site, including the discarded hazardous waste dump, with a small portion possibly used for demolition at the South Main Street site, Main-Boyington said.

The city was awarded $350,000 through a Brownfields Program grant issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year to assess the property and 350,000-square-foot building for environmental issues, and expects a final report within the next couple months.

Preliminary estimates place the cleanup bill in the millions, Main-Boyington said.

"We expect the total ... will be somewhere between 2 and 3 million [dollars]," she said. "That's barring any surprises."

The EPA's Brownfields Program helps states and communities by providing funding to assess, clean and redevelop former abandoned, polluted or contaminated property and, in turn, enhance environmental quality, spur economic development, and revitalize communities.

The city has applied for additional Brownfields funding and expects to hear if it has been selected this spring. The final cleanup figure will be based largely on what developers want to do with the site, the city official added.

Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, Rep. Charles "Dusty" Fisher, D-Brewer, and Main-Boyington traveled to Augusta to testify before the Legislature's Appropriations Committee last month for the Brewer redevelopment funds.

"Brewer is a city on the move," Fisher stated in a press release. "This funding and federal dollars earmarked for the Eastern property development will help move the project along and attract developers."