Grant application approved for Mocs Power Sports and Rentals

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    BROWNVILLE — An application to the state’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is being submitted by the town of Brownville on behalf of Mocs Power Sports and Rentals, located on Front Street in the Junction, after the application seeking $45,000 for the business was approved during a special town meeting on Sept. 11 at the town office.

    During a public hearing before the vote, Piscataquis County Economic Development Council Community Development Director Dr. Ken Woodbury Jr. explained the $45,000 needs to be used by Mocs Power Sports owner Mike Washburn “for his start-up costs, anything to do with the his business. The money can’t go for the actual purchase of snowmobiles or ATVs.”
    Dr. Woodbury said the town of Brownville is required to be the entity applying for the CDBG funding, and Washburn must match the $45,000 grant which he is planning to do with a loan through Penquis.  “There’s no way I want the town liable,” he said, as the community will not have any financial responsibility.
    “He is not going to have a requirement of creating jobs, he’s a microenterprise grant,” Dr. Woodbury said, as similar types of grants are awarded with the stipulation that the recipient businesses hire employees.
    “The application is due at the end of September, we would hear sometime in October,” Dr. Woodbury said. “It all depends on available funding.”
    “I guess the board’s only concern is liability, and apparently there isn’t any,” Select Chair Walter Cook said at the conclusion of the public hearing.
    In other business, the selectmen formally accepted a $30,000 sewer grant from USDA Rural Development for a wastewater treatment study project. “This is to accept the sewer grant for $30,000 to rebuild the sewer plant over the next three to 10 years,” Town Manager Matthew Pineo said, mentioning the facility has been in operation beyond its two decade lifespan.
    “It’s an opportunity to do a study to see where we are,” Cook said. “It’s a grant so our water/sewer customers don’t have to pay for this.”
    The selectmen also authorized Pineo to review the Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Plan and bring back recommendations for the two documents. The plans could be updated with the changes voted on during the annual town meeting in March.
    The Comprehensive Plan was last updated about a decade ago, and likely needs to be revised for the present time. Pineo said the Strategic Plan would specify “what the board feels we need to accomplish in the next three to five years to take care of the town and taxpayers here.”
    Brownville received a $1,246 dividend check from the Maine Municipal Association as a result of its good loss experience and loss prevention programs. Pineo said the money will go into the General Fund, and he thanked the town crews for their efforts to ensure safe working conditions.
    “We would like to start this meeting with a moment of silence for 12 years ago, Sept. 11, 2001,” Cook said at the beginning of the evening.