Funding sought for adult residential care facility

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    MILO — Currently operating in the town of Milo is New Beginnings, a residential care facility with no dementia care capability. The business, owned and operated by Tammy Trask, will be applying for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for the construction of the Park Place Residential & Adult Family Care Nursing Facility in order to better serve the needs of the community.

Photo courtesy of Piscataquis County Economic Development Council

    A NEW BEGINNING AT PARK PLACE — A CDBG grant application is being submitted for up to $900,000 for the construction of the Park Place Residential & Adult Family Care Nursing Facility on West Main Street in Milo. Pictured is a design of a room at the facility, which would provide assisted living, memory care and adult daycare.

    During a public hearing March 18 at the town hall Piscataquis County Economic Development Council Community Development Director Dr. Ken Woodbury Jr. said the application for the Park Place Residential & Adult Family Care Nursing Facility is seeking a grant of up to $900,000 — the total project cost could end up being several hundred thousand dollars less. He said the grant requires a one-to-one match with funding awarded needing to be equaled by the business.
    “Right now we are looking at the top of hill before you come into Milo,” Dr. Woodbury said about the proposed West Main Street location. “There are three facilities being proposed depending on how much it’s going to cost,” he said.
    The first phase of the Park Place Residential & Adult Family Care Nursing Facility is for residential adult family care nursing, with 14 beds between a wing for assisted living and another for memory care. “Attached to that would be a childcare facility,” Dr. Woodbury said, which employees could use for their children. He said the third facility would be for adult daycare, with a building already on site being converted for this purpose.
    “We are envisioning 13 full-time employees being created,” Dr. Woodbury said. “One of the benefits of this is of the 13, the vast majority would be what we call LMI (low to moderate income). It would provide an excellent employment opportunity for Milo and most importantly jobs that are transferable anywhere in the U.S.”
    Dr, Woodbury said after the hearing, the application is submitted to the state’s CDBG program. “A public town meeting is required to vote on it,” as Milo residents would make a decision on the acceptance of any awarded grant funds.
    “This is a facility that’s badly needed in Milo, there are a great many people who have expressed interest in seeing it in Milo,” he said. Dr. Woodbury said some residents have to travel at least to the Bangor-Brewer area to visit loved ones needing residential care.
    “The other great need we have because of the aging population is daycare,” he said, mentioning how this can enable some residents to remain in their own homes longer. “This does fill a very important need, regardless of who runs it.”
    During the hearing some of those in attendance expressed concerns related to patient care and personnel  issues. Dr. Woodbury said that a decision on grant funding acceptance would go to town meeting for the voters to make a determination either yes or no.