Members appointed to Mayo Mill Dam Review Committee

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Following last month’s vote to reject a referendum article concerning removal of the downtown Mayo Mill Dam on the Piscataquis River — indicating citizens were in favor of using tax money to fund studies, permitting, and repair costs for the structure — a 9-member Mayo Mill Dam Review Committee has been formed to help determine the future of the site.

The Dover-Foxcroft Select Board’s administrative committee discussed the size and composition of the committee. During a July 22 select board meeting nine members were appointed with Jake Arno, Bill Erspamer, David Flaherty, Sean Hadley, Chris Maas, and Sandy Perkins representing the public and Emery Cox, Vice Chair Steve Grammont, and Tracy Redmond representing the select board.

“Thank you for stepping forward and volunteering,” Select Board Chair Tom Lizotte said. He said as the Mayo Mill Dam Review Committee meets — the first session is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1 — it will need to put forward a disciplined, fast paced agenda based on a timeline of priorities.

“We don’t have two years to sit around and ponder and look under rocks for funding,” Lizotte said.

By June 30, 2025 the town needs to make not only a decision on pursuing hydropower and a plan to carry this out, but also a plan for repairing the dam, making the structure safe, compliant with fish regulations, and more.

While the financial implications are difficult to fully pin down at the present time because of variables such as the cost of repairs and length of repayment, the town could be faced with an $8-$10 million project.

During last month’s select board meeting the board decided to definitively determine the hydropower possibilities at the dam via a consultant to be selected through a request for proposals.

Lizotte said the Mayo Mill Dam, acquired by Dover-Foxcroft in 2007, needs to be in compliance with all Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirements. While Dover-Foxcroft will not be spending the money in the immediate future, Lizotte said information needs to be gathered to determine costs and how needed repairs would be funded such as through a bond.

FERC has jurisdiction over the dam because there are hydropower capabilities, but it has been non-operational for over a decade. It is a long process to have FERC relinquish oversight and this depends on whether there are hydropower capabilities or not and a plan is due to FERC by June 30 of next year.

Lizotte said the chances of restoring hydropower at the dam are remote due to a lack of economically viable options; the town has consulted with multiple engineers, turbine suppliers, and a private developer for years to try to identify a hydropower retrofit.

When the Arnold Development Group of Kansas City, Missouri converted the former mill building into apartments and office space the consultants looked at restoring hydropower and had an application submitted to FERC about a half decade ago but did not pursue it further.

In other business, Town Manager Jack Clukey was asked about the communications director/grant writer position. 

“We have hired a person who will fill the position, Alsina Brenenstuhl and she will start Aug. 12,” he said.

“She’s a great resource, very knowledgeable about grants for anything but infrastructure especially,” the town manager said. 

Clukey said Brenenstuhl will be at many select board meetings to hear from attendees firsthand about their concerns.

The position is part of the current fiscal year’s approximately $8.3 million budget, as are expenses pertaining to the creation of a municipal EMS department to supplement that of Northern Light Mayo Emergency Medical Services and help handle an increased emergency call volume and staffing challenges currently being experienced by the existing agency.

The town EMS department would be housed at the fire station and would be a separate organization. The plan is to hire a full-time director who is also a paramedic and a part-time EMT.

The EMS department would have startup costs such as the purchase of an ambulance — the exact funding package would be determined in a bid process — and all the needed equipment. ARPA funds could be used for this purpose. In the budget the $324,185 EMS equipment costs would be covered with $274,185 in ARPA monies and $50,000 from fund balance.

The select board’s protection committee met July 16 to discuss the next steps in establishing municipal EMS services. These were identified as moving forward with the hiring process for a director, identifying opportunities to purchase equipment, working with Northern Light Health in terms of developing necessary agreements, and maintaining ongoing communications regarding EMS services.

Fire Chief Brian Gaudet said he would be meeting with hospital officials next month to discuss all of this. He said hiring a director is “the biggest piece of the puzzle now to get that process moving forward.”

“Maybe by September I will have another update on how things are going, hopefully we’re moving forward,” he said.

“Yesterday the new tanker was used in service,” the fire chief said, saying the truck needs a few pieces of forthcoming equipment.

In early 2023 the select board approved replacing the fire department’s then near 30-year-old tank truck that had been out of service and was in need of costly repairs with a 2024 model. The board approved a purchase agreement with Midwest Fire of Luverne, Minnesota.

A $10,000 deposit was due with the contract signing, and an estimated $142,300 was paid upon completion of the chassis this past spring. The remaining balance was due upon completion of the truck for a total project cost of $522,735.

The Maine Forest Service lent its tank truck to Dover-Foxcroft for the first few months of 2023 before the start of wildfire season in April — the 3,000-gallon vehicle would otherwise have been in storage for the winter.

After that time period the town of Monson lent a tanker to Dover-Foxcroft, and Gaudet said a thank you note should be sent to the community 20 miles to the north. “I know we have mutual aid with them but they didn’t have to loan us the truck for that long,” he said.

Clukey said cleanup work has begun at 11 Grange Street with a crew from the Charleston Correctional Facility restitution program helping the town remove waste from the site. 

“That is moving forward, we’ve got most of the cleanup done and then it will be demoed,” the town manager said. “We’ll be in a position to have it done.”

He said the town will continue to prepare the property over the coming weeks for removal of the structure.

Last July the select board approved a dangerous building order for a strucutre at 11 Grange Street after determining it is in disrepair and cannot be rehabilitated due to a variety of issues.

Clukey said some property work would be done before demolition, utilizing the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council brownfields program to determine any and how much hazardous substances may be inside. He said this information, such as on asbestos, would be available for contractors to have when they bid on demolition.

The bank-owned property is for sale, and a portion of transaction proceeds would cover structure removal.