Land cleared for Spruce Street housing project
GREENVILLE — The land for a forthcoming Northern Forest Center housing project on Spruce Street has been cleared.
Most of the trees on the future housing parcels have been cut, Town Manager Mike Roy said during an Aug. 6 select board meeting. He encouraged board members to drive by the site and even stop by and see how everything now looks.
The request for water and sewer work and the new road into the property went out the week prior, Roy said. A pre-bid meeting for contractors was scheduled for the following day. Bids are due by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 26 when the sealed submissions will be opened.
When asked, Roy said he has not heard of any work on the housing sites being done aside from land clearing.
The Northern Forest Center purchased five acres of land downtown off Spruce Street and plans to build housing to serve the local workforce. The housing project plan seeks to develop 29 units that incorporate a mix of multi-family buildings, duplexes and single-family homes to be built over three years. The Northern Forest Center Center hopes to use the project to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of utilizing mass timber construction. The project has an estimated $11.5 million cost.
The Spruce Street development will be the Northern Forest Center’s sixth housing project and the first to be built from the ground up. The project will focus on providing housing for the middle-income, year-round workforce and building the sustainability of the Moosehead Lake region’s year-round economy. Greenville’s high rate of second homes and absentee homeowners has left few options for locals or people trying to move to the community, raising concerns about maintaining school enrollment, civic participation and vital services.
The Northern Forest Center uses a mix of funding sources to achieve its goal of creating high quality housing that can be rented or sold at rates that median-income earners can afford. Sources include the Northern Forest Fund – which integrates private impact investments, donations and grants from public sources – and grants and donations specifically for this project.
The Northern Forest Center is an innovation and investment partner serving the Northern Forest of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. In 2017 programming expanded to include redeveloping underused properties to enable young professionals and families to find homes and contribute to rural communities.
The Northern Forest Center previously completed two major property initiatives: In Lancaster, New Hampshire the $3.8-million redevelopment of the Parker J. Noyes building, which created six middle-market apartments and commercial space for a local nonprofit and food marketplace; and the Millinocket Housing Initiative, which invested more than $1 million to renovate six homes, creating 11 quality rental units from properties that had been severely neglected.
Other current projects include redevelopment of the historic Gehring House in Bethel; a 15,000-square-foot property in downtown St. Johnsbury, Vermont; and in a multi-unit apartment building in Tupper Lake, New York.
In other business, the select board heard from Fire Chief Sawyer Murray who discussed the possibility of firefighters conducting a boot drive. With this fundraiser, the department sets up a traffic stop and drivers can choose to make a donation with the cash and/or coins being dropped right into a boot held by a firefighter.
The Greenville department had done a boot drive years prior when July 4 fireworks were held at the airport, Murray said.
“So many other fire departments around the county, around the state do them including Dexter, Sangerville, Monson, Dover, Bangor,” the chief said. One department raised over $8,000 in a day, he added.
The boot drive would be set up on a straightaway with safe distancing and traffic cones and signs altering drivers in advance. “There is no obligation, you can drive right through it if you want,” Murray said.
No date has been set yet, but a boot drive could be held the Friday of the International Seaplane Fly-in in early September when the thousands of visitors arrive in town.
The boot drive could very well be for a specific piece of equipment or a cause, Murray said.
“I think it’s a great idea. I went through a couple this summer,” Selectperson Richard Peat said. “It’s not very labor intensive, so you don’t have to have 25 guys.”
With two of the five select board members not present, Chair Geno Murray said he did not want to have a vote to approve that evening but this would likely be on the Aug. 20 meeting agenda.
“As everybody who comes through town knows, it’s been a busy summer,” Police Chief Jim Carr said. “Good weather and a lot of people in town.”
Since the start of June the department has had nearly 300 calls, Carr said. Many of those have involved mental health and instead of taking just five to 10 minutes have required hours of the responding officer’s time.
In the event of an arrest, the suspect needs to be taken 45 minutes south to the Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft.
Various types of calls have included personal injury accidents, juvenile issues, property checks, ATV accidents, thefts, several OUIs, scams and frauds, noise complaints and lost property, Carr said.
A $5,000 grant for additional ATV enforcement has been used for various shifts, including leading up to and after the 9 p.m. ATV operation deadline. Some ATV riders travel hundreds of miles and they may misjudge their schedule and end up arriving back in Greenville after the 9 o’clock cutoff. Many are given a warning and told about the timeframe, the chief said.
Greenville Police have checked nearly 500 ATVs this season. Stops have asked for vehicle registration and making sure younger riders have helmets.
“I’m still going to be out there being visible and I think that makes a difference,” Carr said.
Most summer days the front desk has had someone there to speak with those coming in and this has worked well, he said with those stopping by getting their requests taken care of.