General Store and More applying for expansion funding

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    BROWNVILLE — The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) is working on an application to the state’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for a $375,000 grant for the General Store and More on the Main Road in Brownville Jct. The grant, combined with a matching loan taken out by the business owners, would enable the General Store and More to expand with a full service grocery store and renovated and new cabins across the street.

Photo courtesy of PCEDC

    MORE AT THE GENERAL STORE AND MORE — The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council is working on a CDBG grant application for the General Store and More in Brownville Jct to add a full service grocery store, move the gas pumps, renovate two cabins across the street and add four more cabins. The project would be funded by a grant of up to $375,000 and a matching loan for the owners for a total cost of up to $750,000.

    “We are here for a public hearing on the application for the General Store and More to the Maine CDBG program,” PCEDC Community Development Director Dr. Ken Woodbury Jr. said during a March 5 session. “Up to $375,000, that’s how much the grant would be.” He said the grant requires a match by owners Steve and Emilie Johnson, who would take out a $375,000 loan for a total project cost of up to $750,000.
    The project would enable the General Store and More to expand “so there would be a full grocery store” with meat and produce sections, Dr. Woodbury said.
    “The plan is the pumps out front, those are going to go away for parking,” Steve Johnson said. He said new 24-hour gasoline pumps would be installed behind the building, closer to the storage tanks.
    “On the other side of the street there are two cabins,” Dr. Woodbury said, which he said would be renovated and four additional cabins would be constructed. He said the cabins will “help to build the tourism here so more people see Brownville as a destination rather than a drive-through.”
    Johnson said he has heard numerous comments over the years about the need for more places to accommodate visitors in Brownville. “There is a big need for short-term stays,” he said. Johnson said the cabins at the General Store and More would not come equipped with kitchens, “so they will have to go out and support the community.”
    Per the grant stipulations, the project would require the creation of 12.5 jobs. These positions would include a grocery store manager, employees in the meat and produce departments and floor clerks, with half being full-time positions as well as some of the jobs being filled by low to moderate income employees.
    The grant application is going up against others from across Maine in a competitive process. If the General Store and More’s application is successful then a decision to formally accept funding would be made via a special town meeting vote later in the year.
    “It certainly sounds like a needed project in Brownville, Brownville Jct,” Select Chair Walter Cook said.
    Town Manager Matthew Pineo said some residents in Brownville Jct. are without transportation, so having a nearby grocery store “might be handy for them.”
    During the ensuing selectmen’s meeting, the board scheduled a special town meeting for Monday, May 12, at 6 p.m. at the BJHS Alumni Hall, on a PACE energy efficiency program.
    “This PACE energy program, basically it will help any resident who wants to make their home more energy efficient,” Pineo said with low cost financing available for such improvements. In order for Maine citizens to apply, their community must have a PACE ordinance enacted.
    On April 9 the selectmen are scheduled to meet with the board in Milo at 6 p.m. at the Milo Town Hall. Cook said one topic that may be discussed is the share each community contributes toward the SAD 41 school budget.
    “To me the real key is to inform the public,” Cook said, with the spending plan subject to a district budget meeting vote and then a referendum across the four SAD 41 towns. “We as selectmen have no control over the school budget.”