Greenville selectmen accept MLREDC offer to market incubator building

Staff Report

    GREENVILLE — The Greenville Board of Selectmen accepted an offer at its March 19 meeting to lease the vacant incubator building in the town’s industrial park to the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation (MLREDC) for a five-year period.
    During that time, MLREDC would “actively market and manage the use of the building” and be authorized to sub-lease the premises to an entity that would create jobs in the community. According to terms of the lease, MLREDC will share “50 percent of any net sub-lease proceeds with the town.”

    However, another provision that would allow the corporation to either purchase the building or sell it to a third-party was stricken from the motion approving the agreement, according to minutes of the meeting.
    On a motion by Craig Watt, seconded by Bruce Hanson, the board authorized Town Manager John Simko to draft the master lease agreement “following the terms presented by the group — removing the option for purchase — and to bring the lease back f0r (the selectmen’s) signatures.”
    The motion passed, 5-0, and the MLREDC members present agreed to work aggressively with any current prospects to meet their needs to lease space in the building.
    Town officials have resisted any attempts to sell the building because the town may have to repay some of the construction costs. The 11,200 square-foot structure was built in 2004 — partially with Community Development Block Grant funds — and includes a loading dock, receiving area, three-phase power and warehouse space. It was occupied for several years by Pepin Associates, an aerospace component research and development firm, which downsized into a smaller building.
    In other news from the March 19 selectmen’s meeting, the town has submitted the required letter of intent for application of CDBG funds for a housing assistance program, with help from Mike Bonney of Penquis. The next step is to appoint a housing advisory committee to assist in the design of the program and to help solicit pre-applications for assistance.
    Simko told the board that so far, only one person has volunteered to serve on this committee, so he’ll advertise for more volunteers. When a sufficient number of members have applied, their names will be submitted to the Board of Selectmen to be consideration for appointment to the panel.
    The selectmen, public works foreman and road commissioner also reviewed year-to-date costs for the maintenance of town sidewalks, and also discussed a recent demonstration of a small front-end loader used to clear snow from the sidewalks.
    The board agreed by consensus to let the public works supervisors gather more information about this machine or something similar which could be used to “accomplish multiple tasks across multiple seasons,” and add this to the upcoming budget for consideration.
    The next  selectmen’s meeting will be Wednesday, April 2.