Special town meeting on Gourmet Girl loan set for Sept. 17

Staff Report

    GREENVILLE — There will be a public hearing and special town meeting a half-hour before the Sept. 17 Greenville Board of Selectmen’s meeting, but neither session is expected to generate much discussion.

    The board has already endorsed accepting a Community Development Block Grant application for the Micro-Enterprise Assistance Grant program for $50,000 to allow Northwoods Gourmet Girl to purchase new equipment and expand their business.
    However, town officials later learned that approval by a legislative body isn’t sufficient – CDBG funds have to be accepted by residents. So a public hearing on the grant is set for 6 p.m., followed by a special town meeting and regular Board of Selectmen’s meeting at 6:30 p.m.
    Northwoods Gourmet Girl owner Abby Freethy assumed a $330,000 loan from a private lender to purchase and remodel the space at 203 Pritham Ave. in Greenville after moving her business from Greenville Junction. The grant will be used to purchase a delivery vehicle, additional kitchen equipment and office hardware and software.
    At a July 23 public hearing on the application, all testimony was favorable.
    The regular selectmen’s meeting agenda includes a request by Natural Resource Education Center (NREC) president Tim Obrey for improvements and additions to the town-owned lot where the NREC building sits.
    The Board of Selectmen voted at their last meeting to send questions on expanding ATV access in the community to residents this November in the form of a straw vote.  At Wednesday night’s meeting, the board will finalize the language of the proposed questions.
    At the Aug. 27 meeting, the board learned there were no takers for a 1984 Blanchet snowmobile which was put up for sale after the town purchased a new multi-use machine. So the town ran an ad on Maine Marketplace for sale of the snowblower for$1,000.
    Since then, the Town of Dover-Foxcroft has expressed interest in this machine. If an offer has been made by the time of this meeting, the board may take action.