Northern Forest Center housing project to proceed

GREENVILLE — The Northern Forest Center purchased five acres of land in downtown Greenville off Spruce Street and plans to build housing to serve the local workforce. The housing project plan seeks to develop 29 units of new housing 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. 

During a Nov. 6 meeting of the Greenville Select Board, Town Manager Mike Roy said he and Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol met with Northern Forest Center representatives the week prior. “They told us this project is a go,” Roy said. “We might see trees come down this winter actually.” 

He said Haley Ward will be conducting an environmental assessment of the site. Northern Forest Center officials will attend a future select board meeting to discuss the project, which has an estimated $11.5 million cost.

Roy said a public hearing will be set up concerning the site road becoming a municipal travelway. “They want to be as transparent as possible with this whole project,” the town manager said.

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, Roy said at the previous select meeting the board discussed not opening the town skating rink this winter with costly repairs needed to address cracks to the surface underneath the ice and the warming shack needing to be replaced at the facility on Pritham Avenue near the Greenville Consolidated School.

He said the question for the board is are they okay with dismantling the 1970s-era structure. “It’s empty, I’m just waiting for the word to get a dumpster over there,” Roy said.

The power is disconnected and the water is off, he said. “I want to get things rolling while we can.”

“It should come down if it’s not safe,” Selectperson Burt Whitman said, as the full board agreed to this by consensus. Plans for the site beyond 2024-25 will be discussed in the future

Roy reported that he has received word from FEMA agency work has been completed pertaining to repairing damage on the Shoals, Higgins, and East roads from last December 18’s storm.

“At some point we should be receiving $78,000 towards those three projects,” the town manager said. “I’m not sure when, it could be a year, it could be tomorrow I don’t know.

“That $78,000 is really going to help offset what it cost to get those roads repaired right.”

Roy said he has also heard preliminary information from FEMA concerning other reimbursements.

He was told “‘You will be very pleased with what’s coming.’ However we are not going to the bank yet until we get the final work and make sure we are getting substantial money.”

The town manager said Fire Chief Sawyer Murray applied for and received a Maine Municipal Association Risk Reduction Enhancement Grant to purchase and install security cameras at the public works building.

“So kudos to Chief Murray for his work in helping the town reduce risks and not only in safety but in property as well,” Roy said.

The meeting was held the day after Election Day, Greenville results are available at https://www.bangordailynews.com/search-maine-election-results-by-town/?elections=readwrite#.

“The staff and volunteers that were here, were here all day with a lot of voters,” Roy said, saying they stayed until about 11:30 p.m.

“A little record-breaking if you will, 81 percent of the registered voters voted,” he said with 1,205 of 1,487 voters taking part. Greenville had 457 absentee ballots for nearly a third of votes being cast this way.

Town Clerk Tammy Firman said 48 people registered on Nov. 5, “It warmed my heart, it made me feel hopeful.”

She said this included a number of teenagers and a man who moved to Greenville about 40 years ago and previously never had registered to vote.

Firman said she did have concerns about the mailing process but praised the U.S. Postal service for its work. She also thanked everyone else who worked on the town’s voting process.