Brownfields and marketing are PCEDC priorities

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council had a busy year with many programs, Executive Director Angie Arno told attendees of the organization’s annual meeting on the evening of Dec. 12 at the Central Hall Commons. She mentioned brownfields and a continued approach of marketing for tourism and business attraction as large points of emphasis.

Arno said assessments of brownfields — properties that contain a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant that can hinder the potential to reuse or redevelop the site — are a long-standing PCEDC program. Assessments will document environmental risks so potential owners know what needs to be cleaned up.

The council worked with 18 businesses and eight municipalities via grant funding including a $500,000 brownfield assessment grant from the Department of Environmental Protection awarded and another $1 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

“So that’s really successful for the county, it’s a need here,” Arno said.

“We’re fully funded and we are always looking for great projects,” she said, thanking the grant funders.

Arno said one brownfields project is at the Browns Mill site in Dover-Foxcroft. The former woolen mill and tannery on Vaughn Street along the Piscataquis River has five floors and around 65,000 square feet of usable space.

A phase II brownfields assessment provides for more evaluations of the property to better position it for sale. If a buyer comes in they can potentially utilize $1.7 million through the council’s revolving loan fund with the EPA for cleanup.

A revolving loan fund is available through the PCEDC for brownfields. Nonprofits are eligible for a 50 percent match while businesses can apply for low interest loans. This was used for the redevelopment of the Mayo Mill in downtown Dover-Foxcroft a decade ago, which at the time had a 2 percent interest rate.

This year the council was awarded a contract to write and administer a grant for the Maine Highlands. 

“It is not the credit union, it is Penobscot and Piscataquis County,” Arno said in distinguishing it from the Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union. “We are sectioned out in a 2-county partnership to run a marketing program under the Maine Office of Tourism.” 

“We continue to look to our communities to grow the marketing,” she said. This includes a Maine Highlands website, guide book, and other initiatives “that bring more people to Piscataquis County to spend more money, more time here, potentially relocating here.”

Arno said the PCEDC is busy with “Bringing more dollars, bringing more traffic, and making it a better place for you folks to live, work, and play.”