After the
Town Council meeting of October 2, 2018, Executive Session, the Town Council
approved the purchase of the Worumbo Mill property. The motion was made by Councilor Kolbe and
seconded by Councilor LaRochelle moved that the Town enter into an agreement
for purchase of real estate at 1 Canal Street, Tax Map U05, Lot 14 with payment for the real estate not to
exceed $30,000.00 contingent upon the town entering into an agreement
to obtain access to the real estate for purposes of conducting environmental
assessment; and contingent on the results of said environmental assessment, and
that the Town Manager be authorized to negotiate the final terms of the
agreements and to execute the agreements and all related documents on behalf of
the Town.
On the
agenda of the Conservation Commission meeting of October 18, 2018, this
purchase was to be discussed. However, I
contacted a member of the commission and it was never discussed. I
contacted the Town Manager, Mrs. Diane Barnes, on November 1, 2018 and learned
quite a bit of information I want to share with residents of Lisbon.
According to
Mrs. Barnes, the town has received a Brownfield grant of $200,000.00 for the purpose of conducting Phase I and II
environmental assessments. These funds will
be used to conduct assessment on the property at 1 Canal Street. This assessment is broken down into two
Phases. Phase I is a review of all the
documentation (which includes the Maine Environmental Protection Agency’s report
from years ago) and Phase II is an analysis of the soil. The town has entered into an agreement with a
company called TRC to perform Phase 1 and 2 on October 31, 2018. Phase
1 will begin next month and Phase 2 will begin in the spring.
I am
concerned because the last time Councilor Fern LaRochelle was on the Town
Council; he tried to have the town purchase this same property from the
Millers. This original deal was behind closed doors, in Executive Session,
but the people voted NOT to purchase the property. I believe that this was due to the fact of the Maine
Environmental Protection Agency report on toxic material under the surface and
the fact it is in a flood zone.
Now,
Councilor LaRochelle is back on the Town Council and the purchase of this
property comes up again. I am concerned because I do not feel the
people are being provided ALL the facts here. According to Mrs. Barnes, the Town wants to purchase this
property to put a parking lot on it to service the downtown area. As you know
from previous letters, I personally do not trust Fern LaRochelle. This is just me and my opinion. It
is strange that the ONLY time this property comes up is when he is on the Town
Council.
As I learn more about this property and
its purchase, I will pass it along to the people.
Larry Fillmore
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/sp_en_8.gif)
