Machias to check efforts to fight grant repayment

MACHIAS – Machias selectmen will meet in special session Tuesday for a progress report on efforts to convince the state to reverse its decision that the town repay a $400,000 state grant for the Machias telebusiness center.

Board Chairman Sandra Altmannsberger said selectmen will hear from Chet Childs, the person they chose to negotiate with the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Childs is the building manager for the telebusiness center, which was constructed in 1999.

Selectmen learned last week that DECD mailed a June 8 letter to former Town Manager Scott Harriman and the board, informing Machias that the state was exercising its contract option to require repayment of the $400,000 grant because the town hadn’t met the grant requirements.

The $400,000 economic development infrastructure grant required the creation of 45 jobs with at least 51 percent of the jobs going to people of low to moderate income.

Orman Whitcomb, the program manager for DECD’s Community Development Block Grant program, said in the June 8 letter that the building was completely occupied and not one of the jobs is documented as going to a low- or moderate-income person.

Selectmen said they never saw the June 8 letter. Altmannsberger said she found out about the notice on Sept. 28 during a discussion with David Cole of Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor.

Harriman resigned as town manager effective Aug. 30 to take a job with Machias Savings Bank. He said last week that he’d never seen the June 8 letter.

Childs told selectmen last week that his business had created six new jobs and that another tenant of the building – Washington County Psychotherapy Associates – created between 20 and 30 jobs and retained another six positions.

Childs maintains he documented the jobs he created and gave that documentation to Harriman. Childs sold his business – North Coast Internet Services – to Log on America, shortly after moving into the building.

Selectmen will meet at 3 p.m. at the town office.

The agenda also includes a discussion with Machias Superintendent Bruce Sawyer about the town’s share of the funding for the air quality improvement project at the Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School.