Greenville approves mill project Local businessman, Canadian partners hope to open log stud facility

GREENVILLE – A $12 million log stud mill project was endorsed locally during a public informational meeting Wednesday.

The meeting was required by the Department of Environmental Protection before Greenville businessman David Sinclair and his two Canadian partners could apply for a site location of development permit and an emissions permit.

“We’re elated to have this project go forward,” John Simko, Greenville town manager, said Friday. He said the town is committed to working with Sinclair’s Maine Lumber LLC to ensure the project moves ahead.

Sinclair said this week that Maine Lumber planned to request the two permits within the next two weeks and hoped to break ground by Thanksgiving.

But an official with the DEP suggested that it was unlikely the company could break ground that soon. “That’s optimistic,” Jim Beyer, an environmental specialist in the Bangor office, said Friday, considering the review the project must receive by the department.

Sinclair and his partners, McNutt Lumber Co., a lumber wholesaler from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Neal Pelletier of Quebec, who is experienced in quality control, are moving “full blast ahead,” Sinclair said Friday.

At Wednesday’s meeting, a Maple Street resident expressed concern that the construction might cause a backup of water in his yard. The engineers for the project, Woodard and Curran of Portland, agreed to look into the resident’s concerns.

Applications for the 50 jobs the mill will provide on two shifts are being accepted by Sinclair at the company’s business office in Greenville Junction. Sinclair said he plans to start hiring in November. About 20 percent of the jobs will be technical positions and those who are hired for the remaining positions will be trained on site, he said. “We will offer competitive wages within the industry and year-round jobs with benefits,” Sinclair said. Women also are encouraged to apply for the positions, he noted.

Maine Lumber LLC intends to purchase all of its small logs from within a 100-mile radius to produce dimensional lumber from spruce and fir. The end product will be sold to Chicago and Boston markets. Sinclair said the mill would have the capacity to mill 100 million board feet a year.

Town and economic development officials are working closely with the developers on two grants that will help move the project to fruition faster.

Simko said the proposed sawmill is exactly what town officials need to diversify the tax base. He said the project would not take away from tourism potential but simply would add to and strengthen the local economy.