Brewer officials waive fee for new nonprofit

BREWER – After some debate, city councilors Tuesday night waived the impact fee for a nonprofit organization that will train Seeing Eye dogs and provide dog day care services in a former nightclub building.

Officials also accepted the gift of 74 acres of wetland from the Brewer Economic Development Corp. The city needs the wetland acreage to offset the wetland that will be disturbed as a result of its parallel road project.

The nonprofit organization, Golden Moments, intends to set up shop in the former Babe’s nightclub building on Clisham Road, off Wilson Street. Various nightclubs operated there have drawn noise complaints from neighbors for about 30 years.

According to city officials, Golden Moments’ operator, Bob Thomas, plans to use the building for training Seeing Eye dogs, a day care program for dogs and a small retail operation.

City councilors expressed concern that waiving the impact fee, estimated at about $12,500, might set a precedent for other nonprofits that move into the city’s impact fee area.

In Brewer, the one-time fees apply to projects in a district bordered by Chamberlain Street, Wilson Street, Parkway South and Interstate 395. The fees can be waived or reduced for projects that would result in “significant public purpose or benefit.”

Councilors approved the waiver after learning that Golden Moments would make annual payments in lieu of property taxes, though that’s not required of nonprofits.

The land councilors accepted Tuesday from the BEDC will help the city’s effort to meet permitting requirements for a new road it plans to build parallel to Wilson Street.

In its application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the city proposes preserving more than 70 acres of wetlands on the north side of Wiswell Road as compensation for filling in about 7 acres of freshwater wetlands located off Wilson Street, Parkway South, Green Point Road and Sparks Avenue.

The proposed two-lane bypass road, not yet named, would run from Parkway South to Whiting Hill at the eastern end of Wilson Street.

City officials say it will ease traffic congestion and stimulate economic growth on land now lacking road access.

Construction is slated to begin once the city receives permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Economic development director Drew Sachs said earlier that the city’s strategy for the land along the parallel road is to attract professional, white-collar, “knowledge-based” businesses – an economic sector just starting to grow in Brewer. Businesses in that category include accounting and law firms, research and development companies, telecommunication businesses, and engineers and architects.