Saving city’s waterworks

Today, the broadcast media are challenged by the increasing demands of their customers to provide not only local and statewide news, but also national and global news. The enormous growth of information sources has had its impact on the audience, limiting the amount of time spent with any one source. The result is a news media that respond with a compressed form of journalism and reporting. Consequently the audience is highly dependent on sound bite information.

As a result, many people in the region are concerned about some positions that the Bangor City Council may or may not have taken. Certainly it is not the intent of the news media to misrepresent issues. I understand the difficulty of reporting complex issues in context with the challenges that those in the media have to face in today’s hyper-competitive market environment.

As a member of the Bangor City Council, I believe it is important not only to share information with people of the region, but I have a fiduciary obligation to share with citizens and taxpayers of Bangor issues that may have been misunderstood.

The Bangor Waterworks is a national historic landmark for which the city has worked to find a tenant over the past several years. The Muddy Rudder and Eastern Maine Medical Center were among those interested, but could not justify the costs even with the city’s help. Being aware of the $750,000 to $890,000 price tag associated with the demolition, removal of debris and remediation of the Waterworks property, the Bangor City Council had earmarked $123,000 in a reserve account to stabilize the structure hoping a developer might rehabilitate the property.

Recently, Doug Bouchard of the Shaw House presented a $5.8 million plan that allows for the transformation of the Bangor Waterworks into quality low-income housing with additional space for the Shaw House. Bouchard requested that as part of the plan, the city allow up to $1 million of financing in order for the Shaw House to secure the rest of the financing.

In addition to the $123,000 set aside for the stabilization fund, Bangor also has Community and Economic Development Block Grant Funds (from the federal government) as a resource for approximately $700,000 that could be used to rehab the site.

After years of trying to find a business or developer to save this site, the Bangor City Council had to make a decision to either spend up to $1 million to assist in this project with approximately $700,000 from federal block grants or spend $750,000-plus of Bangor property taxpayers’ money for demolition, removal of debris and remediation of the site. Needless to say, the councilors voted to assist in the project. We all wish Bouchard and the Shaw House well and look forward to the successful restoration project.

David S. Nealley is a Bangor city councilor.