Ellsworth receives $200,000 grant

ELLSWORTH – A $200,000 federal grant awarded to the city will help local officials realize their goal of redeveloping the city’s waterfront, according to the city planner.

The grant, awarded to Ellsworth through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield Program, will be used to identify properties along the waterfront that may require some environmental remediation before they can be redeveloped, Ellsworth City Planner Michele Gagnon said Monday.

News that Ellsworth was among the 200 communities nationwide receiving the grant was announced Friday.

Gagnon said the study is necessary if the city hopes to receive future grants that may help implement its recently adopted waterfront redevelopment plan.

The city is not worried that there are pressing contamination issues within the 22-acre area to be studied, according to Gagnon.

The purpose of the study is to take a historical look at the use of the properties over the past 150 years or so, she said.

Historical uses in the study area, which includes Water Street, Franklin Street and most of the properties in between, include shipbuilding, blacksmithing, steam mills, brick makers and machine shops, Gagnon said.

“We’re not anticipating any huge thing,” she said of the potential cleanup sites. “It will be small stuff, if anything.”

Existing uses of the properties in the area include a car dealership, a seafood distribution plant, a boat-building shop, the city’s water treatment plant, a fuel storage facility, and some professional offices, among others.

“The premise [of the redevelopment plan] is that it is an underutilized area,” Gagnon said. “It’s a question of reusing it and making it more attractive.”

Any cleanup projects that may result from the study will be funded by other means, she said.

“This is the first step,” the city planner said.

By making sure environmental remediation issues are addressed, jobs can be created and suburban sprawl can be avoided as the properties are redeveloped, according to Gagnon.

The city intends to work with property owners in getting the study completed, and an environmental consulting firm will be hired to conduct the survey, which should take approximately one year to complete, she said.

The study fits into the city’s overall renovation efforts, which include the completed Main Street reconstruction and the High Street beautification effort, according to the city planner.

“It’s all linked together,” Gagnon said.