Zone change moves sawmill project ahead

GREENVILLE – A zone change approved unanimously on Wednesday by the Land Use Regulation Commission will help pave the way for construction of a state-of-the-art dimensional lumber sawmill in Sapling Township.

Edward “Ted” Marra, president of SMIS Group LLC, said Wednesday at LURC’s meeting in Greenville that he planned to seek a development permit soon.

SMIS Group LLC plans to construct an enclosed sawmill capable of producing 200 million board feet of dimension lumber a year, using the latest European technology available. The business will call for 100 new jobs.

“It’s very exciting – we’re really pleased with the outcome of today’s meeting,” Marra of Pennsylvania said outside the meeting. He hopes to begin construction this season and to install the machinery during the winter, with production to begin in June or July 2005.

“It’s a very aggressive schedule,” Marra said.

He and his family plan to move to the region in the near future so he can personally make sure all issues are addressed in the development permit and to ensure a smooth construction, Marra said.

Prior to approval, some commission members expressed reservations that the site plan in their package did not specifically identify the area on the 300-acre parcel for the zone change. That matter was cleared later when Sarah Nicholson of Woodard and Curran, the company’s Portland consultant, provided a map that outlined the area to be rezoned from general management subdistrict to commercial industrial development subdistrict. She said the application did not ask for a legal description of the parcel to be rezoned. The development permit will better define the parcel, she noted.

The commission was told that no negative comments have been made about the rezoning request. The Maine Department of Transportation did suggest, however, the need for road improvements once the project was under way.

The property rezoned represents 90 acres of a 300-acre parcel owned by Plum Creek Maine Timberlands LLC between Greenville and Rockwood Strip, which Marra’s group intends to purchase. The property is bordered by Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad, which Marra plans to use by developing a rail spur.

The lumber made at the mill will be for markets on the East Coast, he said.

Marra told the commission that of the 760-million-board-feet of spruce and fir harvested in the state, more than 50 percent is exported to Canada for processing. He plans to decrease the amount.

The company also is expected to provide Greenville Steam Co. with an added fuel source. Scott Hersey, general manager of the steam plant, said he was pleased the company received the zone change.

“The biomass industry in general has seen a lot of sawmills close and that is our primary fuel,” Hersey said outside the meeting. “This sort of change is what we need.”