Old Town shifts Pine Tree Zone to boost business

OLD TOWN – The City Council voted Monday to reshuffle land within the Penobscot Valley Pine Tree Development Zone in an effort to make certain areas – specifically the Airport Business Park – more attractive to potential businesses.

“We won’t get any more [total] acreage in the Pine Tree Zone, but [with the amendment] we will have more acres available out at the airport,” City Manager Peggy Daigle told the council. “The shift in acreage is intended to appeal to businesses.”

The Penobscot Valley Pine Tree Development Zone, which includes Old Town, is one of eight economic areas statewide that were the result of legislation introduced in 2003 by Gov. John Baldacci.

The initiative was designed to give businesses tax incentives as a tradeoff for developing in economically distressed areas of the state.

Of the 386 acres available for development in Old Town, 350 acres are in the designated Pine Tree Zone and most of that land is located within the Georgia Pacific mill and the Old Town Industrial Park.

On Monday, however, the city added about 20 developable acres to the Airport Business Park that had not been included in an original proposal.

The amendment shifted 4.4 acres from the Georgia Pacific land and added a parcel of 14.92 acres, along with a 67,374-square-foot industrial building, from the Kagan Lown Building on Gilman Falls Avenue.

Daigle said development in the vacant warehouse-type building as well as at the James W. Sewall Co. building on Center Street provide Old Town with economic growth potential.

In other business the council:

. Voted to accept a bid of $34,720 from Johnson Construction for the demolition of the Herbert Gray School, which has been closed for about two years since the city consolidated its elementary schools. The bid was significantly lower than seven other bids that were received and came as a pleasant surprise to city councilors. Daigle said the city was prepared to spend about $70,000.

. Approved an agreement with the state to govern the use of computer equipment and software to administer Maine’s Central Voter Registration System. The new equipment is required by the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, but comes at no cost to the city.

. Discussed the progress of the road maintenance on Center Street, which runs through the heart of the city. Council Chair Gary Sirois called the construction a nightmare for motorists, but Public Works Director David Wight said the project is “coming along fine.”

. Appointed Shannon Coiley and Michael May to the two vacant seats on the city’s parks and recreation committee.