BAILEYVILLE – A company that hopes to manufacture structural insulated panels for use in both commercial and residential buildings has filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection for the permits it needs to build a new plant.

City Manager Scott Harriman provided an update of the project at the council meeting Monday night.

Insulated Component Structures Inc. of Eustis, Fla., plans to open a manufacturing plant in the town’s Industrial Park that would employ 75 people.

The new facility – to be called ICS of Maine Inc. – is awaiting word from the state on its site location review. The town manager said the company expects to hear from the DEP by the end of the week. “They have a one month comment period; then they should be issued the permit,” he said. The company plans to build the facility on a 7-acre parcel.

Since the company announced plans last month to build, Harriman said, the town has received numerous job inquiries. The company did drop off employment applications. “Some people were clamoring for them, and we received quite a few applications,” he said.

Recently the town’s largest employer, Domtar pulp and paper mill, shut down its paper machine, idling 100 people. The company has not yet announced when the machine will start up again.

The town manager said ICS of Maine hopes to begin construction in August and be operational by the end of the year. The 75 workers are to be trained at the company’s Florida facility. Eventually the company hopes to employ 150 people working three shifts.

The Maine operation is under the direction of Damar J. Dore, president of ICS of Maine.

The 57,000-square-foot manufacturing facility would be built using structural insulated panels manufactured at the ICS plant in Florida. ICS, according to its Web site, is dedicated “to developing cost effective, high quality, energy efficient, easy to assemble building components as an alternative to conventional building methods.”

The town’s 130-acre Industrial Park is on the corner of Routes 9 and 1.

The town bought the land several years ago at an auction and turned it into an industrial park. The U.S. Border Patrol and UPS have facilities there now.

The town has been working with ICS since last year. Town officials also are speaking with other companies that may wish to relocate to the park, but have declined to elaborate on those companies.