Lincoln County Healthcare will lease the former Wiscasset Primary School and, in lieu of rent payments, will cover the cost of heating the building for its six-month occupancy, in addition to snow and trash removal. Wiscasset selectmen unanimously approved the terms of the lease at their Tuesday, Sept. 1 meeting and authorized Town Manager Marian Anderson to enter into an official agreement.
Lincoln County Healthcare will utilize approximately half of the building from December 2015 to May 2016 to conduct staff trainings on new computer software the organization is in the process of adopting. Approximately 80 to 100 staff members will occupy the building daily while training is taking place, Patrick Parson, director of operations, said.
The lease arrangement is a partnership with the town, Parson said. Lincoln County Healthcare will cover the estimated $85,000 to $90,000 cost of heat, in addition to snow and trash removal, and leave the building in good shape for its future sale and lease.
Lincoln County Healthcare has agreed to allow Wiscasset to enter into another lease agreement during the organization’s time there for the portion of the building that will not be used for staff training.
Lincoln County Healthcare is in the process of upgrading its medical billing and coding software and also implementing EPIC software, which will streamline the transfer of digital medical records between health care providers.
“It’s wonderful for the town to have (the building’s) expenses covered and to have so many people in town during the winter months,” Anderson said. Area restaurants and businesses will benefit from the increased population in Wiscasset due to the training, Anderson said.
Realtor Sherri Dunbar, charged with selling the former primary school, will meet with selectmen in executive session Friday, Sept. 4 to discuss negotiating strategies for the primary school’s sale.
Dunbar gave an update on efforts to sell the Mason Station property, efforts which have become complicated due to realization that the Mason Station plant and an additional lot are not the property of Wiscasset.
While severely delinquent, property taxes on the Mason Station plant have always been paid before the town could pursue the property’s foreclosure. A lot informally referred to as “Joe Cotter’s Point” is also still owned by Mason Station LLC, Joe Cotter’s company, Selectman Jeff Slack said.
Dunbar has spent a significant amount of time working on the real estate listing of the foreclosed lots and has toured the site with the code enforcement officer, the town planner, and a commercial broker. Due to the plant’s presence on the site, Dunbar questioned whether the property could be sold as residential property.
There have been several inquiries into the site, many with questions about the environmental issues on the property and the cost of its cleanup, Dunbar said. Dunbar has been in touch with the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission about their Brownfields Assessment Grant, which covers the cost of initial testing for environmental contamination, in addition to other state and federal grant programs which may help cover the cost of the site’s cleanup.
Those conversations will continue, Dunbar said.
In a situation similar to that of Mason Station LLC, Wiscasset took ownership of property previously owned by another failed development, Ferry Road Development LLC. The development owned three lots near Ferry Road, a 72-acre lot, a 12-acre lot, and a 327-acre lot adjacent to Ferry Landing.
Selectmen authorized Dunbar to pursue the sale of the 72-acre and 12-acre lots. However, due to the proximity of the 327-acre lot to Ferry Landing, selectmen decided to hold onto the 327-acre lot and will discuss retaining a portion of the lot closest to Ferry Landing at a future date.
Selectmen are also reviewing their policy on tax-acquired property to determine the procedure they will follow for disposing of property the town has acquired. The conversation was initiated by abutters to a property under a tax lien, which the abutters would like to acquire due to issues with the property owner.
Historically, selectmen have pursued three different avenues for disposing of property – it has been offered to abutters, put out to bid, or put on the market for sale, selectmen said.
