Although the Maine Dept. of Transportation announced that it will only provide some of the Gateway 1 startup funding Waldoboro was slated to receive, the town will continue work on their Downtown Master Plan, which was to be funded in large part with Gateway 1 funds.
Waldoboro was approved for $29,500 in Gateway 1 startup funds last year. After DOT suspended all work on Gateway 1 on March 1, they decided to fund participating towns for all expenses incurred through March 1.
Waldoboro had designated $10,000 of those funds to pay for part of the work on the Downtown Master Plan.
“The purpose of the [Downtown Master Plan] is to be a roadmap for implementing the community’s desire for an economically and socially robust downtown area that compliments the unique character of the town as a whole,” according to a statement written by Lachman Architects & Planners, the consultant hired to write the plan.
“Much of Waldoboro’s downtown village and riverfront has changed considerably over the past 40 years. Fire, loss of business, Rt. 1 and the growth of commercial development along Rt. 1 have negatively impacted the downtown area. Waldoboro’s village has historically been the heart of civic and commercial life within the Town and remains an indispensable part of the community,” the statement said.
The $22,500 project was to be paid for with $10,000 in Gateway 1 startup funds, $10,000 from a federal Community Development Block Grant, and $2500 from the town’s Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account, which is made up of money set aside over the years for planning projects related to the creation of a Comprehensive Plan.
At this point, it’s unknown exactly how much money the town will receive from DOT for the project, but approximately $8000 had been spent on the Downtown Master Plan prior to March 1, said Waldoboro Planning and Development Director Misty Gorski in a telephone interview March 29.
At a March 22 meeting of the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen, the selectmen approved continuing work on the project and approved the expenditure of an amount “not to exceed $10,000” from the Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account to cover any amount not reimbursed by DOT.
There is currently about $100,000 in the Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account, Gorski said.
The board voted 4-1 with Selectman Craig Cooley opposed.
The first public forum on the Downtown Master Plan will be held sometime in late May, Gorski said.
Along with the $10,000 for the Downtown Master Plan, DOT also approved the town for $9500 to compare Waldoboro’s comprehensive plan to the Gateway 1 plan and $10,000 to fund a public education campaign about tax increment financing (TIF) districts.
The town will not receive any of that $19,500, Gorski said.
The reconciliation of the comprehensive plan with Gateway 1 is now unnecessary, Gorski said.
TIF districts are a financing tool used to encourage economic growth that Waldoboro would like to explore. Without the Gateway 1 funds, any public education campaigns on TIF districts will be handled by the Waldoboro Economic Development Committee, Gorski said.
