NORWAY – Selectmen have declared the former C.B. Cummings & Sons property in the downtown area to be a blighted slum.
The designation was necessary to apply for a community development block grant as administered by the Rural Development Administration to clean and refurbish the five-acre area.
In the declaration, the town said it was unlikely that the site and 13 buildings on it could be used for their original purpose and needed to be reconfigured and rehabilitated to be economically viable.
The buildings were formerly used to produce wood products. The mill closed at the end of November 2002. Western Maine Development purchased the property for $100,000 after it was on the market at $400,000 for a year.
The declaration continued that while most of the buildings are structurally sound, they were vacant and that presented a threat of fire and danger to children playing on the property. It also noted that some of the buildings contained asbestos.
In other business, selectmen meeting Thursday approved giving Code Enforcement Officer Jeffrey VanDecker another week of vacation.
Town Manager David Holt said VanDecker had earned a week when working for the town prior to leaving for a similar job in Lewiston.
He said VanDecker was employed by Norway for several years and then went to Lewiston for little over a year. VanDecker has been back for nearly two years, according to Holt.
Holt said after one year of employment, employees get one week and after a couple of years get another week.
jsmedley@sunjournal.com
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