PARIS — County officials are reviewing business proposals from local companies as they seek to find a new tenant for the Oxford County Regional Airport, according to County Administrator Scott Cole.
The county officials have been looking for a new tenant to take over the building’s lease ever since Oxford Aviation was evicted on April 1 after 25 years of leasing the building, the culmination of a six-month legal battle.
Since closure, a handful of local companies have approached commissioners with “general concepts” to get the site running again, Cole said.
Efforts to find a new tenant have have been slow in part because the type of business that moves into the site must be aviation-related and meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements, Cole said.
Cole declined to comment on the specific companies involved in the proposals, but said each showed “good entrepreneurial spirit.”
In addition to the airport, airstrip and several docking bays, the county has been left with properly disposing of thousands of gallons of chemical compounds and paint used in the aircraft refinishing business that were left before the facility’s doors were locked shut by the county.
Utility costs have remained low, between $50 and $100 per month, Cole said.
Many of the items in the building will eventually be auctioned by Community Concepts Finance Corporation later this fall in order to recoup unpaid loans, interest and court fees owed by former President James Horowitz.
Glen Holmes, Executive Director of the Western Maine Economical Development Council, said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection must ensure that all chemical waste has been removed from the facility before an auction can take place.
As the first creditors named in court documents, Holmes said the proceeds from the auction will go first go to Community Concepts, which is owed in excess of $100,000.
According to Holmes, items up for auction include desks, furniture, woodworking supplies such as saws and planers, as well as aviation-geared materials.
A number of issues at the facility must be fixed before any sale can be finalized, including several roof leaks, a hangar door that needs servicing and damage from frozen pipes, according to Cole.
“It’s a major project down there,” Cole said.
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