RUMFORD — A special town meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday in the Rumford Falls Auditorium to decide three issues:
• Whether to accept the Route 108 bypass as a town way;
• Whether to approve a tax-increment financing district at the former Puiia Lumber property; and
• Whether to approve a moratorium on applications for retail recreational marijuana shops and social clubs.
Last month, selectmen discussed the Maine Department of Transportation’s guidelines to establish the Route 108 bypass as a town way. MDOT would only approve the bypass if it was one-way, from Route 108 into the downtown.
Road Commissioner Andy Russell estimated making it a town way could cost $45,000, including guardrails and signs.
It would also require the town to swap land with Lee Buotte, owner of the former Agway property near the bypass.
Regarding the proposed tax-increment financing district, there will be an informational meeting at 6 p.m. before the town meeting.
The district would designate 13 lots on or near Spruce Street, Prospect Avenue and Route 2 as the Pennacook Falls Municipal Development.
According to town attorney Jennifer Kreckel, the TIF program encourages development of economically struggling areas by allowing towns to provide some financial assistance to would-be developers.
A property may be taxed at $2,000 in its current condition. Under a TIF, the town would continue to receive the $2,000 for the property, but if the property’s value increases because of the investment and improvement to the property, the additional taxes can be refunded to the owner, who is making substantial investments in the property.
If the investments improve the value of the property so that the tax would increase from $2,000 to $7,000, the town could pay the owner up to $5,000 per year for a maximum of 10 years. After the TIF ends, the town would receive $7,000 in taxes for the property, the full amount due.
Generally speaking, the owner would have to put in a considerable amount of investment into the property in order to raise the value.
“This is an incentive to encourage people to bring investment to our beautiful but very needy and distressed buildings before they enter a state of such disrepair that no one will want to undertake the monumental costs of repairing and improving these structures in need,” Kreckel wrote in an email.
She said the TIF is for the proposed Best Western hotel at 50 Prospect Avenue but includes downtown streets.
“A TIF could encompass the downtown so that it can also benefit some of our struggling business owners who are trying to sell their buildings and/or businesses because this would provide an incentive to potential investors in our downtown,” Kreckel said. “The TIF will assist in getting the hotel developed at the former Puiia’s Home Center site on Prospect Avenue. The hotel will be a much needed boost the revitalization of our area.”
A copy of the proposed TIF agreement will be on file with the town clerk before the public hearing and may be reviewed at the offices of the town clerk during normal business hours.
Regarding the marijuana moratorium, Town Manager John Madigan previously read a letter from Kreckel about the the Greater Rumford Community Center being next a medical marijuana production facility. In an email, she advised officials that they may want to be more proactive in considering zoning issues for recreational marijuana production and sales.
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