Bond for Navy base buildings weighed

Bond funding to renovate the commercial buildings at the former Cutler naval base is currently being considered in the legislature. On June 4 the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee held a hearing on a $5.525 million bond issue that would be used by the Washington County Development Authority (WCDA) to repair the buildings in order to attract businesses to the site. The committee is expected to decide on the request soon.
Betsy Fitzgerald, the chair of the WCDA board of trustees, says the board will pursue an engineering review of the entire complex to see what buildings should be saved and the extent of work that is required. Several of the buildings have been vandalized since the base was decommissioned, with the copper pipes having been stolen from the administration building, and water having leaked through the building, compromising the electrical system. The concrete block walls of all of the buildings "scream military," but Fitzgerald says some of the four large buildings that are now owned again by the WCDA are not in bad shape.
The commercial park buildings owned by the WCDA have one commercial tenant, Look's Gourmet Foods, which leases a 20,000-square-foot building for dry storage. Look's currently operates out of a canning plant three miles from the base and is interested in a long-term lease at the former base to have its entire operation under one roof. According to Fitzgerald, the company experienced 15% growth last year and is anticipating another year of growth, and thus wants to expand. An expansion would increase Look's current workforce of 33 by an additional 6B10 employees. WCDA also has been approached about using one of the buildings for refrigeration and freezer space for blueberry companies, and other inquiries also have been received, including from Maine Sea Salt Company of Marshfield.
While previous private developers have not been successful with attracting tenants to the site, Fitzgerald notes that the members of the WCDA "are here on the ground" and are not seeking to make a profit. "All we want to do is make the facility a working facility."
The bill for bond funding was submitted by Senator David Burns of Whiting, who also had submitted a bill to provide $200,000 in state funding to WCDA for renovation of the buildings. That bill, though, was rejected by the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee on May 11.
At the April 28 hearing on that bill, Michael Radeka of East Machias, a member of the WCDA board of trustees, outlined that the authority was formed by the legislature in 2001 to help with the transfer of the Navy base to private control. The base housing has been formed into a condominium association with 62 units and 44 owners, with the remaining properties a commercial park. Since that has not developed, the four largest buildings in the commercial park, with 75,000 square feet of space, were transferred back to the control of the WCDA in March.
Also during the hearing, Charles Rudelitch, executive director of the Sunrise County Economic Council, noted that the closure of the Cutler base "was a huge loss to our region," with Cutler having lost over a third of its population since 2000. It is projected to lose another 40% before 2030 unless action is taken. Rudelitch said the buildings at the Cutler base "could house dozens of good-paying jobs and provide an important market for local fishermen and farmers.
While the Appropriations Committee is considering many bond requests, Fitzgerald notes that one option that the committee may consider is to include the requested bond funding into a larger statewide capital improvement bond.