Millennium offers to buy former Guilford mill building

Millennium Marine USA is seeking to purchase the city-owned, former Guilford mill building where the boatbuilding business is located. Owner Cory Guimond made an offer of $200,000 for the building at the February 4 Eastport City Council meeting. He cited the need for many upgrades including repairs to the concrete and insulation, expansion of the ventilation system and additional electrical work. If he owned the building, Guimond told the council, putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into the building would make more sense. He also noted that he would be paying real estate taxes to the city.
Council President Mary Repole explained that the council would need to follow a process, with the first step being appraisals, which she understood could take up to three months. Councillor Mike Cummings noted that the city has put investment in the building as well. "It's a two‑way street," he said. In terms of the other tenant, Tex‑Shield, which pays $60,000 a year in rent to the city, Guimond said that he would prefer that his business utilize all the building's space but that if the company has a contract in place then "they would stay."
In addition, the city will need to check on the terms of a $1.4 million Economic Development Administration grant that was used to renovate and upgrade that portion of the building used by the boatbuilding company. Some grants have restrictions in place on property sales for a certain period of time to protect the investment of public tax dollars. In addition, in 2014 the city applied for and received Community Development Block Grant Workforce Development Grant funds that were for Millennium to use for employee training. Guimond says he currently has 27 full‑time and four part‑time employees.
City Assessor Robert Scott notes that the 65,000-square-foot building is assessed at $708,500. The eight acres of land that the building sits upon are assessed at $100,000, for a total assessed value of $808,500. The property is zoned industrial, and the building is rated at fair condition.

New police chief
Council President Repole introduced incoming Police Chief Frannie LaCoute, who will replace Rodney Merritt and will assume her duties in later February. Repole noted that City Manager Elaine Abbott hired LaCoute, with the council giving its consent by a unanimous vote. LaCoute has been working as a sergeant with the Pleasant Point Police Department.

Council offers breakwater, fish pier to port authority
Unless the Eastport Port Authority turns the offer down, the breakwater and fish pier will be transferred to its ownership. The council voted in favor of the transfer of the two city‑owned properties to the port authority, with Cummings the lone opposing vote. The council assured the public that the transfer would include language to guarantee public access and that if for some reason in the future the port authority no longer wanted ownership of the facilities, it would need to return the properties to the city.

Other action
The city will work with the Energy Committee and Thermal Efficiency: Eastport to provide upfront loans of up to $7,500 from the city's special reserve fund so that the city's seniors who meet income and age requirements can tap into a U.S. Department of Agriculture housing retrofit fund for heating upgrades, insulation and more. Energy Committee Chair Jon Calame explained that for two housing retrofits that already took place he had used other grant funds to front the costs but that going forward with the program they would need a different source. The funds would be paid back as soon as the USDA inspector signs off on the work done. "If we could get help with the upfront costs, our committee is happy to continue keeping our feet on the ground coordinating." City Manager Abbott will iron out the details with Calame, with a three‑month trial run suggested, with one housing retrofit done per month. "If we see that it's working, that we're getting paid back, we could expand," said Repole.
The councillors acknowledged that for the first time in many years they received the draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year on time. They thanked Abbott for the work done to get it in on time. With budgets on the mind, Abbott and Repole explained to the council and public that a revenue accounting error made by the previous city manager was discovered in the current fiscal year 2015 budget. Abbott stressed that nothing illegal was done, but funds that had been transferred from the city to the sewer department a few years ago to pay for a loan had not been paid back to the city but were included in a revenue line. Abbott said that if the sewer department paid back the loan in full it would use most of its reserves, so a revenue payment plan needs to be set up and documented. In the mean time, the accounting snafu means that there is a revenue shortfall of $100,000 in the budget. "I can't explain why it was done," said Abbott. "Fortunately we have budget hawks who bring discrepancies to our attention."
In a non‑agenda item, but by the request of Councillor Colleen Dana‑Cummings, archery business owner Robert Dore made a presentation on a possible solution to the deer overpopulation problem on the island. He recommended an expanded hunting zone in a particular portion of Eastport stretching from the end of Deep Cove Road going out to Harris Point and over to Quoddy Village. Only bow hunting is allowed in the city. The expanded hunting zone would add two weeks to the bow hunting season and would include does and bucks. Repole tasked Abbott with checking with Mount Desert Island officials, because of the similarity in the deer population and hunting restrictions, and finding out what options they are considering.
A number of housekeeping actions took place. The Parks and Recreation Committee was split into two, with Councillor Mike Cummings appointed as council liaison to the recreation side. Community volunteers are needed to help with recreation projects. Cummings was also appointed as the liaison to the Harbor Committee. Councillor Gilbert Murphy was elected as the council vice president, as required by the charter; Councillor Dana‑Cummings was appointed to the revitalized micro‑loan program; residents Pat Christopher and David MacNichol were appointed to the Recycling Committee. In January the code enforcement office issued two demolition permits, and the police department received 59 calls for service.