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Wilton applying for grants to complete Forster mill demolition

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The Wilton Selectboard.

WILTON – The town of Wilton has acquired $100,000 in grant funds to go toward the rest of the Forster mill demolition, Town Manager Rhonda Irish told the Selectboard Thursday evening, and is exploring other grants to complete the project.

The 115-year-old mill, previously owned by Forster Manufacturing Co., was acquired by the town for unpaid taxes in 2015, after the owner failed to restart a privately-organized demolition process that was derailed after asbestos was located in the structure. The town arranged for environmental assessments and an asbestos abatement prior to beginning to take the structure down this year. The first phase of demolition, undertaken by low bidder EnviroVantage and encompassing more than half of the structure, was complete in May.

At present, the town’s activity at the site has cost roughly $546,000. Approximately half of that was obtained through grant funding, while Wilton has also employed $48,000 from the Undesignated Fund balance and $200,000 in interest free loans.

On Thursday, Irish told the board that the town had been approved to receive $100,000 in federal Environmental Protection Agency grant funds and another $100,000 in interest free loan money, having been informed by the state Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Economic and Community Development. That money could go toward the remainder of the demolition.

Previously, the town’s environmental engineering firm, Ransom Consulting, had approximated that $500,000 would complete the project although more up-to-date and detailed estimates would be required. While the remaining structure is smaller than the cleared space, Irish said Thursday, it also runs over Wilson Stream which presented new challenges.

The town is also working with the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments to secure another $200,000 in EPA grant and $200,000 in interest free loan funding. Those funds would require a local match at roughly $60,000, Irish said. As the project would exceed the $150,000 limit, federal requirements would mandate the town go back out to bid to complete the demolition.

In other business, the Selectboard unanimously approved a new contract with Waste Management, the company that disposes of the town’s trash after it is hauled to the landfill by Archie’s Inc. The new five-year contract includes an increase from $62.78 per ton to $64.66 per ton for trash and demolition, with a 3 percent increase each year.

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10 Comments

  1. It was derailed because the owner was never properly vetted, was a crook, and went to jail.

  2. I will be glad when this is complete, this summer we had a major issue with Rats, never before in the 32 years I lived here did I have issues, I have spoken with some of my neighbors here on Depot St. and they too are having issues. Will be happy to be done with this. Apparently the River Rats are relocating.

  3. These are all costs that were not paid by the customers of the Forster Mill products. It not the customers fault. This country has a very bad habit of getting things relatively cheaply, and later, tax payers pick up numerous costs that should have been taken care of by the companies themselves. So many of these are in the form of toxic clean ups of which there are hundreds if not thousands around the country. Business as usual ….

  4. If the previous contractor? owner? (whoever was supposed to be taking this down) would have been drowning in fines placed on them by the town for not having this completed by now. The town took this job over to get it done, yet there it is, unfinished! I think the town should be paying the same big fines just like they were charging the previous person but should be forced to donate that money to mesothelioma research/treatment!
    Guess it wasn’t as easy as you thought, huh?!

  5. The town took the mill over due to failure to pay taxes, and to get the mill torn down in a responsible way. We tax paying citizens of the town could not afford to do the whole job in one year. I am glad our town manager has continued to pursue funding to get this project completed.

    As far as rats invading: Their population increase has been noted across in many areas away from the mill, too. Rats thrive where there is food, and a comfortable climate. Maybe we have just had too many political ads, polls and surveys? attracting lots of things from under the rocks?

  6. A difficult thing about being a select person is having the wide variety of problems thrown at you, and many times the expertise is on the other side. Were they granted unlimited resources to attack these problems, things would be resolved more “expeditiously.” Tough issues like suing neighbors and seeming to blame some pillars of the community are ungrateful tasks. I try to remember to thank them when I see them in town, or when I go in to pay my bills. Merry Christmas pubic servants.

  7. @PineTree: I was thinking the same. It’s all a part of the corporate welfare system. They can make profits then leave the mess for taxpayers to pick up. The town has no protection. This just in: Consumers have no protection. I heard a report this morning saying that thousands of new CMP customers have not been charged for months on end so the company will back charge them one month and regain the lost revenue by dispersing unknown amounts of loss to current customers…? So if you did nothing wrong and have paid CMP on a regular basis then they will gift you with the bill for their mistake of not charging other customers. Makes perfect sense in the age of reason with no logic.

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