AUGUSTA — City councilors meet tonight to hear a report on alternatives for the cleanup of the former Statler Tissue mill site.
The city in June was awarded $400,000 in federal Environmental Protection Agency grants. The money was expected to be enough to complete the ongoing cleanup of the 17-acre site, according to Michael Duguay, city development director.
Duguay said the report on alternatives for cleaning up pollutants still at the site will be from Summit Environmental, the firm that has handled most of the environmental work for the city at the site so far. The report was unavailable Wednesday.
The former mill site already has undergone inspections and chemical removal by the EPA, and the city had a contractor knock down the remaining decrepit mill buildings and level the land.
The longtime industrial site was seized by the city in 2009 for nonpayment of taxes. The site was most recently known as Augusta Tissue, but previously operated for many years as Statler and, before that, Hudson.
The city hopes to eventually sell the site for redevelopment for non-industrial uses.
The public hearing on the cleanup alternatives report is at tonight’s Augusta City Council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in council chambers at Augusta City Center.
Also on the agenda:
* The council will hold a public hearing and consider expanding two tax increment financing districts in the city, the Cony Circle and downtown TIF districts.
The proposed expansion of the TIF district’s boundaries, according to Duguay, would allow planned street improvement projects on upper Water Street from Green Street to Memorial Circle, and reconstruction of School Street from Bangor Street to Pearl Street, to be funded with TIF money. TIFs return some property tax money back to developers for a certain amount of time.
* Consideration on a taxi driver’s license for Robert L. Sherwood II, of Chelsea.
* A closed-door session for negotiations regarding the sale or lease of property.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com
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