More than a month after Wilton put the former Wilton Tannery grounds up for sale, no one has bid on the property.

The Wilton Selectboard will discuss what to do next with the property at the regular board meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Office.

The tannery site was recently cleared of contaminants under a federal Brownfields program and was cleared as safe for redevelopment on the land.

Since November, the board has been seeking someone interested in buying and redeveloping the land. Potential developers had until Jan. 2 to submit a proposal to be reviewed by the select board, but Town Manager Rhonda Irish said no one did.

Irish said that the board could make a new deadline for requests for proposals or chose some other response to the lack of interest.

The town advertised the property both locally and around New England, including an advertisement in the New England Real Estate Journal.

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The 15-acre site on U.S. Route 2 in Wilton was cleaned up earlier this year under the federal program. The project gathered up leather scraps and other contaminants left over from the tannery, buried them on site and built an EPA-approved cover system to safely contain the material underground.

The spot where the material is buried is off limits to excavation, but contractors said a developer would have other options for that part of the lot, such as building a parking lot, as long as they don’t need to dig for the project.

The former Wilton Tannery building still stands on the property. The town rejected paying to tear down the building before offering the land for sale after reviewing the cost of demolishing it.

The tannery at 822 Route 2 was built in 1959 and was previously known as Wilton Tanning and Kroy Tanning, according to a property listing on the Greater Franklin Development Corporation’s website. The building has been vacant since 2003.

The property is between U.S. Route 2 and Wilson Stream. Board members previously said the site is for commercial use and could possibly be used for some sort of outdoor recreation business because of its close proximity to the stream.

Other topics expected to be discussed at the Wilton Selectboard meeting Tuesday include funding options for the new Wilton firetruck, the schedule for the town budget meetings, and a closed door session where the board will discuss the ongoing lawsuit against the Forster Mill property owner. Irish said the lawsuit seeking to have the building demolished is still in mediation and has an upcoming mediation date where the two parties will again try to find a resolution.

Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252

kschroeder@centralmaine.com

 


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