MILO, Maine — A new fitness center, an improved restaurant and gift shop and a few new jobs will be created if the town succeeds in its application for a $60,000 Community Development Block Grant.
The Board of Selectmen agreed during a meeting Tuesday to allow the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council to apply for the grant. Council Community Development Director Kenneth B. Woodbury Jr. told selectmen the grant application would be a crucial part of finishing the redevelopment of the area devastated by an arson fire in September 2008.
The work “will not cost a nickel more than the grant,” Woodbury said during the meeting. “This is to be built without local tax money.”
Under Woodbury’s grant proposal, the $60,000 would buy professional kitchen equipment in a new building for Elaine’s Basket Cafe and Gift Shop on East Main Street in exchange for the restaurant’s commitment to hire two full-time employees, including one earning more than $30,000, for at least two years. The new kitchen would streamline restaurant operations and make room for wholesale food production, Woodbury said.
As part of the revitalization, the 3,300-square-foot building near the intersection of East and West Main, Elm and Water streets would also house a fitness center operated by Charles Lawrence, who owns a convenience store in town, Woodbury said. The fitness center would be about 1,500 square feet.
If Elaine’s owner, Elaine Poulin, fails to meet the conditions of the grant, the town would have to pay it back, Woodbury said.
Several of the nearly 70 residents who attended the meeting didn’t seem to like tax money being used to support local businesses. One resident said the town would be better off with an assisted living center.
Selectmen seemed satisfied with Woodbury’s presentation.
The town still has to use the bulk of the $500,000 rural business development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency that will help revitalize an area of downtown destroyed by arson in 2008, Woodbury said. Five downtown buildings were destroyed and a sixth damaged in the fire.
About 90 residents voted a special town meeting in January 2010 to buy much of the area destroyed by the fire at a price not to exceed $10,000 and a parcel owned by John and Barbara Crossman at a price not to exceed $48,200.
Since then the money has sat largely untouched. New lamp posts and sidewalks are supposed to be installed, and the intersection reworked, as part of the revitalization, Woodbury said. Some of that work will begin later this year.
“This is to be built without local tax money.”
Of course not. It is going to be paid for with somebody else’s tax money.
Right? What a great example of everything that is wrong with our country!
it is grant money people look up the definition of grant money, if she doesnt get it someone will most likely in a different town will
Anthony, where do you think “grant” money comes from?
Unbelievable! Are You Kidding Me???
Such a crock of BS. Grant money isn’t “local tax money” , of course federal grant money is local tax money, unless no one in town pays income tax?… and to offer it to a private business with a condition of non payment that the town would be stuck with the bill. Jerry and gang, wake up!
If this money is given to this small business, then what are you going to do with the rest of the small business in town? line ’em up and hand out $$ to them too?
….this makes no sense at all
Just about the same thing I said. Watch it, the BDN might delete your comment.
No local tax money? Doesn’t anyone in Milo pay federal and state taxes? This is the trouble with the country, doling out “free” grant money to develop a nature trail in D-F, to plant trees on the nature trail, and to help a select few businesses. No wonder this country is in trouble. In my younger years, when something needed to be done to help the community, we didn’t look to the government to bail us out, we all pitched in and made the changes.
You’ve got to be kidding me, is this town going to be any more of a joke??? They get a huge grant for the burnt property, then want more for a private business on the same land??? They never spent the first one!!!!
you have no knowledge at all of anything apparently, the grant has NOTHING to do with the burnt property or changing location it is a damn grant what is wrong with people in Maine do you not know anything about anything the grant money is money given to ANY business that will hire two full time employees currently receiving help from the state to get off it….ISNT THIS A GOOD THING PEOPLE HELLO WAKE UP LESS PEOPLE ON STATE MAKING THE STATE IN DEBT EQUALS LESS OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS GOING TO TEND FOR OTHER PEOPLES CHIDLREN
Rather see this than a private prison.
On the other hand, an assisted living center we serve some very real needs in the area…housing for the elderly that is close to their family and home as well as employment for locals…and the addition to the area should provide positive feedback rather than negative.
dont we have enough housing for older people I mean come on get with the program we have one building with 20 plus apartments for assisted living and a huge complex for elderly people that both currently have vacancy’s, this town is not that big I mean come on we would be better off putting the money into the children then the elders since there is NOTHING to do anywhere near milo, and this is not against older poeple just sying we have enough
No, we do not. The apartments you are talking about are not assisted living facilities. They are housing for senior citizens. There is a big difference. The closest assisted living facilities are in Dover-Foxcroft and Orono. Both have long waiting lists. Our baby boomers are aging and the need for assisted living is not going to go away. Do you have parents and/or grandparents? You are obviously not in need for yourself yet, but try to think ahead to the time when you and/or your friends have family in need of care. You and all of the family members who are able to hold full time jobs and have children that they care for. That’s like having two full time jobs. Suddenly your father, who lives alone, has a stroke. He does pretty well, but sometimes forgets to shut the stove off, take his medications, eat his lunch…and you’re the obvious choice for taking care of him. He’s not ready for a nursing home, and even if he was he’s not qualified. He doesn’t want to leave the place he’s lived most of his life and
be shuffled off to a place that is too far out of the way for family to visit. In addition, if you can imagine it, his family wants to keep him close so that they can visit him and bring him home for visits. Maybe you can see the need, but even if you can’t it doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
For the record, this is not an argument against this grant. It is an observation in response to the comment about alternatives to opening up a prison, which was an idea being considered a while back that has since been discarded.
I misunderstood the assisted living part you are right dover is the closest place and I did not realize there were long waiting lists that is very sad and yes I do have someone that I help take care of regularly and my whole family for my whole life my uncle lives in town and has TBI he cannot do much of anything for himself which is where us as a family come together to do his shopping laundry and so on Trust me when i tell you my mothers life revolves around taking care of him and if he doesnt answer the phone just like you probably do we think the worst and someone flies down to his place to make sure he is okay… the worst feeling in the world is opening that door and hoping he isnt laying on the ground and we are currently looking to get him to a place do to aging and falling without anyone actually there to know if he is okay…..but what people dont realize is this is a grant anyone could get it but it is not a grant that could help in this situation it is a grant that the money was going to go somewhere else if she did not apply for it and time was running out, if anyone wanted the grant all they had to do was apply, a business can look online and apply for all sorts of grants just like she did so why is she wrong should it have gone to another restaurant in a different town or county , this grant is to help with people on state get off state assistance this state is in so much debt because people live off the state which is sad and unfortunate this grant is looking for people to get on there feet and not rely on someone else to pay for there children (which is the way it should be :0)) Hope you understand better about the grant and if you know of someone that is interested tell them to look up grants online there has got to be one for an assisted living facility or something that would pertain to this situation
I bet the POTUS was good at distributing these Community Development Grants.
“One resident said the town would be better off with an assisted living center.”
This statement in the context in which I read it is incorrect. The resident was additionally suggesting a nursing home and/or assisted living facility in the Eastern Piscataquis Industrial Park located on Park Street/Route 11. There were several side conversations going on at the time so I can understand anyone not close to the speaker misunderstanding.
There are any number of incentives, including this CDBG, to encourage a business to start up or expand. If you aren’t aware of them it does sound wrong and like randomly helping one business and not another. Criteria have to be met for each incentive and apparently they are being met. Would anyone not claim every exemption when filing income taxes ? I always claimed everything I could. To not exercise options that can be beneficial is paying more when it is not necessary. That’s not good business and not entirely unlike overpaying taxes.
I don’t agree for a second that a country (or its citizens) that collects voluntary taxes by the lottery ticket sales in the amounts of the lotteries in place today has a population that is too poor to be paying for Community Development Block Grants. The money is there. To not make use of these grants wherever possible in Milo or Fort Kent or anywhere else is paying into the fund and realizing absolutely no benefit to your community. That is no way for any community to manage resources on behalf of it’s citizens.
New equipment is likely necessary in part because restaurant equipment attached to the premises of the business’s current site may have to be left there or is otherwise incompatible with the restaurant owner’s plan for meeting the contract at the new site. This restaurant owner has worked very hard and routinely burns the midnight oil in her efforts to succeed. She has been unable to purchase the building that is her current location because the owner chooses not to sell. That owner came to the meeting, and with total disregard for Elaine and her privacy, started talking about this situation proclaiming that he was being treated unfairly. Last I knew the responsibility of Milo’s government is to do the best for the most and I believe they are.
Are you saying because folks voluntarily spend their money on lottery tickets, that there must be plenty of money to spread around?… am I hearing you correctly?
The conservatives have been saying for years to stop taxing and spending, you can not spend your way to prosperity. The only money the gov’t needs is the money it needs to operate. The rest of the money should be left in the private sector. The gov’t has no business handing money to Elaine, or anyone else.
If this is a low interest loan, then I’ll bend a little,.. but a grant is (has the appearance of) free money, conditions or not, it’s (appears to be) free money, from the coffers of the taxpayers.
CDBG grants are the same as “Urban Renewal Funds” of the 70’s ,.. didn’t we go down this path once before?
It is not free money,.. there is no such thing as free money!
First of all there is no non payment agreement for this business, the cafe will still have to pay for rent like anyone else. Also this grant money is not free money if anyone that was writing negative things about this actually went to the town meetings or asked for information regarding this grant then you would all know a few things. First off the condition is that two employees who are currently receiving state funds must work full time for two years. If any of you can put two and two together that means that two people will no longer receive cash, food stamps and even childcare and or headstart. So for a single mom with three maybe even four kids with no help from a father this proposal in itself will pay for itself . No state assistance for say 7 kids and 2 moms, to me thats genius. This proposal is to help get people on there feet and not need the resources from the state. So if Elaine’s gets 60,000 dollars from a grant and saves the state 20,000 dollars a year per family the state has made its money back and is profiting along with the town of milo whom is collecting rent. ALSO this is GRANT money what do you people not understand about grsnt money, if it doesnt go to this business it will go to another one without a doubt, so why not be in our community and help out several different sources. Lastly I agree with Isabelle if anyone in this world deserves this opportunity it is Elaine for anyone that knows her knows that her employees bring in more money than she does and she works a countless amount of hours. Day in and day out many sleepless nights, she devotes her life to this business and I believe that this is a great thing for everybody involved. Keep up the great work ELAINE you are a great person that would give the shirt off your back for anybody and for that my family and I thank you :)