ROCKLAND, Maine — The city council will consider Wednesday night whether to seek bids for a lot next to the fire station that had once been part of a plan to expand the public safety center.
The council will vote on whether to solicit bids for 31 Lisle St. The city bought the lot in December 1999 for $53,500. The third-of-an acre lot had previously been the location for a small grocery store, Finast Kind market and Snappy’s Pizza.
The city purchased the property when it was considering an expansion of the public safety building on Park Street that then housed both the fire and police departments. After the purchase, however, the city moved the police department to its current location at 1 Park Drive. The fire department is now the sole occupant of the public safety building on Park Street.
While the city has no plans to expand the Park Street complex, officials are mulling whether to merge the police chief and fire chief position into a single public safety director. The council adopted a 2014-2015 budget that did not fill the fire chief position which was vacated by Charles Jordan Jr.
Interim City Manager Tom Luttrell said Monday he expects to make a report to the city council next month on the feasibility of merging the two positions. Luttrell and Mayor Larry Pritchett said that the merger of the two positions has worked in other communities when both departments are on the same campus.
Luttrell said that the current owner of the former Schofield’s flooring store at 104 Park St., located next to 31 Lisle, has an interested buyer for the Park Street property. The buyer, however, will only make the purchase if 31 Lisle can also be acquired.
Luttrell said he does not know the identity of the interested buyer or what the buyer’s plans are for the properties.
The former Schofield’s is owned by 104 Park St. LLC, a subsidiary of JKS Property Management of Rutland, Vermont. The contact name for JKS online is John Schramm who could not immediately be reached for comment.
The lot is in a commercial zone.
The 31 Lisle St. lot is currently assessed by the city at $73,500.