BLUE HILL, Maine — The Blue Hill Select Board announced on June 30 that it had signed an agreement to purchase two properties owned by George Stevens Academy for a total of $1.88 million. The agreement still needs to be vetted by GSA’s attorney and board of trustees. The purchase also would be put to town voters at a special town meeting this summer.
According to the agreement, signed by Select Board Chair Ellen Best on June 29, the town would purchase a former dormitory property on Tenney Hill Road that has been on the market for two years, along with approximately 14 acres under and adjacent to the Blue Hill Consolidated School on High Street. The town has been leasing the latter property from GSA for decades.
Best said that the purchase is subject to review by GSA’s attorney, as well as “a due diligence period” that includes inspections. A special town meeting on the matter will likely be held in August, although a specific date has not yet been set.
“We expect that meeting to be well attended,” Best said.
The Tenney Hill property, which was listed for sale at $1.9 million, could be used for a new emergency services building to replace the town’s existing, aging fire station on Water Street. The new space would be shared by the fire department and the Peninsula Ambulance Corps, with additional space for ad hoc use by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Police.
“I do think it’s a really good move for the town on the long run,” Best said.
Deb Ludlow, chair of the GSA board of trustees, did not respond to emailed questions on the pending agreement before newspaper deadlines.
This story appears through a media partnership with the Penobscot Bay Press.