BUCKSPORT, Maine — Town officials are looking to sell a vacant Main Street lot again to a local developer for $1, after a previous developer’s plans failed to materialize.
Economic and Community Development Director Rich Rotella recommended selling 27 Main St. to Chris Pepin Properties LLC of Orrington for $1 during an Aug. 13 infrastructure and properties committee meeting.
The committee also agreed to forward Rotella’s recommendation to sell 206 Upper Long Pond Road as one 29.8-acre parcel to the Town Council.
27 Main St.
Committee members agreed with Rotella’s idea to work with Pepin’s previous proposal for housing and commercial development for the vacant lot.
Rotella said he spoke with Pepin, who has expressed interest in the lot.
The property was once home to a 10-unit apartment complex damaged in a 2013 fire. Bucksport took control of the lot in 2014, Rotella told town councilors on Aug. 13. The damaged apartments were torn down, he said.
The town first sold the vacant lot to Ellsworth-based SFS Development for $1 in 2023, giving the company three years to complete work.
The work did not happen, so the town bought back the lot for $1 per terms of the agreement, with SFS Development finally signing required paperwork last month, Rotella said during an Aug. 10 economic development committee meeting.
Rotella said he took the blame for not vetting SFS thoroughly enough, but Mayor Paul Bissonnette absolved Rotella later in the meeting.
“I’m going to correct him while he’s standing right there in front of me and let him know that I don’t think he needs to fall on the sword for what happened at 27 Main St.,” Bissonnette said. “There were a lot of moving parts.”
Pepin also submitted a proposal for the site, including four to six homes and one to two commercial buildings, according to information Rotella included with his recommendation.
Pepin has built several buildings in Bucksport, Rotella said, including converting the former Timberlands building into a 10-unit apartment building, and a vacant building behind the former Tozier’s Market into a three-story duplex, Rotella said.
“He follows through,” Rotella said.
Councilor Tracey Hair said she lives behind the building Pepin completed behind the former Tozier’s Market. She was impressed with how quickly the building came together and that it now houses people.
Hair also stressed the need for housing in town.
Rotella asked for permission to negotiate with Pepin and pledged that any final deal would include a start date, substantial completion date and a finish date.
He said the town would still retain control on the property’s development and any proposal would be brought back to the committee before final approval from the Town Council.
206 Upper Long Pond Road
This town-owned lot, bordered by Upper Long Pond Road and Route 46, includes a gravel pit on the Route 46 end and a building on the Upper Long Pond Road end, Rotella noted in a memo to the committee.
The suggested minimum bid for the nearly 30-acre parcel would be $129,010, matching the property’s current assessed value, Rotella said.
The gravel pit portion can be accessed according to state Department or Environmental Protection officials, Rotella told the committee.
Splitting the lot into two is also possible, but Rotella said that getting a property survey could involve waiting six to nine months.
Additionally, splitting the parcels could lead to some interest in the gravel pit portion of the lot and perhaps no interest in the building end of the property, where sludge has been spread, Rotella said.
The property would be sold as is, Rotella noted in his memo, with no guarantee of what the gravel pit contains. Rotella said he would also recommend discontinuing maintenance of Upper Long Pond Road once the property is sold.