LEWISTON – A plan to swap three plots of land for more business park space passed Tuesday.

The City Council agreed to build a new road and utilities for 67.7 acres of industrial real estate in exchange for two pieces of a new industrial park off of Plourde Parkway and land for two, one-million-gallon water tanks off Ferry Road.

The work won’t begin until there is demand and the money to pay for it, according to Assistant City Administrator Greg Mitchell.

“We see this as a very creative way to plan for the future,” Mitchell said.

City crews have started relocating utility lines along Plourde Parkway to prepare for the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the planned Plourde Business Park. Dave Gendron, of Gendron and Gendron, owns the land under the Plourde Business Park and the lots east of it.

The city is also building a road through the business park called Discovery Drive, from Plourde Parkway east 1,250 feet, as a part of the Wal-Mart development agreement.

According to the agreement passed Tuesday, the city would expand Discovery Drive by 3,400 feet through the Plourde Business Park to Gendron’s land east of it. The city would build water and sewer lines and above ground power lines, as well. That would amount to about a $2.3 million investment by the city, Mitchell said.

In exchange, the city would get two lots in the five-lot park, about 32.7 acres. The city also gets six acres off Ferry Road to build the water tanks.

Work on the new industrial park wouldn’t begin until the Plourde Business Park has four of its seven lots filled and 100,000 square feet developed. The first building on the new park is expected to be finished this spring.

City staff would set a budget for work, according to the agreement, and Gendron and Gendron would get the first crack at doing the work on the road and the utilities. If they turned it down, the city would put the project out for bid.

That concerned some councilors.

“It goes against the grain of everything I believe in, to eliminate bidding,” Councilor Mark Paradis said. “But it’s not enough to turn the project down. In the end, I do believe it’s fair. I do believe that we can look any other contractor, look them in the eye and tell them we did well for the city.”

staylor@sunjournal.com

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