The park will “diversify the regional economy,” Brett Doney said.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

NORWAY – Western Maine Development recently submitted a $2.48 million public works application grant to the federal Economic Development Administration for its Western Maine Office Technology Park.

The money would be used for public infrastructure only, said Brett Doney, chief executive officer of Western Maine Development.

The money would pay to improve the Route 117-Roberts Road intersection, Roberts Road itself, the intersection of Route 117 and Route 118, and a new road leading from Roberts Road into the park overlooking Norway Lake.

The application states that Western Maine Development will provide the necessary easements for the new access road, the water line, and the surrounding conservation land. The town of Norway and the Maine Department of Transportation have committed to include around $375,000 in road improvements in future funding plans.

The park will feature 10 buildings from 15,000 to 40,000 square feet, and will be surrounded by conservation land in an effort to shield it from view.

Doney said the park is in the last stages of obtain necessary approvals, and it is hoped to begin construction in the spring of 2004, with the project ready for the market in late 2004 or early 2005.

The park, said Doney, will “diversify the regional economy by expanding and strengthening our office industry base.”

A study done in March of this year by RKG Associates, Inc. of Durham, N.H., identified several potential marketing targets, including environment-related companies, recreational equipment manufacturers, and back-office/telemarketing, the application said.

The total project cost for developing the public infrastructure would be $3,550,103, with 70 percent, or $2,485,072 coming from the EDA. The 30 percent required EDA match would come from $375,000 in promised MDOT road improvements, and a pledge from the town of Otisfield to contribute $690,031 through its tax increment financing program.

As a regional park involving five towns and public and private funds, there are risks involved for all concerned, Doney said. All five towns have signed on to an inter-municipal tax sharing agreement that will allow the towns to recoup their investments through new property tax revenue generated by the project, based on the percentage of investment each town has made in the park.

To date, Western Maine Development has invested $395,000 in the project, including $195,000 to buy the land. The towns of Harrison, Norway and Paris have each contributed $20,000 toward public infrastructure. Otisfield has contributed $120,000, and Oxford, $13,000.

The total of those investments, $607,000, does not meet the EDA’s required 30 percent match, but Doney said additional money may be available through the new market tax credit program and if the park is designated as a tax-break eligible Pine Tree Development Zone by the state.

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