RUMFORD – Town officials realize the business community on Congress Street has changed drastically. They now want to know why and what, if anything, can be done.

Selectman Jolene Lovejoy said at Thursday’s board meeting that she and Town Manager Robert Welch plan to start visiting each business next week to learn how retail and professional businesses feel about the changes and try to decide if there is something the town can do to help.

“It’s important to keep our fingers on the pulse,” she said.

Lovejoy and Welch have scheduled the beginning of a sweep of Congress Street businesses for between 9 a.m. and noon Tuesday, Nov. 25, and Wednesday, Nov. 26. Businesses located outside of the major business district will be interviewed in the coming weeks.

“There are so many changes, businesses shuffling around, more professional business,” she said.

Several office businesses have indicated intentions to expand or change what was once retail stores into professional offices. And some of what were once retail stores are now empty.

She said she wants to know the issues downtown businesses have, how the changes are affecting them, and how the town could help.

“We want to know how businesses feel about the economic climate. My intention is to take notes, if you see a concern repeated, then some action should be done,” she said.

In a related matter, she said the change from small retail stores to professional offices has resulted in a greater demand for parking. She wants the board to take up that issue at the Dec. 4 meeting.

“There are more and more vehicles. Parking appears to be an issue that won’t go away,” she said.

At the December meeting, the board will look into the number of municipal parking spaces available, then take a look at what could be done to expand that number.

In other matters, the board agreed to lend Eugene Davis $50,000 for five years at a rate of 4 percent interest from the town’s revolving loan fund. Davis plans to use the funds to renovate and build an addition onto a building he leases to Western Maine Associates located at 19 Congress St.

He plans to construct a 400-square-foot addition onto the rear of the current building, bringing it almost to the sidewalk on River Street. Other plans include refacing the Congress Street front of the building and remodeling the interior. Plans are to begin work on the footing and walls within two or three weeks.

The board also put three pieces of tax-acquired property out to bid. These are: a house and small parcel on the South Backfield Road; a cabin and 1.25 acres on Route 5; and a small parcel and two-story home on Rumford Avenue.

Welch announced a petition by Cyndi and Barry Deanis requesting discontinuance of an approximately 300-foot section of what once was the old Spruce Street road near Community Energy. He said a public hearing and action by residents at the annual town meeting must happen before the road can be officially discontinued.

eadams@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link