FARMINGTON – Selectmen approved a plan Tuesday to seek Pine Tree Zone status for three areas in town.

If the applications are approved, new or expanding businesses can receive tax benefits to enable them to build or expand. The grant, the result of state legislation passed in early 2003, “uses a combination of tax incentives to spur economic development in targeted areas of the state where unemployment is relatively high, and wages are relatively low,” according to the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Web site.

Selectmen approved an amendment to their application Tuesday night to add three properties not on the initial application. The application was submitted to the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, an economic development agency that is coordinating all applications from Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties. The application deadline is June 30. The council will forward those eligible to the state for final approval.

Two potential properties and one existing business were identified as possible sites for development.

Franklin Publishing plans to add a new press and finishing equipment with the tax savings. According to David Nemi, marketing and sales manager for the printing company, the estimated cost for new equipment is $3.3 million. The company was unable to determine, yet, how many additional jobs the new equipment might create.

The former Franklin Shoe factory on High Street is partially occupied by Dyeables shipping facility at this time. There is more vacant space there and, if this tax incentive is approved, it might spur more business to move there.

The last and most auspicious project added to the application would involve several acres of land owned by Robert E. Bean on Fairbanks Road. The site of an old mill that sustained fire damage and the surrounding land could be the new home for several small businesses or a more major manufacturing facility.

Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp., presented a two-inch thick document to the board for its perusal that outlined a plan for the zones should they pass approval.

Selectman Mark Cayer was pleased with the proposal saying, “It has been like that for a long time and is a hazard,” referring to the Fairbanks Road property.

Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis said he believes that the building there could be salvaged and used in the future. He said the tax incentive would be a “win-win situation” for the town by increasing properties’ values without revenue loss to the town.

“Plus the town reaps the benefit of extra jobs,” he said.

jhausen@sunjournal.com

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