RUMFORD – The former Thurston mill will soon go out to bid.

The Property Management Committee of the River Valley Growth Council decided after a meeting last week that advertising for a buyer for the property would be the most beneficial route to take.

The former wood-turning mill was sold at auction last year to a Lewiston/Auburn investment group that plans to turn over ownership of the multi-building complex and surrounding 14 acres to the growth council sometime next week. The investment group paid $115,000 at auction.

Growth council Economic Director Scott Christiansen said bid packages are currently being created, and the bid announcement is likely to be posted by Dec. 20. Bids will be due back by Jan. 20.

“We want to see what the market wants,” he said.

Christiansen said the Property Management Committee will give equal weight to the offer price and to the number of jobs that will be created when considering bids.

He said the council had considered the former mill as a possible site for a bio-refinery project, but after consultation with a potential investor, the committee agreed to put it out to bid.

He said an unnamed bio-refinery investment group is likely to find a site to meet its needs sometime within the next four to six months.

A bio-refinery would turn wood products into chemicals and oils for a variety of uses and is one of the long-term projects the council has been working on.

Christiansen said the council will consider serious offers only on the building complex and maintains the right to reject any or all bids.