RUMFORD – The River Valley Growth Council got some good and bad news Wednesday night on the potential development of a research center, to be known as the Fractionation Development Center, which would study ways biomass or wood products can be converted into chemicals and oils.
The state budget now includes $210,000 for each of the next two years to operate such a center, said Dick Lovejoy, president of the growth council board.
That money will be channeled through the Department of Economic and Community Development and will be used to put together a plan for establishing a site on the fourth floor of the River Valley Technology Center, and for working toward finding additional funding to actually build it, said Lovejoy.
A bond request for $5 million, which would establish the center, will likely not be included in the state’s bond package this year, according to Scott Christiansen, FDC director.
Lovejoy said the Oversight Committee, a subcommittee of the growth council that serves as a liaison with the FDC, will meet next week to discuss the implications of the expected funding for the long-term project.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the acting executive director, Rosie Bradley, said closure on the sale of the former Thurston building on Route 2 west of town has been delayed until May 15, from the original date of April 15.
The council is in the process of selling the building to Dixfield businessman Clinton Bradbury for $100,000.
Bradley said the heavy rain on top of snow during the first weekend in April caused a section of the roof to collapse. Although Bradbury has agreed to pay to replace the roof, that agreement did not include repair of the structural damage that resulted from the heavy rain and snow, she said.
She said a local contracting firm, William F. Porter Contractors of Rumford, has estimated a repair bill of no more than $24,000. Board member Tony Carter believes he can help reduce that figure. The council will pay for the structural repairs while Bradley continues to work on the purchase-and-sale agreement.
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