OXFORD – The town will have to wait for an undetermined amount of time for disaster assistance monies from the state after last spring’s flooding damage, Town Manager Michael Chammings said Thursday.
“The state does not have the money,” Chammings told the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting. “They are liable for that; that is money that is owed to us.”
Oxford had been approved to receive about $75,000 after last spring’s record rainfall and the resulting flood damage to infrastructure including roads. Chammings said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has reimbursed the town 75 percent of the total, or slightly over $56,000.
FEMA disaster assistance requires a 25 percent match for every dollar of federal aid. The state is liable for 15 percent and local communities contribute 10 percent. The town has pitched in its required portion, but the state so far is unable to contribute 15 percent, said Chammings.
According to a letter dated Jan. 30 from Arthur Cleaves, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency, there is no disaster fund at the state level for reimbursements to municipalities.
“Last year’s legislative session closed before the state share for this disaster could be determined,” the letter said. “There is not a disaster fund from which these matching reimbursements can be made in a timely fashion. For this reason, we are awaiting legislative actions to appropriate the necessary funds.”
Chammings said he does not know when the town might receive the money.
In other business, members of the Thompson Lake Environmental Association asked the board to consider selling the Stanton Building on King Street to the group at a price that is below market value.
The group, whose primary mission is environmental protection of the lake, includes members from Oxford, Casco, Poland, Otisfield and Norway. The group has been leasing the building for $1 per year since 1994 and using it as an office.
The building’s market value was recently listed as between $90,000 and $95,000. Group members asked the board to consider a selling price closer to $60,000.
“We don’t want to get kicked out,” said Tom Ray, a resident of Poland who is the group’s co-president. “That could happen if another buyer comes in and it’s sold at fair market value.” The building, a former one-room schoolhouse, is on a lot measuring 75-by-160 feet.
After comment from the group, the board voted to allow Chammings to write separate articles for the sale of three buildings including the Stanton Building that will be on a warrant for a vote by residents at either a special town meeting or the annual town meeting in June.
Chammings said a special town meeting could be held prior to the annual meeting because a number of special projects will need to be voted on by taxpayers, including a possible tax increment financing plan for the future Education Center being planned in the Oxford Hills Business Park by Norway Savings Bank.
Comments are no longer available on this story