MECHANIC FALLS – The Mechanic Falls Town Council on Monday night endorsed a plan to apply for a grant to fix up some of the most dilapidated rental housing in town.
“Our goal is to help landlords raise the quality of the housing and to develop a level of trust and cooperation between landlord and tenant,” Town Manager Dana Lee said.
The problem, he explained, is how to break the cycle where deteriorating apartments reduce what a landlord can get for rent, which reduces what the landlord can afford to invest in improvements. The tenant then may refuse to pay the rent and so the unit’s condition worsens, and court disputes ensue.
The plan Lee proposed is a two-year program, each year having two components. The first year involves a planning grant and a public service grant. The planning grant will assess the housing situation from the condition of the units, through to a matching rehab funding program. The public service part will finance an education component, aimed at resolving disputes without involving the town’s health or code enforcement officers or the courts.
In the second year, the housing rehab program will be implemented and the education component of the public service grant would continue.
Lee said he hopes for money to rehabilitate about 12 of the town’s 60 multiunit buildings.
According to Lee, both Mechanic Falls’ Development Commission and Planning Board have endorsed the the plan to seek the Community Development Block Grant.
In other business, the council turned down a petition request from residents of Miranda’s Way to have a road accepted by the town.
Council members noted that while the residents of Miranda’s Way off Route 121 near the Oxford town line have to maintain the road, they do not actually own it.
The council also agreed to transfer New England Public Warehouse Logistics Tax Incremental Financing agreement and responsibilities to Drew Gilman and new shareholders who recently brought it.
Lee noted that while New England Public Warehouse is behind in the amount of investment and jobs that it said it would create in the original 1998 TIF agreement, he believes the additional shareholders will increase the chances that the firm will be able to live up to the original terms by 2013, when the TIF expires.
The council also authorized Lee to change the contract for the Standpipe Reservoir project to include a waterproof sealant for $10,000. Lee noted the reservoir project, which will remain well under budget, even with $10,000 added back in, is proceeding smoothly.
Lee was particularly pleased with the test on the concrete being poured to build the reservoir.
“Results indicate that the tank is going to be rock solid,” Lee said.
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