NORWAY — Oxford Hills residents are facing new difficult financial decisions as Maine Administrative School District 17 proposes moving its bus garage in Norway to the former Bessey Motors on Main Street in South Paris.

The project requires that voters approve a 10-year, $3.8 million bond to proceed. The annual bond payment would be $505,803.

According to a cost estimate analysis, renovating the garage at 36 Brown St., which is on 8.4 acres of mostly wetland, will cost $3 million. 

To build new elsewhere would cost taxpayers between $6 million-$7 million.

SAD 17 hosted public tours of the bus garage Jan. 14 and Jan. 20, and another is planned for Feb. 5. 

A  public informational meeting will be held Feb. 10 at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Forum on Main Street in Paris at 6 p.m. The referendum is scheduled for Feb. 24 at polling places in each of district’s eight towns.

The garage is overdue for building repairs and modernization. Its fueling station and tanks are at the end of their life cycle and the parking lot is inadequate for the district’s 25 full-size buses, eight minibuses, 18 vans, with little room for its 52 employees’ vehicles.

The former dealership at 209 Main St., most recently known as Oxford County Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM, emerged as a potential school district bus garage after being placed on the market last September. Creditors had repossessed it from owner John Emerson in April.

In November, the school board authorized making a $20,000 option to Ancorum Credit Union to hold the property for three months while district officials do fact-finding on the project.

SAD 17 hired Energy Management Consultants of Portland to inspect its facility and prioritize a capital improvements timeline with most urgent (0-2 years); priority (2-4 years); and recommended (4+ years) needs.

The consultant’s report, which can be viewed online, shows that the garage’s HVAC system, building automation, life safety systems and the building should be repaired or upgraded within two years. 

Harriman Architects of Auburn conducted a feasibility study and cost estimates for three options: acquire property and build a new facility; renovate the building and site in Norway; or purchase and renovate the Paris property. 

A fact sheet, including Harriman’s cost estimates and anticipated local share impact by town, is also available for review online.

Superintendent Heather Manchester told SAD 17 directors Jan. 20 that Ancorum Credit Union accepted a purchase offer of $2 million for the former car dealership.

The former dealership site is in need of maintenance but allows for more improvements since the building height is suitable for bus lifts and has a larger footprint to maintain all of SAD 17’s vehicle and equipment fleet. 

Based on a similar New Hampshire school transportation project Harriman is managing, SAD 17 would expect to pay more than $6 million for the whole project, including property purchase.

Renovating the bus garage is the cheapest alternative, but the building’s size and height limit improvements and the property is constrained from expansion by the wetlands and a retaining pond. 

The Jan. 14 tour of the garage was attended by about 15 people, most of them Paris residents opposed to losing tax-generating business space along commercial Main Street. Many were frustrated by the lack of financial information available at the time. 

Some said Paris carries the highest number of district-owned properties, which places a higher burden on its local cost share.

The assessed value of the property is $918,400 and it receives $14,878 in tax revenue.

The Gouin Athletic Complex with one storage building, Paris Elementary School and Oxford Hills Middle School are in Paris. Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School’s campus straddles the property line between Paris and Norway.

Leading a group through the bus garage’s employee breakroom Jan. 14, Transportation Director Chuck Beardsley attempted to demonstrate that the space is not enough to hold fully attended staff meetings or break periods.

Moving to the garage, attendees saw that the mechanics working on the buses on their backs, using portable lifts that only raise a few feet.

In addition to the bus fleet, Beardsley explained that four mechanics are also responsible to maintain and repair Oxford Hills Tech School, food service and facilities department vehicles.

He later told the Advertiser Democrat that during a Jan. 20 tour, another 15 people attended, with more focus on the department’s challenges beyond the building perimeter. Among them was fueling two dozen buses at once instead of one at a time and the bottleneck when buses and vans enter and exit the yard on morning and afternoon routes.

Municipal officials from SAD 17 towns beyond Paris have voiced their concerns about moving the bus garage to South Paris.

“The location is prime real estate in the town of Paris and purchasing it would effectively remove the property from the tax rolls,” Hebron Select Board Chair Butch Asselin wrote in an email to the Advertiser Democrat. “I also have concerns that this referendum is in February rather than waiting until June” when more voter participation could be anticipated.

SAD 17 board Chair Troy Ripley, of Paris, however, said there are economic advantages to having another district building.

“Instead of looking at district buildings as lost tax revenue I think it’s important to recognize the financial benefit to Paris’ small businesses in daily customer traffic and events such as football, baseball, graduations,” he said.

In a phone interview, Superintendent Manchester acknowledged the property tax issue and noted that Ancorum Credit Union is selling the site on the open market.

“Any nonprofit agency or organization, any religious group that’s not subject to taxes, could buy it,” she said.