Vote set for Sept. 4 on purchase of riverfront site

PORTLAND — The Board of Selectmen has scheduled a Sept. 4 town meeting for residents to vote on a proposal to buy a 5.2acre parcel along the Connecticut River.

The property, which includes three lots on Brownstone Avenue, is the former home of the Connecticut Tar & Asphalt Co.

The town has been working since 2014 to secure the rights to the land.

The proposed purchase price is $385,000.

The vote is scheduled to take place in Brownstone Intermediate School.

Before the issue goes to a vote, however, the selectmen have scheduled two informational meetings on the proposal, one on Aug. 22, the second on Aug. 27.

Both meetings are scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Flood room at the Portland Public Library.

“There is a lot of interest in this proposal,” First Selectman Susan S. Bransfield said.

In part, the decisions to hold two meetings is a recognition that many residents take vacations in August, town officials said.

But it also reflects an effort on the part of the selectmen to provide residents with the details the proposed purchase.

“The purchase and redevelopment of the properties is an important decision for our town. I support holding multiple public hearings on this issue to ensure residents have the opportunity to get updated information and provide feedback,” Selectman James K. Tripp said in an email.

Given its location — on the Connecticut River and adjacent to both the Riverfront Park and the Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park, there are any number of suggested uses for the property.

Those include building an information center that would explain the rich history of the brownstone quarries that provided jobs to generations of Portland residents while providing brownstone for buildings from New York to California.

Other proposed uses include a restaurant along the river or using a portion of the property for parking for both the riverfront park and the Exploration and Discovery water park.

But those are issues that can only be dealt with if the town purchases the property, Bransfield said.

Given its previous use, the property is a contaminated brownfield.

“A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant,” according to a definition provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment, the EPA said.

The state has provided the town with some $400,000 to determine the extent of the contamination.

Having done so, the town is now in line to get an additional $750,000 grant to clean up, restore and redevelop the property.

Bransfield pointed to the success other cities and towns in the state have had in restoring formerly contaminated properties.

Among the communities that have had success in remediating such sites are Derby and Shelton, she said.

Bransfield was an early and ardent proponent of leasing the Northern quarry to three brothers, who after months of work clearing the site, opened the exploration and discovery park.

Under the lease agreement, the park operators have turned over some $3 million in gate receipts to the town since the park opened.

Despite drawing up to 100,000 visitors during the summer season, the park makes few if any demands on the town.

Bransfield has said she favors purchasing the tar and asphalt property both to remove the unsightly buildings from the riverfront and because “the value of the property has remained stagnant.”

The owners of the property continue to pay $16,410 in annual property taxes.

But, Bransfield said Monday, “There is no activity, there are no jobs.”

“We want to clean up that property and restore it to the tax rolls and increase the value of that property and provide a growing business that will provide good jobs and boost the economy.”

Tripp said it is that secondary benefit that undergirds his support for the project.

“I support the purchase of the properties because it is an opportunity for the town to clean them up, leveraging a brownfields grant, and repurpose them in a way that promotes economic development consistent with our Plan of Conservation and Development,” he said.