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 referendum to proceed. The annual bond payment would be $505,803.
According to a cost estimate analysis, renovating the current facility, which is located on 8.4 acres of mostly wetland, will cost $3 million.
To build new elsewhere would cost taxpayers between $6-7 million.
SAD 17 hosted public tours of the current bus garage at 36 Brown St. in Norway on Jan. 14 and Jan. 20, and another is planned for Feb. 5.
A public informational meeting will be held Feb. 10 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School’s Forum, at 6 p.m.
The referendum is scheduled to take place Feb. 24 at polling places in each of SAD 17’s eight towns.
The garage is overdue for building repairs and modernization. Its fueling station and tanks are at end-of-life and the parking lot is inadequate for the district’s 25 full size buses, 8 mini buses, 18 vans, with little room for its 52 employees’ vehicles.
In November, the school board authorized making a $20,000 option consideration payment to the current owner, Ancorum Credit Union, to hold the Main Street property for three months while district officials fact find the project.
The former dealership, 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 then-owner, John Emerson, in April.
SAD 17 hired Energy Management Consultants of Portland to inspect its existing 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 itself 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 current building and site in Norway; or purchase and renovate 209 Main Street in South Paris.
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 board of directors Jan. 20 that Ancorum Credit Union accepted a purchase offer of $2 million for the former car dealership.
The former dealership site on Main Street 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 currently managing, SAD 17 would expect to pay more than $6 million for the whole project, including property purchase.
Renovating the current bus garage at 36 Brown St. is the cheapest alternative, but the building’s size and height limits 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 the town of Paris carries the highest number of district-owned properties, which places a higher burden on its local cost share.
Paris’ 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 located in Paris. Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School’s campus straddles real estate in both 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 have to work 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, foodservice and facilities department vehicles.
He later told the Advertiser Democrat that during the Jan. 20 tour, another 15 people attended, with more focus on the department’s challenges beyond the building perimeter, such as fueling two dozen buses at once while only able to do one at a time, and the bottleneck created when buses and vans enter and exit the yard to go 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 non-profit agency or organization, any religious group that’s not subject to taxes, could buy it,” she said.