WALDOBORO – The Waldoboro Select Board has authorized its Town Manager to enter into an agreement with Ledvance LLC to accept the donation of the former Sylvania manufacturing site, which lies between the Medomak River and Friendship Road.

The 39 acre parcel has been in industrial use for more than a century, first as a shoe factory and then, since 1951, as a lightbulb manufacturing site, passing from GTE to Sylvania to Osram/Sylvania and now to Ledvance, which has taken over the Sylvania legacy. Ledvance is owned by a Chinese investment trio: IDG Capital, LED packaging MLS Co., (listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange), and Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center (Yiwu).

Following decades of pollutants, including chemicals released onto the land by the former lightbulb manufacturer, and with little improvement through further decades of environmental remediation, the land at 405 Friendship Road is restricted. No churches, schools, or public entities; in fact, it cannot be built upon or drilled into at all, per an environmental covenant by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Ledvance LLC has presided over the large lot, now empty, its manufacturing buildings torn down in 2006. Now, following four years of task force investigations, studies, and questions that elicited even more questions, the town is poised to finally have more say in the property’s management, according to Town Manager Julie Keizer.

“I know it took a long time, but we were really doing our due diligence, making sure all of our I’s were dotted and our T’s were crossed,” said Keizer.

The Town now must secure DEP approval and then close on the property before the No Trespassing signs can be removed and public access can occur legally. 

Thick slabs cover some portions of the land, securing chemicals underneath. Though concentration levels remain higher than acceptable, those chemicals have long since been deemed safe for humans and animals, according to the Town’s Sylvania Task Force, in 2017.

Some areas of the property remain restricted, and remediation continues, which Ledvance is responsible for, and will remain responsible for, according to Keizer.

“Though, the shoreline is beautiful,” said Keizer.

The view from the road is another issue. The Town will look for DEP approval for screening over and around the slab, which is a restricted area and needs to remain intact.

In November 2020, residents voted 1,794 to 1,017 to accept the land donation, which also includes the adjacent historic 9.3-acre Hoffses Homestead at 476 Friendship Road.

Keizer surmised that a reason for the “No” votes had to do with resident concerns about liability of cleanup.

Waldoboro is not liable. However, being an election article, Keizer was not permitted to lead people toward any opinion. Therefore, only the residents who knew to ask her that exact question could be granted an answer.

Although the Sylvania question was added to the warrant, it was nonbinding, and was used by the town to take a pulse of what residents were thinking. 

The question read: “Are you in favor of the Town of Waldoboro accepting a gift of properties located at 405 and 467 Friendship Road, known as the Sylvania Site and Hoffses Homestead, which is under an environmental covenant by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection?”

With ballot response indicating acceptance of the Sylvania donation, Waldoboro has begun to explore options, such as grants, community forums and conceptual plans for the property.

The process is intended to be interactive with the residents, and the ideas that surface may also help Waldoboro provide to DEP some sort of plan for the property, as required in a Consent Agreement.

In its 2017 report, the Sylvania Task Force suggested situating solar panels there as one option, potentially providing revenue to public entities and the high school. However, as Keizer said during a phone interview February 10, the day after Select Board members directed Keizer to enter the agreement, solar projects seem to be popping up everywhere, including in another Waldoboro location.

But the property has value: “[This contract] is an opportunity for the town to own a significant piece of riverfront property,” Keizer said.

Waldoboro already has the boat launches at Pine Street Landing and Marine Park; the Sylvania site, however, would allow for green space, walking trails and other possibilities.

The Hoffses Homestead is historically significant because it was once the landing area for a barge that connected one side of the Medomak River to the other. Prior to that, it was believed to be a tavern. Banking on these ties to the past, the Historical Society has expressed interest in the site. Also in consideration is a potential Medomak River history museum that would encompass the history of the five-masted schooner, the river, the local clamming and fishing heritage.

Another piece of the property has potential to be revenue-producing, according to Keizer.

“If there was a little portion of the property that could be commercially developed, whether we lease pad sites, or something like that, that could be something that could generate revenue for the town,” she said. “And if we could generate a little bit of revenue, that could sustain some of the other things that we might want to do on that property.”

Keizer said that while she was given authorization to proceed with the donation agreement, what happens with the property must still meet DEP approval. The agreement stipulates that anytime, up until the closing, that either party can walk away.

“Ledvance has to be comfortable with who they are doing business with, and know that the town will respect the property, and be good stewards,” said Keizer. “And that’s what we’re looking to be: Good stewards of the property.”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com