If you have driven by the former Tannery site on Washington Street recently, you may have noticed a large pile of fill on the site.  This fill is destined to be used in the cleanup of the former Tannery site.  

This past spring, Camden was successful in receiving a $200,000 USEPA Brownfields Clean-up grant to address soil contamination from the sites historic use as a tannery.  The town is presently in the process of obtaining the services of a qualified environmental professional (QEP) through an RFQ process.  This is a necessary step for any Brownfield Grant.   The prospective QEP’s met on site on Friday October 12, to walk the site with the Town’s Planning and Development Director.  

The QEP’s will then submit clean-up proposals to the town. The successful QEP will develop an engineered cover system to address subsurface contamination.   The cover system will be designed to facilitate the eventual reuse of the site. The grant application as well as the RFQ contemplate a wide range of uses of the property following the cleanup, including the existing Riverwalk trail, proposed green space as well potential mixed uses.        

The QEP and the Town will engage the public as the Clean-up plan is designed and implemented.  It is assumed that the clean-up will take place next construction season and should last no more than two-three months.   The final redevelopment of the site is not set in stone and the QEP’s understand this and their clean-up plans will be able to facilitate a wide range of uses on the property.  If you have questions about the tannery clean-up please contact the town’s Planning and Development Director, Jeremy Martin at 207-236-3353 .      

I met with Anita Brosius-Scott and Pete Kalajian from the Energy Committee to talk about moving forward a project that has the potential to both save the Town a great deal of money over the years and reduce Camden’s carbon footprint.  Recently the Energy Committee contacted two companies who specialize in converting streetlights (Realterm Energy and Tanko Energy) to get information on the potential cost of Camden converting our nearly 300 streetlights from High Pressure Sodium light fixtures, which are leased from CMP to LEDs that are owned by the Town.  A conversion from leased street lights to municipally owned street lights will:
Create energy savings
Allow more options for fixture selection and photometric design
Significant cost savings (lease > own)
Allow advanced fixture operations control options
Greater flexibility with placement and removal
The combination of savings on energy costs and lease fees has the potential to save Camden  nearly $40,000 per year based on current electricity rates.  

The town has several options for moving this project forward in a manner that will have no negative impact on taxpayers as it relates to the upfront costs of the conversion.  Given the long term savings for Camden as well as the potential to improve environmental outcomes this is project has the potential to significantly benefit the Town.

The Town currently has an open request for proposal process for a new Town Website.  We are looking for website redevelopment/redesign services with the goal of a new Town website that is more functional for users and allows residents to do more business with the Town through our website, provides more access to Town information, and is easier to update and customize.  Proposals a due on October 19th.  So far, we’ve had a lot of interest in this project.
 

Jermey Martin and I have been meeting with organizations in the Midcoast region with an interest in housing affordability and increasing the availability of workforce housing.  This is a statewide issue that is particularly acute in the Midcoast.  There are several existing organizations that could play different roles in addressing the multitude of factors that contribute to a lack of affordable housing options in our region.  Our goal is that by discussing potential partnerships, and eventually forming them, with these organizations we may have the opportunity to start moving initiatives forward that will make inroads into solving this problem.