BERLIN – Discussions about the potential sale of a portion of Heron Park will continue next week and into August.
Mayor Zack Tyndall said this week that work sessions regarding the proposed sale of Heron Park were being scheduled for July 24 as well as Aug. 14 and Aug. 28.
“All of those work sessions will continue to accept public comment regarding Heron Park at the end of each work session,” Tyndall said.
The town purchased Heron Park for $2.5 million in 2016. Last year, heeding calls to consider selling the property to reduce the roughly $160,000 in annual debt service, the town entered into negotiations with Palmer Gillis’s Coastal Ventures Properties LLC — one of two entities that submitted a proposal for a portion of the property. The initial proposal from Gillis offered the town $1.5 million for three parcels — parcel 410, 57 and 191 — and would involve partial demolition of the existing structures to create a commercial project on the site. The trails and pond on the north end of the park property would be unaffected.
Earlier this month, the town council heard from Gillis regarding his proposal as well as from members of the public, who had concerns with the plan. The council went on to ask for input from the Berlin Parks Commission and the Berlin Planning Commission. In meetings last week, members of both commissions shared various concerns with the Gillis proposal.
Reports from both bodies will be discussed at Monday’s work session, which is at 6 p.m.
“We will also continue the discussion with Coastal Ventures Properties regarding a path forward for Heron Park,” Tyndall said.
He said town officials had to make a decision on how to move forward with its $500,000 strategic demolition grant by the end of August so the town had “everything in place to comply with the grant by June of 2024.”
While Gillis says he still wants to move forward with buying and developing the roughly 17 acres outlined in his proposal, he believes officials need to decide what they wanted to do soon.
“There’s at least three to six months of work for me to determine if I can do what I want with those buildings,” Gillis said, referencing the architectural plans, stormwater management and the like he’ll need to get done to move forward with purchasing the property. “The clock is ticking.”
Gillis noted that he’s expecting demolition of the old structures at the site to cost significantly more than $500,000 based on recent work he’s done. He added that his crew had done work on the property about three decades ago when it was still a chicken processing plant and even then had found unexpected obstacles.
“It’s the below-grade, structural stuff that’s the problem,” he said, adding that private properties weren’t marked as clearly or accurately as public properties.
Gillis vividly recalls the day about 30 years ago he had a concrete contractor hit an unmarked line at the plant.
“It threw him back 15 feet,” Gillis said. “It probably should have killed him … I’ve been in business 40 years next month. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to a death on a job site.”
Gillis said officials are likely afraid to make a decision regarding his proposal for the Heron Park property, as the sale of the property will not please everyone, but stressed that he knew what he was getting into and had experience with similar projects across the region.
“I believe there’s a demand for what we’re going to be providing,” he said.
When asked if he’d consider the possibility of purchasing just parcel 57, a concept that was discussed at last week’s planning commission meeting, he said that was a possibility.
“We would consider that but the town has to decide that and tee it up,” he said.
