Commissioners approve CDBG application for sporting camp expansion

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
    DOVER-FOXCROFT — A $120,000 Community Development Block Grant to help a couple expand their sporting camp businesses in the Ripogenus Dam area took another step forward at last week’s Piscataquis County Commissioners’ meeting.
    Commissioners voted 3-0 to endorse the application filed by David and Luisa Surprenant, owners of the Rip Dam Sporting Camps and the Abol Bridge Campground.
    Chris Winstead, the executive director of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, outlined the application process, timeline and requirements.
    The commissioners had already signed a letter of intent for the grant in November 2014 on a 2-1 vote, with Eric Ward of Greenville opposing the measure. Ward did not seek reelection last year, however, and was succeeded by James White of Guilford.

    Winstead explained that the $120,000 grant requires that the applicant match the funds dollar-for-dollar and create one job for every $30,000 invested by the CDBG program.
    David Surprenant explained that his businesses have a working relationship with Northern Outdoors in the Forks which specializes in whitewater rafting trips. He’s already demolished some old buildings at Rip Dam Sporting Camps in anticipation of putting up new ones and plans to add more cabins at Abol Bridge Campground to accommodate rafters and anglers. “We’ve been building the bunkhouses at Chesuncook and shipping them down,” he said.
    The Surprenants have also owned the Chesuncook House — 45 miles north of Greenville — since 1999.
    Commissioner Fred Trask said that he supported the business expansion, but asked Winstead to clarify the county government’s role in the application process. Winstead explained that since the application came from an unorganized territory, the county had to be the sponsoring entity. “Some communities are very hands-on with applications, like Brownville,” he said. “Everything goes through the municipality. With others, like Shirley, I’ll be more involved with their administrative portion.”
    Shirley is seeking funds for the Dove Tail Bat Company to purchase new equipment and will host a public hearing on the application April 22.
    The funds for Abol Bridge LLC are slated to arrive in July and the Surprenants can start spending them in September, according to Winstead. “Whatever you’re looking for assistance I’ll be glad to provide,” he added.
    Trask asked for more clarification, such as what would happen “if the project was half-completed, where does the county stand from a financial point of view? Don’t get me wrong — I favor this. But the three of us (commissioners) represent the whole county.”
    Winstead said that Trask “had every right to ask these questions” due to the county’s financial responsibility, but reminded the commissioners that they had already signed a letter of intent, which was equivalent to an endorsement of the application. “Abol LLC will also have $120,000 of its own money on the hook,” Winstead said. “So they have skin in the game.”
    Interim County Manager Tom Lizotte pointed out that the applicants were “well-established business owners” and the commissioners would be kept informed about the expenditures after the project gets under way.
    Surprenant also said that he’s confident they’ll be adding “more than just the four jobs” required by the application once construction is completed.