Selectmen authorized to look into railroad property possibilities

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

MILO — By a vote of 28 to 6, the selectmen were authorized to express an interest in a commercial railroad property on B&A Avenue during a special town meeting on July 23. With authorization granted, the board can now investigate the parcel, such as the condition of the land and its potential for the future, and come back to the town with its findings for possible future action.

“This is done in order to investigate the issues involved in the property and to do due diligence,” Selectman Peter Hamlin said. “We certainly aren’t ready to come in here and propose yes or no we are ready to acquire this property — it’s too early. We are now at the stage where they are asking us if we have the interest.

“Now is the time to find out whether or not we are interested. We are not proposing to spend nickel No. 1 on the property. We would engage the DEP to find out what was done,” he added.

Central Maine & Quebec Railway is now operating at the property, which currently is a part of the bankruptcy proceedings for the former Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway. An inquiry is needed in order to proceed with the bankruptcy court, which paid the most recent property tax bill of approximately $60,000 but may not pay future taxes.

“We end up with nothing if we do nothing and potentially we have infrastructure there,” Hamlin said, saying showing an interest in the land does not mean the town is committing to anything.

“What we are trying to do is what it takes to make it attractive for them to stay where they are,” Select Chair Lee McMannus said, “My hope is we can do some preliminary investigations and we may find out quick we don’t want to do this. One of the reasons (Selectmen Jerry Brown) and I want to speak to them is because we want them to stay here.”

McMannus said the railway has about a half dozen jobs, and is trying to make some improvements. “They are not in a financial position or a legal position to acquire that property right now,” he said, adding there could be an estimated $250,000 worth of scrap metal and salvageable items there. McMannus also said he has heard from residents about the potential environmental clean-up work needed with the railroad operating there for over a century, and the selectmen would be very mindful of this moving forward.

“I think it would be irresponsible for us not to investigate because of the potential for a railway to go through there,” Hamlin said just before the vote.