January 29, 2008
Working waterfront grant under scrutiny
A Rockland legislator has asked the state's Attorney General's office to investigate a $475,000 Land for Maine's Future grant awarded to the Spruce Head Fisherman's Cooperative.
Rep. Edward Mazurek, a Democrat, said he filed the request on behalf of an unnamed constituent. The concerns of the constituent were not revealed, but other outspoken critics of the $475,000 grant, which the fishermen's cooperative wants to use to purchase a quarter-acre of land it currently leases, say it offers the cooperative an unfair business advantage. "I don't like my money being used against me in free enterprise," William Atwood, owner of Atwood Lobster Co., the cooperative's neighbor on the waterfront, told VillageSoup.
At the root of the concerns is that the town's assessed value of the property and buildings is $123,400, while the sale price the grant is based on is $950,000, the website reported. The grant, awarded to the co-op last January, would cover half of the sale price, and the co-op would pay the other half.
Rep. Edward Mazurek, a Democrat, said he filed the request on behalf of an unnamed constituent. The concerns of the constituent were not revealed, but other outspoken critics of the $475,000 grant, which the fishermen's cooperative wants to use to purchase a quarter-acre of land it currently leases, say it offers the cooperative an unfair business advantage. "I don't like my money being used against me in free enterprise," William Atwood, owner of Atwood Lobster Co., the cooperative's neighbor on the waterfront, told VillageSoup.
At the root of the concerns is that the town's assessed value of the property and buildings is $123,400, while the sale price the grant is based on is $950,000, the website reported. The grant, awarded to the co-op last January, would cover half of the sale price, and the co-op would pay the other half.
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