OXFORD — Despite few signs of construction of a Hampton Inn across from the Oxford Casino, selectmen Thursday said they were optimistic developers would meet an April deadline to improve the value of the property by $10 million. 

The town’s credit enhancement agreement with Thurlow Family LLC,  seen as a catalyst to spur development along Route 26, enables developers to retain a section of the property taxes generated as a result of the development in a special account to reimburse it for specific infrastructure projects.

The terms of the agreement originally required developers to add $4 million in property value by April 1, 2014, and $10 million by April 1, 2015. Selectmen waived the first deadline and are unsure if developers will meet the second. 

“We’re not sure at this point. We’re hoping for the best,” Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Floyd Thayer said. 

At the selectmen meeting Thursday evening, Joe Casalinova, president of Casalinova Development Group, the Oxford company that has been shepherding the hotel project, told town officials that the final specifications are likely to be submitted by the end of the month. 

Groundbreaking on a the 91-room hotel began last March, though it appears construction has yet to begin. A barn, garage and other small buildings on the roughly 4-acre parcel will be torn down to make way for the hotel, Casalinova said. 

On Thursday, Casalinova also submitted a preliminary site plan outlining more details in a “master plan” to develop some 550 acres surrounding the casino. In addition to the hotel project, developers are looking to build a resort with shopping, at least one restaurant and amenities in a cluster of eight unique “villages” not unlike the shopping outlet at North Conway, N.H. 

Selectmen said Thursday that they were upbeat that developers would be able to raise the property’s value in time, though they did not speculate what would happen if the deadline is missed. Town officials anticipate eventually utilizing some of those funds to pay construction loans on a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility under construction.

The facility, which will be fed by miles of sewer lines along Route 26 and in rural parts of town, is seen as an economic driver to attract future businesses. 

“Regardless of whether this (hotel) goes or not, once the sewer treatment facility starts running, it’s going to be very enticing to a company because they want water and sewer,” Selectman Scott Owens said. 

Owens said the town’s ability to pay loans for its sewer project would not be derailed if the hotel wasn’t up by April. 

“It’s not the only factor. The system isn’t only based on the hotel. To pay for the (wastewater treatment facility) we didn’t count on (credit enhancement funds). We’d like to have it — it’d be very beneficial — but it’s not the only source (of money),” he said. 

Selectman Peter Laverdiere said any concern over the town’s finances will prove moot once the sewer system begins flowing. 

“Once the units that process the waste go in, you’re going to see a whole bunch of dogs hanging out there with their tongues hanging, waiting to do something along that strip of (Route 26),” he said.