GREENWOOD — Town officials have begun talks with a business owner about revitalizing a defunct factory in Locke Mills, though any deal may be contingent on finding a buyer for the property listed at nearly $1 million.

Louise Jonaitis, owner of the former Saunders Bros. dowel factory, is asking the town to partner in a venture that would include tax breaks and outside funding for environmental testing. Those requests, however, may hinge on finding a developer willing to buy the factory, which went on the market in April for $955,000. 

The former factory still has the infrastructure if a manufacturer wanted to locate there, though it could also be developed into a motel or series of cabins, Jonaitis said in an email.

Last winter, Jonaitis met with town officials to discuss extending the town’s tax shelter, known as the Tax Increment Financing District, to cover the mill.

That request has been indefinitely shelved over concerns the mill’s value may go down instead of up, according to Town Manager Kim Sparks. 

Usually, a TIF district shields improvements to a property from certain taxes. The taxes a property owner would normally pay are instead returned to pay for infrastructure improvements. If the mill property loses value, however, it could hurt the TIF, Sparks explained. 

The mill, which once produced high-end dowels and other wood products, was heralded for reviving a dying industry when Jonaitis purchased it at public auction for $450,000 in 2010. By the end of the first year, sales grossed $1 million, and Jonaitis purchased mills in Fryeburg, Andover and Monson.

However, the Fryeburg mill burned in late 2010 while it was on the market again, and by the summer 2013, the Greenwood mill had closed. 

In an interview, Jonaitis said she left the industry in 2014 because of fierce competition from China.

“Theoretically, I had figured out how to stay in the dowel game but everyone knows there is no value in changing who you are to make a few bucks,” she said in an email. 

The request for tax breaks came amid a lawsuit launched by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which sued Jonaitis and the company last summer to force the removal and cleanup of debris containing asbestos after part of the mill collapsed. 

Though complaints against the mill date back to 2012, the most serious say unlicensed contractors were hired to clear asbestos-containing materials, some of which was improperly stored and may have exposed the environment to asbestos. 

In one instance, 400 feet of piping containing asbestos was removed from the facility by an unlicensed contractor, covered with a tarp and left outside on a concrete pad. 

Additionally, regulators say boiler ash and other wood products mingled with stormwater and drained into the Alder River, even though the company didn’t have a license to discharge asbestos. 

At the time, Jonaitis told regulators she lacked the funds to clean up the site, but by March, the debris was cleared. 

In May, regulators signed a consent decree with the company, setting a deadline for removing paints and any material potentially containing asbestos. The company was fined $17,500 for the violations, though the amount will be reduced to $5,000, if the conditions are met. 

Joelle Corey-Whitman, the town’s code enforcement officer, said she was not aware of the deal, but was pleased that years of lobbying for the site to be cleaned up appeared to be over.  

“The demolition work started sometime in April 2014,” Corey-Whitman said. “The town has waited years for the debris from the mill’s collapsed roof and subsequent demolition and asbestos contaminated debris to be cleaned up.” 

Last week, Jonaitis renewed requests for town officials to help secure funding to test the facility’s perimeter and a 1-acre lot, a former “dump site” nearby. The lot is split from the mill property, but Jonaitis has declined to pay taxes on it. The town, in turn, has not foreclosed because of the liability. 

Environmental testing opens the possibility for the site meeting the criteria for the EPA’s Brownfields Program, which could provide access to federal and state cleanup funding, according to Amy Landry of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments. A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.

AVCOG prioritizes projects with the potential for redevelopment, Landry said. Eligibility requires town participation, and Jonaitis said selectmen indicated they may be willing to apply for an AVCOG-funded study if the mill has a buyer. 

In an email to Sparks, Jonaitis said revitalizing the lot could attract retail and manufacturing businesses — or even an art colony. She said she’s had a few people interested, but so far, there’s been no deal. 

Glen Holmes, director of Economic Development for Community Concepts Finance Corporation, said the location along Route 26 near ski slopes and tourism spots made it prime real estate.

“We’re talking to anyone we can get our hands on.” 

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