RUMFORD — At a special town meeting Thursday, fewer than 30 voters approved proposals to allow replacing the building next to the town’s ice rink, and to authorize an easement in the public right-of-way for the placement of geothermal trenches to help heat and cool the former River Valley Tech Center on Lowell Street.

The vote authorizes the Board of Selectpersons to spend $275,000 from the town’s capital account to replace the building next to the town-owned ice rink  at 51 Lincoln Ave., which was severely damaged in the December 2023 flood. The project is planned to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines for later reimbursement of the town’s costs.

The office building for Parks and Recreation was located in a vulnerable place within a 100-year flood plain, Board Chairperson Christopher Brennick said. “We are trying to rebuild outside of the 100-year flood plain, in an area where it would be sustainable for the long term.”

Brennick said the new building will be placed on higher ground, on the hill toward where the parking for the Hosmer Field complex is now located.

“We’re making sure we do it in a way that it’s eligible for reimbursement from FEMA. A lot of FEMA money is on the back end. You have outlay capital in order to apply to get it reimbursed, which makes it difficult at times, but we’re lucky that we have money that has been stored away over the last 30 to 40 years in a capital account that give us the flexibility to be able to do this and then apply for reimbursement down the road,” Brennick said.

Town Manager George O’Keefe added, “We have to have some form of voter approval for a couple of reasons. One is that the money we use to reimburse this building is not currently obligated by the federal government. So the provisions of the town’s ordinances that allow the town to spend money when there is a grant that is approved and obligated by the federal government do not apply in this situation because it’s not on a reimbursement basis.”

O’Keefe said the Parks and Recreation Department does not have replacement of the building in its capital plan, “So we do need to have an authorization from you, the voters, to spend the money on this particular building.”

The article authorizing an easement for 60 Lowell Street LLC for nonexclusive use of the town’s right of way on Lowell Street, from Hartford Street to River Street, will allow for installation of geothermal trenches to heat and cool the former River Valley Tech Center on Lowell Street. The easement includes the southerly half of the parking lot situated between Lowell Street and Congress Street, between the structures located at 150 Congress St. and at 154 Congress St.

The easement was granted with the condition that the work and the project will not impair the public use of Lowell Street or the parking lot, and under terms and conditions that the Board of Selectpersons deems to be in the best interest of the town.

Brennick said Kara Wilbur Bensen of 60 Lowell Street LLC tried different options and worked with partners in the community and “it’s not panned out in a way that makes sense. So they’ve looked at doing these geothermal wells in order to heat and cool that building.”

He said, “This is a really big redevelopment project, an anchor property here in the downtown in a building that sat vacant for a long time. This is a way they’re going to be able to access those tax credits and make the heating and cooling system economical, not only for startup but also for operations.”

Brennick said, “From what I’ve been told, there will be minimal obstruction to the activities on the Island. That was a major concern that we had. As far away as it seems, it wasn’t that long ago that we had major disruptions due to the downtown project.”

O’Keefe said the geothermal trench project should be completed within a couple of years.

“The owner of 60 Lowell St. attempted to negotiate … with the mill, and unfortunately, the mill didn’t feel comfortable drilling in the soil around the property, for understandable reasons,” O’Keefe said. “So this is the next best alternative, which is to put these wells under Lowell Street and to repave it from curb to curb once it’s done.”

The cost of the repaving will be paid by the developer of the property.