Remediation of this Former Parking Lot at 65 Munjoy Street Will be the Subject of a Public Meeting Tonight. In the background are the Condos Constructed by Avesta Housing.
Developers of 65 Munjoy Street, Peter Bass and Ehan Macombe.r, d/b/a Adams Apple LLC. (Bass Lives on Waterville Street on Munjoy Hill.)
By Carol McCracken (Post # 2,714)
The public is invited to attend a meeting this evening, Thursday, September 15, at 6:30 pm at Shailer School Apartments, 56 North Street on Munjoy Hill. The meeting is in the Community Room of the former School.
The purpose of the meeting is to present clean-up strategies for the brownfields on which Adams Apple LLC plans to build a residential building – 65 Munjoy Street was the parking lot for the former Mirada Adams School that Avesta Housing converted into condominiums a few years ago. Before the School was built, the site was the location for several
Shailer School at 56 North Street on Munjoy Hill is the Meeting Place for Tonight’s Meeting.
industrial businesses – including a paint manufacturer. The space was known to be highly toxic and required extensive remediation. That did not extend to 65 Munjoy Street, however.
Neighbors did not receive any notice of the public meeting for tonight.. One neighbor saw a tiny announcement buried in the back pages of the classified section of the “Portland Press Herald” several weeks ago. She brought the announcement to the attention of her neighbors. Is that sufficient?
The Adams School condominiums built by Avesta Housing required extensive remediation to rid the property of toxic materials before the project could move forward – in fact the remediation took much longer than expected because much more toxic material was discovered than anticipated originally. Blowing toxic dust onto adjoining property was also a problem for neighbors. (Will anyone ever forget the on-line video of neighbor Gary Marcisco battling a cloud of toxic dust during the Avesta Housing construction of the condos?)
More recently the developer was the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Matt Thayer, a neighbor of the property and five other defendants. (Thayer along with Dan Haley, served as co-chairs of the Adams School Reuse Committee.) The lawsuit was filed against Peter Bass and Ethan Macomber-Boxer, d/b/a/ Adams Apple LLC. The lawsuit stated that the over sized building was of poor design. The matter was settled out of court. Bass, d/b/a Random Orbit also was the developer for Lafayette Lofts, at 33 Lafayette Street, with which some neighbors remain dissatisfied with the finished product.
“The developers of the property (65 Munjoy Street) purchased the property for $1.00 and the city got a grant to clean it up. The taxpayers are paying for it through their taxes,” said Jen Wkstrom, a neighbor of the property. ,
Developer Peter Bass and his wife, artist Lin Lisberger, both serve on city boards as volunteers. they were opposed to the redevelopment of 58 Fore Street by CPB2.,
To clarify my statement, “the developers of the property purchased the property for $1.00…” it WAS purchased for a $1.00 but when someone purchases a property for a $1.00 it is expected they put up the money for clean-up OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET, hence the discount of only $1.00. When someone purchases something for a discount because it is less than 100%, you don’t get the discount AND get it fixed so it’s 100% at someone else’s expense. MY opinion is this is virtual stealing of the federal taxpayer’s money and this money SHOULD only go towards those that cannnot afford to cleanup the mess themselves…for instance, the poisoned poor people of Flint Michigan NOT some rich developers who stand to make a profit off this endeavor.