The town of Wiscasset could soon be looking at Mason Station building and the equipment in the building as assets to collect over $846,000 in overdue taxes.  

The Mason Station property was sold to National Resources, who made the purchased of the property under the corporation of Mason Station in 2004 from the Florida Power and Light Company for a sale price of $3.9 million.

National Resources is a Greenwich, Conn based company who specializes in redevelopment of former industrial sites; the owner of the company is Joe Cotter.

With the Mason Station sale town officials were very excited with the hope that the defunct power plant and the surrounding land would bring economic growth to the town.

Ideas of a for new mixed office and light industrial development, single and multi-family housing, boardwalks, retail shops, offices, a culinary institute and full service marina were being introduced. However, those ideas did not take shape.

The lack of taxes received from the current owner has created a problem for the town. After townspeople pressured selectmen, they took action and won a default judgment from Lincoln County Superior Court to collect those taxes in the amount of $846,263.  

This judgment will allow the town to collect this debt by attaching the assets of the Mason Station.

An asset of Mason Station is the Mason Station building, the former steam-electric generating plant that once housed five turbo generators, boilers and a maze of equipment that produced needed electricity that is packed and covered with asbestos, a highly hazardous material that is very costly to remove.

In 2007 a Guatemala company purchased a majority of the equipment, not all of it, in the Mason Station building from Cotter, and paid cash for it, according to Alex Barboni, the company’s representative in the United States. Since that time, the Guatemalan company (ESI SA) has been slowly disassembling the equipment and shipping it to Guatemala.

The Guatemala company purchased the five turbo generators, including the steam turbines, electric generators, and related equipment, according to Barboni.

Approximately one-third of the purchased material has been removed, crated and shipped. Another one-third has been removed, crated and ready for shipment, according to Barboni. The other third is yet to be disassembled which includes two boilers their components, along with catwalks and cranes.

The cost to remove the asbestos from the one boiler, that has been shipped, cost in access of $1 million dollars. The bids are in for the asbestos removal from the second boiler is also in access of $1 million dollars. There are four other boilers in the building that were not purchased by Guatemala that will remain in the building after their work is done, that equipment is also packed in asbestos with an estimated cost of nearly $4 million to remove.

Although the material was purchased by a Guatemala Company the services needed for the work is being done by local businesses. The asbestos removal has been done by R.J. Enterprises Environmental Services out of Brunswick. Three to six workers from Guatemala work at the site during the dismantling operations. While here they benefit the local economy also.

Barboni said the Mason Station dismantling project benefits several local businesses and contributes to the local economy,  they include but not limited to: Ames Supply; Schooner Inn; Cote Crane Services; Maine Oxy; Wiscasset Family Medicine; Pro Body Works; Hancock Lumber; area consultants; gas stations; restaurants; copy shop; Grover Tire; Coastal Boat Work; Key Bank; Shaws Market; Jameson Insurance; Blagden Towing.

Barboni also pointed out during an interview, according to the contract with his company, the owner of the building is obligated to provide 24-7 access and for the utilities, (heat and electricity)  on site to Guatemala representatives, and to Central Maine Power Company until they vacant the building, this runs about $10,000 per month, Barboni said.

A letter has been given to Wiscasset’s Town Manager Laurie Smith, by Barboni, relating the terms of the contract with Mason Station and his company.

According to Wiscasset Town Manager Laurie Smith,  it is unclear what option the town will take in collecting the $846,263. There are several options available to the town to collect the debt with the default judgment in hand.

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 207-844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetnewspaper.com.