FARMINGTON — Residents at a special town meeting Tuesday will consider allowing the town to enter into a tax increment financing agreement with a Waterville-based company that is looking to develop an assisted living care center on Knowlton Corner Road.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Farmington Community Center following a 6:30 p.m. regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen’s meeting at the same location.
Selectmen earlier this month approved the terms of a tax increment financing agreement with Woodlands under which the town would reimburse 100 percent of incremental tax revenue to the company for 10 years. While selectmen agreed on the terms, the town entering into TIF agreements is subject to voters’ approval.
At Tuesday’s meeting, voters will consider establishing a tax-increment financing district for the 38-acre area on Knowlton Corner Road where the $4 million assisted living center will be built. They will then consider authorizing selectmen to enter into a credit enhancement agreement for the district with Woodlands Senior Living.
Woodlands Senior Living, which operates 12 residences in Maine, approached the town in December about developing an assisted living center specializing in memory care within Farmington. The center will have 36 beds and provide care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
In April, when Matthew Walters, who co-owns Woodlands Senior Living with his father Lon, first requested the 10-year TIF, selectmen tabled the issue, saying they thought that length of time at 100 percent was too long. However, after touring the Woodlands assisted living center in Lewiston and hearing more about the value the project would bring to Farmington, selectmen agreed to accept the terms as presented, Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis said.
Matthew Walters said there is no assisted living center in the area offering these type of memory care services. He said a big factor in choosing the plot of land on Knowlton Corner Road is the possibility of further development beyond the initial $4 million project. He said it is likely that a second phase of development would occur, possibly in the form of an apartment-style care center on the site.
The company hopes to close out on the land purchase and break ground on the project by late August. Walters said the residence is expected to open in late summer next year.
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