Officials in Gray are enthused about a new $500,000 federal Brownfields grant to assess underutilized properties in town, which they hope will lead to new development in the years to come.

“Generally speaking, we’re all in support of finding opportunities to expand economic development,” said town councilor Sandra Carder.

The three-year grant, according to a statement from the town, comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Biden administration announced last month that the EPA was allocating $254.5 million of the recent bipartisan infrastructure law to Brownfields grants for 265 communities nationwide, including Gray. The grant will allow Gray to assess underutilized or abandoned areas to see if they qualify for Brownfields funding to refurbish or clean up the properties. 

According to the town’s statement, the federal government allocated funding to address  Brownfields funding for buildings or properties that are difficult to build on or develop due to hazardous substances or other contamination.

Gray Town Manager Nathaniel Rudy said he applied for the grant. He started as Gray’s town manager in January of 2021, but previously was city manager in Hallowell and director of community and economic development in Gardiner. In both communities, he said, he applied for and got similar grants that went a long way toward identifying key properties for cleanup and future building projects.

“It provides municipalities the size of Gray with an amazing tool for economic development,” he said.

Rudy said the town has already identified about a dozen properties for assessment, and will probably add more over the grant’s three-year period. He declined to discuss any specific property, in part because the town is still communicating with property owners about the assessment program. 

In general, however, Rudy noted the town is looking at properties such as sites where foundations of old mill buildings remain. He also mentioned a property taken by the town after nonpayment of property taxes, which contains asphalt shingles, a quantity of old household appliances and other waste that could be expensive to clean up.

“Those properties, if they could be brought back to some kind of productive use, could be very valuable to the town,” he said.

The town’s announcement indicated the assessment would assist with “future planning for the Gray Village Center and the Route 100/Portland Road Corridor as prioritized by Gray’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan.”

Gray Planning Director Doug Webster has been with the town for 14 years, and said it's likely that old, out-of-business gas stations in the village might be targets for assessment. Sites like these, he said, often contain large underground storage tanks that must be removed or otherwise properly dealt with before anyone can redevelop the property. That, he said, is an expensive process that drives away developers. A Brownfields assessment, he said, can help the town make the case for future federal funding to clean those sites.

“It’s very big for the town of Gray, and I commend our manager for pursuing it,” he said.

Carder said freeing up more property for development is vital for Gray’s future. Right now, she said, developers throughout town are already building housing and other projects, and similar growth in surrounding communities means Gray will want to keep pace with other towns in Cumberland County. 

“I think that’s the dynamic that we’re all facing,” she said. “We can feel the pressure.” 

Rudy said once the assessment period is over, he expects the town will apply for grants from the EPA for the assessed sites in town.