TOPSHAM
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority board of trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt a proposed 2018 budget and a capital improvement plan.
Revenue totals $8.2 million, and expenditures total $8 million. Lease revenue from properties owned by MRRA net $2.4 million a year and state and federal grants account for $3.8 million in revenue.
The largest expenditure, $3.2 million, is for property services. Steve Levesque, MRRA’s executive director, said the authority has invested a lot of money into the properties, and those investments should start paying off. Maintaining the properties is a large undertaking, and it is done in part to help attract tenants to the area, he said.
MRRA board member Steve Weems said the 2018 budget emphasizes investing in the future by continuing an aggressive redevelopment effort focused on the airport property, including the hangars, TechPlace and industrial buildings within the airport footprint.
The budget was characterized by Weems as a mix of cautious revenue projections and maintaining staff capabilities while adding one administrative position at TechPlace. Modest increases for staff salaries, at 2 percent, were also approved as part of the fiscal plan.
Levesque said there have been fewer property sales this year compared to previous years, partly because the Navy is conveying less land.
Levesque said in a report MRRA currently owns 1,296 acres of land, hosting 100 private and public entities doing business at the former Navy base at Brunswick Landing and at Topsham Commerce Park.
Property lease and sales activity are strong. There are 55 tenants under lease at Brunswick Landing and the Topsham annex, including 32 businesses at the TechPlace facility. Levesque said there is still significant interest in the TechPlace facility, and there may be an expansion of the location in a year.
The board of trustees will meet again on Oct. 25.
jlaaka@timesrecord.com
• MRRA CURRENTLY owns 1,296 acres of land, hosting 100 private and public entities doing business at the former Navy base at Brunswick Landing and at Topsham Commerce Park.
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