ERVING — Preparatory work for repurposing the defunct International Paper Mill has been cleared as essential business, and is now scheduled to start in May and likely finish by mid-June.
The mill has been empty since 2001, and was taken over by the town in 2014 through back taxes. The town’s goal is to get the property into the hands of a private developer who will repurpose it, said Erving Administrative Coordinator Bryan Smith.
Previously, there was uncertainty over whether preparatory work on the project — mostly removing asbestos and other hazardous materials — would be able to happen on schedule this spring, since the state government has temporarily banned non-essential business in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Town officials later found that the work is still legal, as long as the construction company follows safety guidelines from the state Department of Labor, according to town Planning Assistant Mariah Kurtz. She mentioned that companies that work with hazardous materials already have safety requirements that are more stringent than the Department of Labor’s.
“This field of work is extremely cautious when it comes to that,” she said.
The hazardous material removal was contracted by the Selectboard in the first week of March with a company called Air Quality Experts, of Atkinson, N.H., for $190,000.
While the town does not have a definite plan for the mill’s redevelopment, it does have a 2017 study on file that considers possibilities for repurposing the site for light industrial use by demolishing some buildings and preserving others, Smith said. Even if some of the buildings are eventually demolished, he said the presence of hazardous materials would make a difference in the processes and associated costs.
The town expects to put out a request for proposals from private developers in the second half of 2020, which Smith said should give Erving some choice in options for the property’s future.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.