BELFAST - Following a closed door session on Tuesday night, the Belfast City Council voted to allow the city manager to enter an option-to-purchase agreement for a property on corner of Front and Pierce Streets.

The elevated 0.2-acre lot at 59 Bridge Street is probably best known for the crumbling rock retaining wall that separates it from Front Street on the inland side of the road.

City Planner Wayne Marshall said the purchase agreement with the owner Dan Clarke would be contingent upon the city’s receipt of a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The money is being sought for a major overhaul of Front Street between Main Street and Pierce Streets that would include rebuilding the roadway, upgrading storm drains, sewer lines and electrical service in the area, and adding parking and pedestrian amenities.

The application to USEDA also included what Marshall described as a “realignment” of the intersection of Front and Pierce Streets that would require buying the Bridge Street property. 

“What we showing the agency is that we’re doing our due diligence and putting our best foot forward to give us a better chance at getting the grant funds,” he said.

The city applied for the grant in September and Marshall said he anticipated a response sometime around February 2014. The entire project would cost $3.8 million according to what Marshall called a “very preliminary cost estimate.”

The sale price being discussed for the Bridge Street property is $172,500, he said, noting that the amount could change based on several factors, including the possibility that Clarke, who also owns an abutting property, would move the house. 

“Right now it’s just an interim step to put us in a better position to help us qualify for grant funding to help us reconstruct Front Street,” Marshall said.

On Wednesday, Clarke confirmed that he was in negotiations with the city, and that at this point nothing had been put in writing.

Longer closures considered for Shipyard section of Harbor Walk 

A proposed change to the latest amendment to the city’s contract rezoning agreement with Front Street Shipyard would allow the Shipyard to close a portion of the recently completed Harbor Walk for longer periods and during more days than was anticipated at the start of the project.

City Planner Marshall said the closures in the original agreement were based on the activity of the single 165-ton travel lift in use at the Shipyard. As a precaution, the Shipyard could close the Harbor Walk during the sometimes lengthy process of transported large vessels with the mobile lift across the pedestrian and recreational path.

During those times, Harbor Walk users would be encouraged to use a set of “relief walkways” leading out to Front Street and around to the far side of the travel lift piers.

In light of the Shipyard’s addition of a second travel lift rated for 485-tons, Marshall suggested increasing the length of time the Harbor Walk could be closed from four hours to six hours, and allowing closures on weekends in addition to the Monday through Friday schedule.

“We’re amending those to better reflect current operations at the Shipyard,” Marshall said.

The extended hours would be included in the eighth amendment to the contract rezoning agreement. The amendment mostly concerns the proposed construction of a new 22,000-square-foot workshop known as Building 6 at the current location of Front Street municipal parking lot.

Asked if he thought the extended downtime for the Shipyard segment of the Harbor Walk would make the path less useable, Marshall said the changes are intended to strike a balance between the sometimes-conflicting uses of the path and Shipyard operations.

“On of the big attractions of the Harbor Walk is that it goes through Front Street Shipyard,” he said.

Marshall said the Shipyard moves a relatively small number of very large vessels per year. He also noted that closures would likely be during the Shipyard’s regular business hours.

Marshall anticipated having a final draft of the amendment completed for the Council’s regular meeting on Jan. 8.

In other business, the Council:

• Approved a request from Harbormaster Katherine Pickering to apply for a $50,000 Small Harbor Improvement Program grant to replace floats at the city landing. Pickering said she hopes to replace the floats with a newer and more durable style that uses plastic tubs for floatation instead of styrofoam. The city would be required to make a 50-percent match ($25,000) if awarded the grant, she said.

• Authorized a set of land swaps with three property owners in order to effectively widen Cross Street in preparation for a number of planned improvements between Main and Miller Streets.

• Welcomed Sadie Lloyd, Belfast’s new assistant city planner. Lloyd is originally from Brooks and holds a master’s degree in community planning and development from the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. Most recently, she worked for Efficiency Maine. According to City Planner Wayne Marshall, there were roughly 35 applicants for the position.

• Heard an official announcement from Councilor Mary Mortier on the 17th annual New Year’s By the Bay, to be held in downtown Belfast, Dec. 31. Mortier, who was elected to the City Council in 2012, has been the principal organizer of the multi-venue New Year’s Eve event since 2002.

• Authorized a letter of endorsement on behalf of the Belfast Free Library and Waterfall Arts as a requirement of a grant application to the National Endowment of the Arts’ Our Town program. According to Jim Campbell, who addressed the Council on Tuesday, the organizations are hoping to win funding for a project that would convert the current Young Adult section of the library into an area with computer workstations connected to several high-tech design and prototyping tools, including a 3D printer and a laser engraver. Councilor Nancy Hamilton asked who would pay for the raw materials in the case of the 3D printer. Campbell it would be somewhat like a photocopier, except rather than pay per sheet of paper the user would pay per foot of plastic material used by the machine.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com