March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Retirement complex prompts concern> UM community speaks out against proposed housing at public forum

ORONO — At a time when state and national officials have made curbing urban sprawl one of their top concerns, the University of Maine should not be encouraging sprawl by building a retirement community on a portion of the campus’ farm land, agriculture and forestry students said at a public forum on the topic Tuesday.

“It is the antithesis to a land grant university to put a housing development [on campus],” said Jeffrey Hepinstall, a research associate in the wildlife ecology department.

He said the university should not be taking away open space at a time when the president and governor are talking about preserving such space for the enjoyment of people who live in more built-up areas.

In addition, the Old Town resident said he walks his dog every day in the field where the development is proposed.

The university has proposed to build a 200-unit complex for retirees on campus land off Park Street. The plan was shown to the University of Maine System board of trustees in January and the board is scheduled to vote next month on whether to allow UM to proceed with the project.

About 75 people — including students, faculty, Old Town and Orono residents, town councilors and representatives from Eastern Maine Health Care, a major partner in the proposed project — turned out Tuesday to air their opinions on the project at the first public forum held on the Orono campus. Other forums will be held at later dates. Most of the comments Tuesday were negative.

Although Bob Duringer, UM’s chief financial officer and the person spearheading the project for the university, said the $40 million development would affect only 2 percent of the campus’ land, agriculture students and staff protested vociferously that it would impact the wrong land.

“It’s a small piece of land, but it’s important,” said Glenn Dickey, the supervisor of the university’s farms. Wheat and corn are grown on the parcel and students gain valuable experience operating farm machinery on the land, he said.

He said it is unfortunate that the campus’ farm land has slowly been whittled down and that this project would just further that process.

Justin Jamison, the crop supervisor at the Witter Farm, said he was not opposed to the concept of a retirement community at the university, from which he graduated with a degree in sustainable agriculture in 1996. But, he said, he disagreed with the chosen location. He noted in an interview that the Witter Farm, which was nearly shut down two years ago, is now nearly self-sufficient in terms of growing enough feed for the animals it houses. Much of it is grown on the parcel being considered for the retirement complex.

Referring to a list of other schools that have built retirement complexes that Duringer handed out at the start of the 90-minute session, senior Mark Guzzi said the University of Maine was not like these other schools and should not strive to be. He said the Orono campus is unique because it has lots of woods and open space near the center of campus, where students can walk, run or cross-country ski.

Campus officials said the walking trail that may be affected by the project would be relocated to another area. This troubled Chuck Simpson, the university’s woodlands manager. He said diverting more people onto trails and roads through the university’s acres of working forest will likely lead to accidents. He said students harvesting trees in the forest have already reported near misses when walkers and runners have gotten too close to forestry operations.

In addition to affecting recreational opportunities, Cat Hayden, a wildlife ecology and forestry management major, said the project would reduce the diversity of plant and animal life on the campus and could even displace threatened species.

Several speakers also questioned how the project would fit with the university’s mission. President Peter Hoff stressed that the university has a three-fold mission to educate students, do research useful to the state and undertake projects that are of service to the people of Maine. He said a retirement community would fit with each of these missions, while also helping the university fulfill a mandate from the trustees to be more entrepreneurial by looking for ways to save and make money. The university would make about $200,000 a year by leasing land to whatever entity manages the retirement community.

Still, Sarah Morin, a junior majoring in sustainable agriculture, bemoaned the fact that UM seemed to be moving away from its roots as an agricultural school.

Older Orono residents who attended the meeting questioned the cost of living in the complex. Plans call for apartments in the community to sell for $110,000 and up. The average cottage would cost about $150,000 but customized units could cost much more, Duringer said. A monthly maintenance fee would also be charged. The minimum fee of $1,100 a month would cover one meal a day, utility costs and taxes. Higher fees would be charged to residents needing more daily care.


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