CARIBOU, Maine — The City of Caribou is going to acquire roughly .40 acres of land on Main Street, with frontage on the Caribou Stream, in exchange for a .23 acre parcel of land on Washburn Street.
Talk of the land swap began when S.W. Collins officials approached the city about potentially expanding their hardware store. The land currently owned by Caribou is adjacent to the store, and large enough to place an additional building.
As part of the deal, Caribou will remove the picnic canopy on the Washburn Street parcel and replace it with asphalt. The renovations are included with the land so, even though Caribou is getting almost twice as much land in exchange, the city will receive a $15,400 check for the difference.
According to City Manager Austin Bleess, this money will be used to turn Caribou’s new land into a grassy area, to clear trees, and assist in erosion control measures.
Any leftover monies will go into the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Fund.
“There’s quite a bit of work that I’d like to get done at the new park land,” said Caribou Parks and Recreation Superintendent Gary Marquis. “There’s a good possibility of building a rock walkway down to the dam, near the edge of the river, and potentially putting up an overlook deck.”
The consensus during the Oct. 11 Council meeting seemed to be that the exchange provides a win-win situation for all parties involved.
“It’s a pretty good deal for the city to be able to help S.W. Collins expand while utilizing some under utilized property (near Main street),” said Bleess.
