By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — Four-year-old Emmitt Tice might not remember the first Casco selectmen’s meeting he ever attended. 

He was wearing soccer cleats and sitting on his dad’s lap. Then, when his dad went to the microphone he was transferred to his mom’s lap. The selectmen were friendly enough. Everyone said, ‘Hi.’ He said, ‘Hi’ back.

Emmitt might not remember all of that when he gets older. But, if things pan out, it might have been the meeting that started the ball rolling for him to have a few more acres in his backyard. 

The Tice family, Josh and his wife Katina and their son Emmitt, are future residents of Casco. They are purchasing undeveloped land in town. They plan to start building a home on the parcel this spring. They were excited to hear that abutters get first dibs on property that the town is selling because some tax-acquired lots sit next to theirs.

On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Josh Tice came to the Casco Board of Selectmen’s meeting because the topic of town-owned land was on the agenda.  

“We are closing on property in Casco — 25 Bass Lane. I am glad to be here. There are 4 beautiful acres right before the (Thompson) lake. We are willing to take some land off you, and pay taxes for that,” he said.

Chair Mary-Vienessa Fernandes said it was the town’s policy to offer the opportunity to buy the land to abutters first. 

On Sept. 14, the selectmen received a list of property the town owns. That list was updated the following week during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

It was the board’s consensus to sell off as much of it as possible or find an appropriate use for the land instead of just having it on the books and not collecting property tax on the parcels. 

“I look at the list and I think the town owns too much property,” Selectman Scott Avery said. “We need to do due diligenceand get the land off our list, and start getting taxes.” 

The Open Space Commission (ORC) had been tasked with reviewing the parcels and coming up with recommendations for the land.

One creative idea was to sell the larger parcels to a developer for single-family housing but keep some greenspace around the development that is for public use. 

OSC member Jenn Morton presented some of the group’s findings. At the end of the discussion, Avery and Morton talked about the importance of easing the tax burden for longtime taxpayers. 

“My concern is protecting our families that have been here for years. Make sure that they can stay,” Avery said.

Morton agreed.  

“Getting the proposed properties purchased by other people would help with the tax base. [Those sales would] help spread the tax base and help with taxes going down for people who have been here forever and bring more people into town,” she said.  

Morton reported what the OSC had been discussing. 

The Berry property next to the Casco Central Fire Station should be kept for town use, she said. 

“The property on Libby Road and Lakewood Road — we talked about whether it would be beneficial for the town to keep for recreational or outdoors use. If we are going to keep them, we should do something with them like hiking trails and tennis courts,” she said. 

The commission talked about “potentially working with a developer to be a small community development with open space, a small housing development with courts and playground open to the public.

This solution would keep open space and at the same time offer more affordable housing “because people are moving this way,” Morton said. 

The Libby Road lot is 40 acres, and the Lakewood Road parcel is 50 acres, she said. 

“With that amount of acreage it would be in town’s best interest to give foresight and vision of what you might possibly use it for,” ChairmanMary-Vienessa Fernandes said. 

Avery was opposed to the housing idea. 

“I don’t think the Town of Casco needs to be in the business to being landlords,” he said. 

Morton clarified.  

“Not landlords. If we were going to do affordable housing, it would be a third party” arrangement, Morton said.