Only comments of support were aired at a required public hearing in Woolwich for OpBox, a company which assembles and sells modular structures and other products made from recycled plastic. David King Sr., chairman of the selectboard, said the Oct. 4 hearing at the town office was a condition for the company’s owner, Ben Davis of Nobleboro, applying for Maine Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Davis is leasing the building next door to Kennebec Equipment Rental on Route 1. The grant of up to $100,000 will provide him with working capital.

“Mr. Davis said he’s already hired three people from Woolwich to work there and by this time next year he hopes to have up to 25 employees,” King told Wiscasset Newspaper following the hearing.

In early August at Davis’s request, the selectboard signed a letter of intent in support of his CDBG application. OpBox sells EDURA construction products and assembles modular units which are made predominately from recycled plastic and used as an alternative to wood or metal in building construction. Among his clients are L.L. Bean in Freeport. OpBox’s main base of operations is in Nobleboro.

“He hasn’t been in business here in Woolwich very long but from what I gather he’s doing fairly well,” added King who said only a few residents turned out for the hearing. King added OpBox is planning soon to hold an open house at its facility. “I think folks will find it pretty interesting,” he commented.

During the regular meeting which followed, Selectman Jason Shaw said he had been in recent contact with Devan Eaton, Maine Department of Transportation  project engineer overseeing the Route 1 Station 46 Bridge project.

“He told me the work on the bridge is ahead of schedule. As people can see the contractor has begun putting the steel support beams in place and begun removing some of the temporary causeway,” said Shaw.

Reached by email Oct. 5, Eaton was optimistic the new bridge could be open to traffic next August, after which work will begin to remove the temporary bridge and roadway. “I would expect that the contractor will be on site through the spring of 2025 at a minimum. This is all subject to change as the contactor is allowed to be on site through the spring of 2026, so if anything comes up that delays them they still have ample time to finish according to the contract,” he wrote. The bridge construction is just north of Taste of Maine. Reed & Reed, Inc. construction of Woolwich is the contractor.

MaineDOT is planning additional highway work near the former exit to George Wright Road. As stated on the MaineDOT website, “two culverts will be replaced with a new bridge named Pleasant Cove Bridge, which will be an 85’ span. This new structure will be put in place to protect the tidal resiliency of Route 1 and to help restore tidal flow to the Back River Creek Marsh.” The work involves raising portions of the roadway up to five feet.

Eaton noted MaineDOT had also recently awarded a contract for replacement of a small wooden bridge on Old Stage Road to T. Buck Inc. construction of Turner.

“We’ll be leaving the majority of the existing abutments in place and replacing the existing deck and steel beams. The new superstructure will be steel beams and a concrete deck, with steel bridge rail. The new bridge will be approximately a foot wider, and will be significantly more durable than the existing one. The bridge will be closed during construction as there isn’t enough existing bridge width to maintain traffic…,” Eaton stated.

“We don’t have a construction schedule for the project yet, as it was just awarded to the contractor this week. The project allows for a 90-day closure and must be reopened to traffic by mid-October of 2024,” added Eaton in his email.