FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Residents of Forest City learned Friday that the Department of Homeland Security was scaling back expansion plans for the port of entry facility in the small Maine community.
According to a news release issued by Senator Collins office, DHS said Friday that it would limit the size of the port of entry to land already owned by the government, backing away from the previous plan to acquire land owned by local residents.
"This is a welcome change in the Department of Homeland Security's plan for upgrading the Forest City port of entry," said Senator Collins. "It addresses the concerns of local residents and will help ensure that taxpayer funds are not wasted on an unnecessarily large facility for a location that is well-known as a low-volume point of entry."
Senator Collins said she was told that the original project would have cost more than 8 million dollars.
Forest City resident Jane Johnson, who is an abutting property owner with land that the federal government had been looking at for the expansion said she is pleased with the outcome.
"I am very grateful to Senator Collins and her staff and Senator Snowe for reaching a good resolution to this situation," Johnson said. "They do need to do something to this building. They do need to make updates and I'm glad they realize that they can do that on their existing footprint."
Alan Bersin, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, which is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security was in Maine Friday visiting port facilities. We could not reach the commissioner for comment.
NEWS CENTER