The Bates Mill loft project is yet another wasteful expenditure of taxpayer dollars.

Maine Housing will contribute $5.2 million to the project. There will be 33 of the apartment units set aside for Section 8 housing. That averages out to $157,575 per apartment. Add in that the rent for the Section 8 apartments will also be paid for by public tax dollars and the project becomes just another example of government waste.

If the project was worth the money, it could be financed through private investors and wouldn’t require government help.

Does anybody actually believe that Section 8 housing will help in “revitalizing and reinventing downtowns in urban settings,” as Lewiston City Administrator Ed Barret says?

What a joke.

Paul Bouchard, Livermore