WESTBROOK – The Westbrook City Council has accepted a $125,000 grant to help clean up the former Maine Rubber buildings and property at 942 Main St., and renewed talks between the city and the property’s owners are finally showing promise of new development there.

“We’re making very good progress,” Keith Luke, the city’s director of community and economic development, told the council at a meeting Monday night.

The council voted unanimously and unconditionally to accept the money, in the form of a Community Development Block Grant, but during the comment period councilors also made it clear that they hope to see something happen there sooner rather than later.

“I really think there needs to be a crisp and concise time frame,” Councilor John O’Hara said.

The property, once home to a tire manufacturing company, has sat virtually idle for years. Owner David Elowitch has said he rents part of the property out to a private client for storage space, but he makes little more than enough income to cover taxes and other incidental costs on the property.

The city has asked the Elowitch family to do something about the property, which sits at the western edge of town and is one of the first things commuters see when passing through Westbrook from Gorham.

“Right now, it’s not a favorable impression,” O’Hara said at Monday’s meeting.

Supporters of developing Westbrook’s downtown, including Luke, have said replacing or transforming the property’s structures into something more productive – and attractive –would be a huge help to the surrounding economy.

But just what that use should be has been an ongoing discussion. The city and the Elowitch family have debated to a standstill over several proposals on the property in recent years, including a large-scale office complex, a drive-through restaurant and a bank. Elowitch has said the principal arguments have revolved around parking and access from the property to Main Street and William Clarke Drive.

But, Luke said renewed discussions seem more promising. A formal proposal, he said, is not yet available, but the idea involves a multi-story complex, with retail space on the ground level and housing built by Westbrook Housing above. Just how many floors, the square footage, and what type of housing are all still in discussion, Luke said, but he is encouraged by the latest discussions of future development for the site.

Elowitch confirmed Wednesday that he has met with Westbrook Housing and the city as recently as this week to discuss developing the property.

“We are moving forward with the project,” he said.

Elowitch said he also did not know the exact form that the final project could take, but said he respected Westbrook Housing’s approach to property development, and the group’s addition as a player in the discussions is encouraging.

“The city would obviously like to see a housing component to this,” he said.

Monday’s meeting represented the last chance the city had before the end of the year to move to accept the grant, Luke said. The $125,000 grant does have a matching 20 percent requirement, but Luke was quick to point out that the matching funds will come out of dividends from the property’s development, and the city won’t be responsible for raising the match.

“Our role here is (only) to administer,” Luke said.

O’Hara, in discussing the grant Monday, said he wants to see the property’s future spelled out as soon as possible, but he also expressed confidence that the Elowitch family is willing to work with the city to improve the property.

“I do think they really want to do the right thing by that property,” O’Hara said.

Councilor Paul Emery said he hoped the money, and the demolition that it would pay for, will be a prelude to construction, rather than the beginning of a long period of looking at a vacant lot at the site. He said he hoped the Maine Rubber property’s fate would not be similar to the former St. Mary’s Church, also on Main Street, which has been an empty, vacant lot since that parcel was cleared more than two years ago.

“I’d just hate to have one at each end of the city like bookends,” he said.