WATERVILLE -- A New Gloucester company wants to build a new 2,900-square-foot KFC/Taco Bell in part of the Marden's Surplus & Salvage parking lot on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

A subsidiary of the Waterville Housing Authority is looking to build a 21-unit apartment building for seniors at the corner of Pleasant and North streets, where the old YMCA building now is located.

Thomas College wants to construct three townhouse-type buildings on its West River Road campus to accommodate about 90 students.

All three plans are scheduled to go before the Waterville Planning Board on Monday night. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at The Center downtown.

"We're really excited about it," Dan Whitney, project manager for the KFC/Taco Bell proposal, said Tuesday. "We know Waterville's a great town to do business in. We're really going to put a lot of money into this."

Whitney works for Conifer Industries, Inc. of New Gloucester, a company owned by Fred Thurston, a Maine native who owns 17 KFC and Taco Bells in the state -- including the KFC on Water Street. Conifer is building a KFC/Taco Bell in Ellsworth.

KFC formerly was called Kentucky Fried Chicken. The new project, to include a drive-through, will cost well in excess of $1 million in building and equipment alone, according to Whitney.

He said employees at the KFC on Water Street would be transferred to the new eatery on Kennedy Memorial Drive, and about 30 more full- and part-time employees would be added, tripling the current workforce.

Conifer Industries has not determined exactly what will happen with the current KFC building, but is considering options in the light of the Hathaway Creative Center being developed across the street, according to Whitney.

He said the KFC/Taco Bell project will require city and state approvals for traffic and storm water plans.

"We could probably start construction March 1 if it was up to us but the reality is, it will take several months to get through the application process," he said.

Marden's would continue to own the land and lease it to the restaurant, according to Whitney.

Marden's general manager, Paul R. LePage, who also is Waterville's mayor, said the restaurant would be built in the parking lot located to the right of Pizza Hut, as viewed from Kennedy Memorial Drive. Patrons would enter the lot from either the current entrance to Marden's off Kennedy Memorial Drive, or from the nearby car wash.

He said there is plenty of parking for the new business, as well as for Marden's.

"It's pretty exciting," LePage said of the project. "It's going to add to that side of town; it's just one more eatery."

Whitney had nothing praised city officials with whom he has worked on the plans.

Meanwhile, plans for the new 21-unit apartment building at 89 Pleasant St. are being presented by WHA, Inc., the developer, which is a subsidiary of the Waterville Housing Authority.

Michael Johnson, executive director of Waterville Housing Authority, said his organization would have no ownership in the building. Officials developed a plan for the project and the state Housing Authority awarded it low-income housing tax credits, he said. He did not have information about size of the apartments or cost to rent them.

"We're still working on that," he said. "It's our first appearance on Feb. 4, so we're still working on the details of exactly how it's going to sit on the site."

He said the Housing Authority has a waiting list for senior citizen housing. Current senior citizen housing includes apartments in the former school attached to the Muskie Center; those at Elm Towers on Elm Street and those on Louise Avenue and Water Street.

Thomas College hopes to start building three townhouse-type buildings as soon as this spring, according to Beth Gibbs, Thomas' vice president for financial affairs. The buildings would house about 90 students, she said.

The buildings would be constructed adjacent to the Alfond Athletic Center, not on about 40 acres the college bought in 2006 and 2007 and rezoned from residential to institutional.

Gibbs said more information about the project will be shared at Monday's meeting.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com