LINCOLN, Maine — A Brewer engineering firm will assess the feasibility of turning two floors of a Main Street building into the next town office, a local official said Wednesday.
The Town Council voted 4-1 during a special meeting on Monday to hire CES Inc. for its bid price of $37,000 to study the viability of renovating the bottom two floors of 55 Main St. Town Councilor Jeff Gifford cast the opposing vote, and Councilors Dede Trask and David Whalen were absent, council Chairman Steve Clay said.
“It is just another step in finding a new town office,” Clay said Wednesday of the vote. “We will find out what it is going to cost to remodel the building the way we need it.”
Lincoln’s town office ad hoc committee reviewed eight properties before recommending the three-story building, which is at 55 Main St. Lincoln District Court, which is on the building’s first floor, would have to relocate.
The building’s purchase cost is $450,000, but the town also could lease the space, an approach that would allow it to use tax increment financing funds. This would not affect local property taxes, officials said.
The council formed the five-year committee last year because the lease at 63 Main St. expires this year. The town leases the first floor there for $2,556 per month, including utilities, and can choose to extend the lease.
The committee rejected 63 Main St., saying that the building has problems with water intrusion in its basement, mold and asbestos that needs to be removed.
Ames Engineering of Bangor bid $17,260 and Fraser Associates Architects of Bar Harbor bid $39,500, Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Arnold has said.
The study will be completed well before Election Day in November. If the council approves the idea, residents will make the final decision on whether to relocate the town office.