ROCKPORT, Maine — The Select Board voted Monday night to allow the town manager to negotiate a lease with the owner of a Route 1 commercial property that would serve as a temporary home for the public library.
Town Manager Richard Bates said the negotiation would be for a 5,000-square-foot building at 485 Commercial St.
Bates said the length of a lease is one of the items that will be negotiated. He will meet with the board again next Monday in a closed-door session with details of the proposed lease.
The property, which is owned by Blue-Aqua Corp. of Del Ray Beach, Florida, is for sale for $899,000.
An advertisement for the property describes it as a “modern multi-flex building. Offices located in front of the building and large space in back with offices located on either side of the center space. Interior layout consists of six offices, one conference room, one receptionist office, kitchen, four restrooms, large waiting area, furnace room, storage room on second level and two electronic rooms for telephone/computer equipment. All of the windows have been replaced with vinyl windows. Prime visibility on Commercial Street. Owner will consider leasing.”
The town has held a series of meetings, the latest being last week, on how to proceed with the future of the library.
In November 2014, residents rejected a ballot question that called for a new library to be built at the former Rockport Elementary School property.
Bates said in July that everyone seems to be in agreement that the library, built in 1949, has no value left and it would make no sense to repair it.
A group of residents who opposed relocating the library to the former Rockport Elementary School property, owned by the town, s ubmitted a petition to the Select Board to place an article on the next town ballot to limit any new library to the current site in the village. The group had planned to present it earlier this year but held off until recently.
Since no municipal ballot is planned for November, the next time it could be acted on by residents is in June.
Board Chairman William Chapman said at the Monday night meeting that a November 2016 ballot also could be held concerning construction of a new library. The town manager said a bond issue should be approved before the library is demolished to make way for new construction.