Wiscasset’s older properties are part of the town’s beauty and Maine’s history, members of the new Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission said. They are looking forward to helping maintain that beauty and history.

Now they just have to start meeting.

Residents created the commission when they passed a historical preservation ordinance last spring.  The ordinance calls for five commission members. Town Planner Jamel Torres announced the openings after the town vote and has continued to seek volunteers to serve on the panel. So far, he has three of them.

Three makes a quorum, but it would be preferable for all five members to be on board before the commission starts its work, Torres said.

“I have high hopes that two more people will want to get involved,” Torres said Sept. 24.

He was a little surprised that more people have not come forward to volunteer, considering the high-interest subject that is the commission’s focus, he said. “There are definitely a lot of history-minded people here.”

Torres said it would be good to round out the commission with people who have construction or legal backgrounds. Commission members may live or have property in Wiscasset, or represent a not-for-profit property in Wiscasset, Torres’ June announcement states.

The first three sign-ups all own 1800s Wiscasset homes and are Lincoln County Historical Association (LCHA) members.

Author and college professor Jib Fowles has had his 1805, federal-style home on Federal Street home since 1984. He recently rebuilt a stone wall near the property’s edge.

“I was always interested in history and I thought (the commission) sounded like the kind of work I’d like to participate in,” Fowles said about why he applied. “Mostly, I’m concerned with maintaining the beauty of the village. It really is a lovely place.”

Fellow commission member Jennifer Spaur has experience restoring homes. She has an 1833 home in Michigan and got her 1801 home on Summer Street about a year ago.

“I have always enjoyed the past,” Spaur said.

People in Wiscasset have been very kind and helpful to her, so she thought joining the commission would be a way to give back to the community, she said. She and her late husband always believed in paying it forward, she added.

Commission member John Reinhardt’s interest in having a local preservation commission dates back about eight years to when he helped craft an ordinance that did not go on to a town vote at the time; that draft ordinance served as the basis for this year’s successful one.

“I was very happy ... I relished the fact that this made it to the board of selectmen and the town and I relished the fact that it passed. We really need this,” Reinhardt said.

The former LCHA president owns an 1876 house, the bed-and-breakfast Highnote.

The town’s old buildings and the look they create as a whole are the jewel in Wiscasset’s crown, and a reason for people to stop and look around, he said.

Reinhardt hopes the commission will tap the knowledge and interest other residents have regarding preservation, and talk with other preservation commissions in Maine to learn from them.

Anyone interested in applying to serve on the Wiscasset commission may contact Torres at 207-882-8200, ext. 106, or townplanner@wiscasset.org.