Wiscasset selectmen on Aug. 18 gave Town Manager Marian Anderson the go-ahead to negotiate Lincoln County Healthcare’s six-month lease of 10 to 12 classrooms at the former primary school. The lease would run from Dec. 1 of this year to May 31, 2016, Anderson said.

The terms still need to be worked out; Anderson told selectmen she will get back to them when the lease is ready to sign. The town would seek to still be able to show the school to prospective buyers or tenants while part of the building is under lease to Lincoln County Healthcare, she said.

Responding to a question from Selectman David Cherry, Anderson said the lease would not preclude the town from leasing other parts of the building at the same time. The space Lincoln County Healthcare wants to use is at the building’s north end, she said.

A Lincoln County Healthcare official said July 21 that the organization had contacted the town about possibly leasing space at the building, for training to prepare staff for the standardizing of electronic medical records.

About Federal Street

Federal Street resident Bill Sutter has an idea, if the town is interested and the state would go along with it: Reroute Route 218 so that it no longer runs into Federal Street.

Either the Maine Department of Transportation or the legislature could redesignate Route 218, possibly by taking it over Fowle Hill Road to Gardiner Road, Sutter said during Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting and in an interview afterward.

Anderson said later that the town will explore the rerouting idea; how to go about that discussion has yet to be determined, she said. Also Tuesday, selectmen asked Anderson to prepare a letter thanking MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt for his decision on the weight limit.

The board and Federal Street residents on Tuesday credited one another and Alna selectmen with helping save the weight limit.

Mason Station update

Anderson said she and Public Works Director Doug Fowler went to Mason Station to continue trying to figure out which pieces the town owns following court rulings. Plans are also under way with the Lincoln County Planning Commission to explore a grant relating to Mason Station’s possible cleanup needs, she said.

Board members took no vote but expressed support for exploring the grant. When selectmen previously passed up the idea, the court proceedings were still under way and selectmen were being advised by legal counsel not to talk about the properties, Anderson said.