Wiscasset selectmen approved another five-year lease Nov. 5 for Maine Art Gallery at 15 Warren St. at a dollar a year. Under the terms, the town will maintain the grounds and exterior, and share interior maintenance with the gallery. 

During public comment, Ed Polewarczyk recommended the town do due diligence on the proposed Cenergy project at Wiscasset Municipal Airport. He cited the Point East project that was never completed. “Wiscasset can be hurt by not doing our due diligence,” he said. 

The board made several committee appointments, including Collen Gilliam, Cooper DiPerri Scholarship Committee; Betsey Kyle and Brad Sevaldson, Appearance of the Town Committee; Peter Wells, Dan Watts and Sherri Dunbar, Budget Committee; and Peter Gagnon, Historic Preservation Commission.

Town Manager John O’Connell said he got extensions for the sums owed to Maine Department of Transportation for drains and manhole covers downtown. A $31,000 one has been postponed to July 2020; and a $61,500 one was extended to December 2021.

A public hearing for the annual license for the sale of fireworks at Big Al’s Outlet was tabled to Nov. 19. Holiday decorating costs fell $700, thanks to a Garden Club of Wiscasset donation for garlands. And Waterfront Committee member Richard Forrest spoke about the possibility of adding slips. He said the committee would start to look for grants to do an engineering study and then to build the slips if selectmen agreed. Selectmen voted 3-1 to approve the committee looking into grants for an engineering study. Selectman Ben Rines Jr. dissented. He said he would prefer to raise money to open up White’s Island’s footbridge. Selectman Judy Colby was absent.