Westport Island could be putting its house at the town-owned Wright property up for sale if voters set a plan in motion June 28.

The proposal stems from a citizens' petition Mort Mendes started. “I don't think the town should be in the real estate business,” Mendes said April 30, one day after selectmen signed a letter directing Town Clerk Gaye Wagner to put the referendum question on the ballot.

Selling the house would get it back on the tax rolls and would provide money that could go toward paying off a commercial loan the town has in connection with the property, Mendes said.

The question proposes getting an easement to permanently protect public access to the town's boat launch and a parking area. It also calls for an independent appraisal of the house site and the easement-protected land, and would authorize selectmen to put them on the market.

The three-step proposal comes with a $5,000 price tag for the work; the question doesn't break down the amount needed to carry out each step or state the source of the funds selectmen would tap.

A public hearing on the question is set for 7 p.m. May 16 at the Westport Island Town Hall.

Selectmen voiced no opinions on the proposal during Monday's meeting. Chairman George Richardson Jr. was not there. Reached Tuesday, he declined comment on the proposal's merit.

“Other plans are going to be put forth,” Richardson said, declining to elaborate. “It'll all come out at the public hearing,” he said.

The budget committee, on which Mendes serves, supported putting the question to a town vote, to let voters decide what they want to do with the property, committee chairman Dennis Dunbar said.

Residents will vote on the question at the polls June 28. Town meeting follows on June 29.

Jetty awaits repair

Talks continued April 29 over how to fix the damaged jetty at Wright Landing.

“I'm quite disappointed we've not made more progress on repairing the jetty,” Art Ballard, chairman of the committee that helps maintain the Wright property, told selectmen.

One of the concrete planks on the jetty's outboard crib was broken some time over the winter, Selectman Gerald Bodmer said.

Ballard suggested using a float rather than a crane in replacing the log. “The biggest problem will be finding two 10-ton jacks to get in there,” he said.

The float idea has come up before, Bodmer said. The safety of that and other possible methods is still being determined, he said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.