With delayed property tax bills cramping Wiscasset's cash flow, the town will ask Lincoln County for more time to pay its tab.

Selectmen's decision on October 1 to seek the extension is more fallout from the town's layoff of assessors' agent Sue Varney. So is another vote the board took Tuesday night, to get a lawyer's opinion on the selectmen's takeover of assessing duties.

Because those duties fall under a union contract, performing them would risk grievances being brought against the town, Board Chairman Ed Polewarczyk said.

At the start of the meeting, Polewarczyk announced he would not take part in assessing work, due the contract and two other reasons. For one, he said, selectmen aren't knowledgeable enough about the work. That poses liability issues for them and the town, he said.

Polewarczyk's other reason to steer clear of the duties was that, by rejecting the assessing budget, voters were shutting down that department. He has no authorization from voters to be doing assessing work, Polewarczyk said.

Wiscasset Budget Committee member Bill Barnes took issue with Polewarczyk's view.

“If you don't want to do that job, my feeling is you should resign,” Barnes said.

As for the nearly half-million-dollar county bill, Town Manager Laurie Smith did not immediately know if a payment delay would rack up interest.

If Wiscasset's property tax bills go out near the holidays, payments might not come in as quickly as they would earlier in the fall, Smith said. Selectmen have waited on committing taxes as they sort through the assessing situation.

Rule sought on noisy trucks

Wiscasset resident Donald Jones asked for a new town rule to clamp down on truck noise downtown.

He noticed the noise from a flatbed truck hauling excavating equipment while he was working in the sunken garden downtown recently, Jones said. The noise resulted from the truck's compressor and the engine being used to slow it down, he told selectmen.

A sign in the area already has an instruction for truckers, but Jones said Wiscasset Police Chief Troy Cline told him the town can't enforce it without an ordinance.

Why to leave?

Wiscasset would get back control of its school budget that takes up most of the town's taxes, resident Doug Smith said.

Town Manager Smith continued on Tuesday night in laying out a case for fellow residents to vote November 5 to withdraw from the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit.

Closing one or more schools would “right-size” the total square footage for the student population drop that happened years ago, Smith said. Joining with other towns would also help offset cost increases for leaving the district, he said.

He also urged voters to make the large turnout required for November's vote to trigger the withdrawal.

Mixed results on property sales attempt

Selectmen went with the $67,250 bid they received from George Freeman of Newcastle for 25 Middle Street, just over the $66,850 minimum bid they set for the tax-acquired property. Freeman's bid was the only one the property attracted.

No bids came in on either of two Bath Road lots. Selectmen plan to have a real estate agent try to find buyers.

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