PERU – Selectmen on Monday set the date for a town meeting to vote on local matching funds for a grant awarded to the Fire Department.

The grant, which will require the town to provide $13,876, is close to $125,000 from the Department of Homeland Security. It would pay for safety equipment.

The town meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13, at Rockemeka Grange Hall.

Selectmen also discussed a request by the River Valley Growth Council for the board’s opinion on what to do with the old Diamond Match mill. Some options include selling the property as soon as possible, putting it up for bid, or retaining it until a grant becomes available for environmental cleanup in an estimated five to eight years.

Board members agreed to sign a letter stating they would prefer that the mill not be put up for bid, and that some people have reservations about returning it to previous owners. Still, most supported the idea that something should be done with the mill sooner rather than later.

There was also discussion about the statewide vote in November on property tax relief through higher state funding of education. Presented with samples of resolutions from other Maine towns pledging to keep taxes low, the board decided not to follow suit.

“We try to keep taxes down in this town as best we can,” Selectman Jim Pulsifer said. “We don’t need to pass a resolution saying we’re going to do what we’ve been doing for 30 or 40 years. We aren’t a town that will say, Golly, the state is giving us a bunch of free money, where do we spend it?’ There ain’t no such thing as free money.”