BUCKFIELD – Selectmen on Tuesday night gave their approval to Zadoc Long Free Library Trustee Virgil Tilton to pursue a grant to enlarge the library.

The trustees are proposing to construct a 12- by 12-foot addition to the back of the building in the center of town. The library is on the Maine Historic Preservation register, and trustees are corresponding with that commission to be sure the addition will not endanger the property’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Town Manager Cindy Dunn said the addition does not meet the required setback distance, and the library trustees will have to obtain a waiver from the Appeals Board.

Tilton said library officials have a broker who has given them a price for the books the library no longer has use for, and this will be the matching amount for grants. He also assured the town that library officials will be required to maintain the integrity of the present architecture to keep the building’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

In other news, a letter from Eva Thompson, pastor of the Buckfield Community Church, was read. She said the church was concerned that the adult dance on Sept. 4, which was allowing alcohol, was being held in the center of town. She said this was sending a negative message to the young people of the town and suggested that next year the selectmen might consider having the dance in another part of town.

Selectman Chairman Joanne Bly expressed her appreciation to the church for sharing its concern.

Jerry Samson was appointed to the Planning Board. He is building a home on Route 117 in Buckfield and wished to become active in the town.

Dunn reported that the Department of Environmental Protection has ruled that hazardous waste can no longer be collected in Buckfield, so each household must take its waste to a site in Norway on Saturday, Sept. 18.

Due to health reasons, Allen and Margaret Young on Shedd Hollow Road were given an extension to Dec. 1 to clean up their junkyard.

The board voted to have Dunn put out to bid the town’s 1989 Dodge one-ton truck as well as the Fire Department’s 1986 GMC van. The bids will be due by 5 p.m. Sept. 27.

SAD 39 Superintendent Rick Colpitts will attend the Sept. 28 board meeting to discuss the tax reform.

The board adjourned to executive session for discussion of the town manager search.


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