OXFORD – The state has awarded a $10,000 planning grant to the town of Oxford to create a redevelopment plan for the Robinson Manufacturing Co. woolen mill in the village.

A meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the mill on King Street with members of the Robinson family, residents, economic leaders and state officials to kick off a series of planning meetings on the mill redevelopment.

A key topic will be the future of the mill’s wastewater treatment facility. Town leaders are interested in the possibility of using the plant, licensed to treat 500,000 gallons of wastewater a day, to provide a public sewer service in the village.

“There is significant economic development opportunity for the town of Oxford should they acquire the wastewater treatment facility and expand municipal sewer service,” states the grant application to the Department of Economic and Community Development.

There are more than 100 homes within a half-mile radius of the village and they are all currently serviced by private sewer systems.

The Robinson family is also very interested in exploring the development of housing units on the four-acre property, which was the last surviving woolen textile mill in Maine when it announced its closure in July 2003.

“There is an opportunity to bring back activity and improve services to this once-thriving village area due to the value of the property location” on Thompson Lake and its closeness to Route 26, only 1.5 miles away, the grant states.

In August, the Oxford Economic Development Committee agreed to contribute $2,000 toward the redevelopment effort, an amount that was matched by the Robinson family. Along with the DECD grant, there will be $14,000 available for planning a feasibility study.