WILTON – Wilton’s newest police officer, Alfred J. Cooper IV, will begin training with Farmington Detective Marc Bowering on Wednesday.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen told selectmen on Tuesday that Cooper will have three days training with Bowering on Maine laws before taking an exam and starting patrol duty in Wilton on April 29.

Cooper, 33, a Maine native from Lee who has been working in Virginia, was selected earlier this month for the first of four open positions on the Wilton Police Department. Cooper, a certified police officer, replaces an officer who resigned in January.

The board also discussed ideas for the property at 24 School St. that will revert back to town ownership as of July 1. The former Renaissance School building was to be returned to the town from Franklin Community Health Network if the school program ceased.

A decision to sell the property was tabled at the last board meeting while selectmen considered whether the town had a use for it and sought public input on what should be done with the building.

Nielsen told selectmen that he has discussed it with several people, including the recreation director. There was some interest, he said, for converting it into space for children to play basketball, but he has not found anyone who was committed to an idea for the building. He had also tried to get a local market value for it prior to his recommendation.

Selectmen voted unanimously to table the item pending more information, including the value, and to leave the line item for maintenance of the building in the budget. Nielsen had previously reported that the town would have to budget $12,000 for oil, electricity, insurance and maintenance of the building.

Selectmen agreed that they would have all summer to work on selling the building before they would have to start paying for oil.

In other business, Nielsen told the board about the section of Pond Road damaged in Monday’s storm. He said 900 to 1,000 feet from the home of Olive Toothaker down the hill is closed to traffic. Ditches on both sides eroded badly, he said. Temporary repairs will begin Wednesday at an estimated cost of $35,000. Nielsen had talked with the Maine Emergency Management Agency Tuesday about receiving help with the repair.

He also had met with SAD 9 officials to discuss the school budget. While figures are not solid yet, he said, the expected cost for the town of Wilton would be $35,000 more this year.

Nielsen also told the board that Kristi Backus had resigned from the SAD 9 Board of Directors and that Dennis Taylor had resigned from the Comprehensive Planning Committee.

The state Department of Environmental Protection will complete some additional ground water testing at the landfill on May 22 and 23. Nielsen told selectmen that a program is already in place where samples are taken at the landfill in the spring and fall and sent to Northeast Labs. The results are shared with DEP but he had received a letter stating that DEP staff will conduct further studies at their expense. Nielsen told the board that there didn’t appear to be anything wrong and it could be that Wilton is just one of a number of towns being tested.