RANGELEY – A proposal to lower the floor for military aircraft training above Western Maine goes before selectmen and residents today.

Officers and pilots with Air National Guard units in Maine and Massachusetts will review their proposal to drop the training floor to 500 feet above the ground for a 5,000-square mile air zone above Oxford and Franklin counties.

The floor now is 2,800 feet above the ground for the territories known to military aviators as Condor 1 and Condor 2.

So far, there has been little public outcry over the proposal in Rangeley, Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said Tuesday.

Ellsworth said the town’s five-member board of selectmen seemed generally supportive of the military’s need to train at lower altitudes. Military aircraft have trained in the skies above the Rangeley area for decades, and most residents have come to appreciate the occasional flyover.

Still, Ellsworth said he and the board wanted to hear the military’s proposal fully before making any formal gesture of support.

“Until I hear everything they have to say I wouldn’t venture a guess on the board’s reaction,” Ellsworth said. During an earlier meeting when the proposal was first announced selectmen seemed generally supportive. Ellsworth said he also wanted to hear what other concerns residents may have.

The presentation by Maine Air National Guard Col. Donald McCormack begins at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall at 15 School St.