DIXFIELD — A special town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 26, for a vote by residents on whether to buy the former Althea Fish property on Main Street.

Selectmen approved the warrant at their regular board meeting on Monday.

The warrant asks that up to $45,000 from the Ione Harlow Community Fund be used to buy the historic structure, at a cost of $35,000 from Fish’s heirs, and $10,000 to dispose of all or part of the building.

Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky said that if the request is approved, the Harlow Fund will have a balance of $57,070.

Although no specific plan for the 1-acre parcel has been devised, a portion of the property could become a public boat launch for the Androscoggin River.

Skibitsky said the board would decide whether to form a committee or take some other action for use of the land after the town meeting vote.

The warrant also requests that $100,000 be taken from the undesignated fund balance to be put toward the tax liability.

The town meeting will be held in Ludden Memorial Library.

Prior to the town meeting, a regular selectmen meeting will be held at 5 p.m. at the Town Office.

In other business, the board learned that the town has received a grant of $24,150 from Efficiency Maine that will be used to provide greater energy efficiency at the Town Garage. The building, about 1 mile east of the village along Route 2, is used by Western Foothills Regional School Unit 10 for mechanical work on buses. It also houses the Dixfield Police Department.

The town had requested $50,000 from the agency. Skibitsky said the approved amount will go toward improving heating, lighting and insulation.

Also on Monday:

— JDM Excavating of Dixfield was awarded the contract at a rate of $85 an hour to dig up portions of North Street and Coburn Avenue as part of a project to replace water lines. The North Street project will begin Aug. 9 and the Coburn Avenue project will begin Aug. 16. Both streets will be closed briefly during the work.

— The town’s negotiation committee, comprising Skibitsky and Selectmen Bettina Martin and Katherine Harvey, will meet with mediator Bob Lyman on July 28 to begin talks on the Public Works Department contract.

— Four interviews, from a pool of 15 applicants for a Public Works position, will begin this week. The person chosen will replace recently retired employee Dickie Frost.

— The regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting was changed to 6:30 p.m. on July 22.

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