OXFORD — Selectmen OK’d transfers from the reserve fund Thursday for costs related to the casino.

One transfer was $15,000 to Bernstein Shur, the town’s law firm, for the services of two attorneys with experience representing Bangor in negotiating with Hollywood Slots.

“It’s a very specialized field, obviously,” Town Manager Michael Chammings said. “It’s the cost of doing business with a multi-million dollar company.”

Chammings said later the town already pays the firm $7,000 to $8,000 for legal fees. Legal services in regulating the new casino mean the town will be paying the firm more than in the past.

Selectmen also approved moving $9,222 from the Comprehensive Plan reserve account to the economic development account to pay Woodard & Curran, an engineering firm, to study Route 26 for the best way to bring water and sewer service in the retail district.

Chammings said the town has applied for a grant to help pay for the total survey cost, about $25,000. Black Bear Entertainment has agreed to pay half the cost because the owners would rather be on a public sewer system than build their own on-site water and sewer systems, as they are currently planning.

The town’s cost will be roughly $9,500 should it receive the grant.

Chammings said water and sewer on Route 26 has been needed for a long time, and that developers have told him they decided against building there because there is no sewer access. With the projected economic development on Route 26 once the casino has been built, the project can’t wait any longer.

Chammings is pursuing tax increment financing for the water and sewer project.

The firm will help the town decide whether to build a sewage treatment plant, and whether to combine services with nearby towns’ utility districts.

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