PERU — A teacher and two students from Dirigo High School in Dixfield appealed to selectmen Monday night to support keeping the former elementary school for a recreational hall.

Shaylnn Weishar and Sonya Jalette brought a petition signed by 60 Dirigo high school students and said a rec center would be very beneficial.

The school was turned over to the town several years ago when Regional School Unit 10 was formed. This summer, the town was offered a $10,000 grant to help keep the building open, but voters rejected the offer.

“What justification did the town have for turning down $10,000 for the old school and not turning the building over to the people who would run it?” high school social studies teacher Kurt Rowley asked.

Former Selectman Dennis Thibodeau said for four years the town had been waiting for selectmen to do something with the building and it’s costing the town money every year to keep it open.

Nick Waugh of Friends of the Old Peru School Committee said, “We spent three years waiting for something to happen, as well, and we had all kinds of fundraisers which we were ready to employ, but (the town) wouldn’t support it.”

He said the money would have been a great start for the committee.

Thibodeau said it wasn’t enough.

“How much money would it take before you would let us try for a year and see what would happen?” Waugh asked.

Chairman Tim Holland asked that selectmen to research the question and get back to the committee.

Thibodeau suggested the town drill a well so the town office building would no longer be dependent on the old school for water.

“I’m all for keeping the building, but you need to get severed from that building,” he told the board.

In other news, Road Commissioner Joe Roach said workers would be putting in a temporary crossing at Cummings Brook on Tuesday to open it to one lane for local traffic. He said it would support a fire engine, but would post it for three tons.

Holland questioned the firetruck use but Roach made no comment.

Bill Hine, chairman of the Wind Power Committee, said Monday night that he is waiting to see a ruling from the  Maine Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency on wind turbine noise before drafting an ordinance to regulate wind power development in Peru.

Hine said they plan to wait until they get an application for a permit for a wind power project before seeking a 90-day moratorium on such projects.