TURNER — The New England Fish Co. will soon become the town’s newest business.

A company representative gave the Board of Selectmen a check at Tuesday night’s meeting as partial payment for the former Cooper Brothers Apple Processing Plant. New England Fish Co. had the winning bid in an auction for the plant. It chose the 39,000-square-foot facility because of its large cold storage capacity.

The company has facilities in Portland and Port Clyde. It is one of the state’s largest providers of herring for lobster bait, according to company representative John Charpentier. It has its own herring trawler, the Providian, but still must import bait from the West Coast.

In addition to supplying bait, it provides trucking, cold storage, net repair and other services to fishermen. Charpentier discussed plans for utilizing the plant with selectmen.

The company is owned by the Raber family, some of whom live in the Turner area.

In other business, Morin’s Property Services was awarded the contract for mowing. Its bid of $6,600 for mowing areas such as cemeteries and ball fields, and $400 for mowing the old landfill was the lowest of several bids received.

Town Manager Eva Leavitt suggested that the recent dry spring might indicate a dry summer with slow grass growth. Selectman Ralph Caldwell, who operates a large organic farm, replied, “I have all sorts of confidence that by the time I want to plant corn, it will be muddy.”

Code Enforcement Officer Roger Williams raised his concern over US Cellular’s deviation from their approved plans for a cell tower built in town. After discussing their options in an executive session, selectmen instructed Williams to seek legal counsel on the matter.

Workers in the Public Works Department asked the board to authorize them to work four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days.

Newly elected Selectman Dick Keene spoke in favor of delaying a decision until the new Public Works director is hired. The other selectmen agreed.

The RSU 52 budget referendum will be from 1 to 7 p.m. May 8. The public hearing on the budget will be held on May 1 in the Leavitt Area High School.

Selectmen considered using the Lewiston-Auburn 911 call center for dispatch of first responders in Turner. They decided to continue supporting the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s dispatch.

Caldwell asked the board to reconsider its decision on washing the school buses on town property. They had previously turned down a request by RSU 52 on the grounds there were no suitable facilities. He complemented the schools for keeping the buses clean, but wasn’t thrilled with how they disposed of their wastewater.

At their next meeting the selectmen will consider offering to let the schools build a properly licensed washing facility adjacent to the fire department on town land.

Selectmen expressed interest in discussing sharing a town manager with Buckfield. They have received mixed signals from Buckfield and no formal talks have been held.