BETHEL – The Board of Selectmen voted Thursday morning to approve a $4,000 Project Canopy grant, Town Manager Christine Landes said.

The money will be used to start a tree inventory as a basis for establishing plans for tree planting, Landes said. “It will also be used to help determine the age of existing trees. The idea is to get a plan in place and get it matched up with the town’s Comprehensive Plan.”

Project Canopy operates as part of the Maine Department of Agriculture. Project Canopy Director Jan Ames Santerre said on the Project Canopy website that the grant could also be used to “allow towns to respond to threats from invasive pests, such as the emerald ash borer,” and “can support community beautification through street tree planting.”

In other business, Landes said Christi Mitchell of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission took selectmen on a tour of the former Ethel Bisbee School on Thursday morning.

The school was turned over to the town by SAD 44 last year, and Landes said the building is being considered for inclusion on the Maine Historic Preservation Commission list.

“She said that there were a lot of positive things about the building, and that the board should hire an engineer to see if the building is structurally sound,” Landes said. “It may be possible for the building to eventually be used as housing for the elderly. A lot of old schools have been converted into those types of buildings in the past.”

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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