NORWAY – Town officials agreed Wednesday night to let the Western Foothills Land Trust try to negotiate a sale and purchase agreement to buy a 10.5-acre site on Pike’s Hill for a price to be determined.

The consensus was reached following nearly 90 minutes of discussion by a half dozen officials from six towns representing original investors in the land. Both the Land Trust and the land owner, the Growth Council of Oxford Hills, will discuss the plan.

“It just needs to go away,” said Paris Town Manager Sharon Jackson of the property that the towns invested nearly $370,000 in 10 years ago to develop a technology park on 161 acres.

The Land Trust, which works to conserve and preserve native ecosystems, watersheds, farms, forests and scenic landscapes, paid $310,00 last year to buy 150 acres of the original 161 acre-parcel. At that time, Growth Council of Oxford Hills left 10 acres out of the sale with the intent to sell the property to a developer to repay the towns for their investment.

The 90-minute meeting involved officials from Norway, Otisfield, Harrison, Paris and Waterford, the growth council, the Western Foothills Land Trust and the Western Maine Economic Development Council, a division of Community Concepts, Inc. They met to try to resolve how best to get rid of the land while recouping as much money as possible for investor towns.

Everyone agreed they want to recoup their losses, but agreement was tougher to reach when questions of who would pay for the appraisal and other related selling costs arose.

“There’s no appraisal on the 10.5 acres and we have no money. We’re trying to get you paid back as best we can,” said Marcy Boughter, development manager for the group formerly known as the growth council.

Former Norway selectman candidate Wes Wentworth suggested investigating placing a windmill on the hill to sell power to the electric grid as another way of recouping losses. Towns like Saco have invested in windmills and are seeing good financial returns, he said. The plan would need an initial investment to buy a meter to see if the site would generate enough wind to support a windmill.

“We’re certainly not willing to invest anything else,” said Otisfield Selectmen Hal Ferguson. “It’s not in our best interest. Where would the money come from? We would not invest another penny.”

Otisfield has the largest investment in the land at 58.4 percent, or an estimated $180,000. Harrison and Norway invested 13 percent, or about $20,000 followed by 6 percent from Oxford and Paris and 3 percent by Waterford.

Harrison Town Manager Brad Plante said he believed his board would not go for the plan, saying he was sent to the meeting with a directive from one selectmen who said simply “make sure you bring a check back.”

While Selectman John Bell of Waterford said he thought a wind mill was a great idea, he said it was important to follow through on the original agreement that Selectman Bruce Cook said appeared to say the growth council must sell the land if other options fell through.

Boughter said the Growth Council had hoped to give the land in the form of a tenant-in-common deed in proportion to each town’s investment to each town as a way to rid itself of the land – something that must be done to dissolve the council. She said the plan was to let Norway sell the land and pay back the other towns.

Norway selectmen made it known in the past that keeping some control over what happens to the land is vital to the welfare of Pennesseewassee Lake and Western Foothills Land Trust property.