LINCOLN – Concerned about residents believing the town is further along than it is in its efforts to restore the fire-damaged downtown, the town manager will hold an informational meeting on Thursday.

“We are at a point where a public information meeting might benefit those who believe we’re further along the restoration path of downtown than we really are,” said Town Manager Glenn Aho. Two fires devastated the downtown area in January, destroying nearly 25 percent of Main Street retail space.

The special meeting, the first of several, will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at the Town Office.

Aho will outline what the town has achieved so far during the special meeting. “Yes, we have secured thousands of dollars of grants, but I think people will be disappointed that we don’t have any grand proposal to reveal,” he said.

He said the town has no plans to build anything itself, but wants to foster private development. “With local government involvement we can tap into state and federal funding sources to provide economic incentives to facilitate private development for the purpose of restoring Lincoln,” he said.

Aho said the next step in the process is the final confirmation of the planning grants. The manager, who completed the last application for federal planning assistance on Feb. 15, said the grants will provide the town with needed funding to hire various experts to assist in developing plans to restore the downtown area.

Within the next 30 to 45 days, Aho expects to receive word on the planning grants. The town is seeking a total of $711,000 in various grants.

The manager said the role of the town in the restoration effort is to act as a coordinator. He said the town is working with several local business people, connecting resources and helping to facilitate private economic development.

“The grant funds we’ve applied for will enable the process to occur more quickly than if it were left solely upon individual developers,” he said. In addition, the grant funds will provide the means for improved public infrastructure such as additional streetlights, sidewalks, and even a lake-walk along a small portion of Mattanawcook Lake, said the manager.

“Although we are early in the planning process, I am very optimistic about how it may unfold,” said Aho. “Currently, we are working with local businesses impacted by the fires to purchase some of the properties and we are helping them to develop new business ventures of their own.”