WESTFIELD – Local officials are regrouping after a second attempt to sell the town’s former school building failed last week.

The town came up empty-handed after a bidder withdrew the bid for the Westfield Consolidated School building that officials already had accepted, said Richard Watson, chairman of the town’s Board of Selectmen.

“Where it leaves us is, basically, in no man’s land,” Watson said Tuesday. “This is the second time we’ve put this out to bid this summer. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet.”

Officials are attempting to sell the 3.5-acre Egypt Road property, which has been in the town’s possession since 1999, to end the town’s responsibility for building maintenance. The town has been paying for the building’s upkeep for four years, at a cost of about $10,000 a year.

Officials also are trying to sell the property to get it back on the town’s tax rolls. Their only stipulation in the sale, other than land-use ordinance restrictions, is that the property not be used for a tax-exempt entity. The property is estimated at a value of $125,000 to $150,000.

The town originally advertised for bids in early summer, but received no response. When it initiated its second invitation for bids in August, the town advertised in several Maine newspapers and received three bids.

Officials threw out two bids, each less than one-tenth of the estimated value, and accepted the lone local bid.

Upon seeing the building, however, the successful bidder said it would not work with his intended plans and withdrew the bid early last week.

The action, Watson said, places the town back at square one.

“The frustrating part is that different parties have had pretty much the same idea for the building but have taken their ideas off the table for different reasons,” Watson said.

At their Sept. 16 meeting, officials will discuss whether they want to put the building out to bid for a third time or to approach previously interested parties about the sale.

Either way, Watson said, the town will continue to search for a way to get the building back on the tax rolls as an asset to the community, instead of a drain.

“We want something where the tax base is going to build,” he said.

Until a buyer is found, however, officials have a more pressing matter to address: Before the first snowfall, they will have to consider whether there is enough funding to heat the facility for another winter.