PRESQUE ISLE – Councilors continue to move forward with a “parallel path” in considering their options for the reuse of Cunningham Middle School as they wait for more details on both the proposed city use of the building and the sale of the Third Street property.

At its Monday night meeting the council discussed progress the city has made so far in researching both options for reusing the 81-year-old middle school, which will be vacated this summer by the school district and turned over to the city.

At its last meeting a divided council opted to consider seeking proposals for reuse of the building and to consider renovating it for reuse by the city.

Under track one, the request for proposals, City Manager Tom Stevens suggested that bidders would be required to explain what they plan to do with the building if they purchase it. If the council chose this route, he suggested it advertise the request now and set a June 30 deadline for proposals.

Under track two, the proposed city use of the building, Stevens said officials are working with architects and engineers to determine costs the city would incur by renovating the aging building.

School officials indicated that while some costs would remain the same, others would fluctuate because the building would be for municipal instead of school purposes, the city manager said.

Stevens said city officials do not know how much the renovation costs will differ from estimates the school district assembled in 2003. Those show that renovation work to the building – including asbestos abatement, handicapped-accessibility improvements, and a new roof and furnace – would cost in excess of $2.5 million.

In other action, the council:

. Approved the 2005 municipal warrant for prosecuting owners-keepers of unlicensed dogs. Councilor Richard Benjamin urged the council to send a letter with the warrant notice the city mails to unlicensed dog owners and keepers to “soften the language” of the notice. Benjamin cited a responsible dog owner who forgot to relicense her dog and told him that she felt “intimidated” by the wording of the warrant. The issue sparked debate, with a few councilors indicating that the move would cost the city money because it would have to change from postcard notices to envelopes, which have a higher postal rate.

No matter how the notice is worded, Councilor Don Gardiner said, all he needed to get out of it was a reminder to license his dog.

“Perhaps some people aren’t as insensitive as that,” Benjamin said.

The motion received a second, but failed in a 5-1 vote.

. Denied requests for municipal funding from the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery and the local Project Graduation, citing the council’s decade-old policy not to accept any more requests. After a lengthy discussion on whether to change that policy and citing “worthy causes” out there, councilors agreed to take the matter up in detail when the next budget season begins.

The council will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. April 4 in council chambers.