MILLINOCKET – The Millinocket Historical Society will own a new home for a museum at 80 Central St. thanks to a 4-2 Town Council vote Thursday during the last scheduled council meeting before the election.

Chairman Wallace Paul and David Cyr, who are society members and up for re-election on Nov. 6, cast tie-breaking votes in favor of the $99,000 appropriation. Councilors Jimmy Busque and Scott Gonya joined them. Councilors Bruce McLean and Matthew Polstein were opposed.

Kimberly Duplisea, a member of the historical society, made a presentation on the purchase to the council and praised the vote. She said the building would allow the society to move from a tiny space on the third floor of town hall to something much more suitable.

“We have hundreds and hundreds of wonderful displays and nowhere to put them,” Duplisea said. “We need a home, a place where we can bring mill history out and share it with everyone. We feel it would be a great benefit for the town as a whole and a great resource for residents” to purchase the building.

Under the deal, the society has two years to raise money to pay the town back or the town can sell the property. Extensive building renovations cannot occur until the society repays the town. About $90,000 pays for the building, with the rest covering closing and utility costs over the two years.

McLean and Polstein said it was unwise to buy a building without first having it inspected and appraised. The town could be on the hook for the purchase price, and much more, if serious flaws are discovered in the building such as asbestos contamination, Polstein said.

“This is a price that represents about a 50 percent premium on the tax-assessed value of the building,” said Polstein, who argued that councilors’ private discussion of the purchase two weeks ago did not require an executive session.

“It’s not an historically important building,” McLean said. “I really do want to support this project. I like the idea of having [a museum.]

“But $90,000 sounds like a huge price to pay for a small building,” he added, saying that emotional concerns might be causing councilors to rush into something “when we could really find a building that is more [historically suitable].”

Busque, Cyr and Gonya defended the purchase plan and the vote, which was moved up on the agenda so that Busque could vote before leaving to go to work. Busque successfully motioned 4-2 to end further discussion before the purchase vote, a move Polstein called “a priceless sandbag.”

Cyr, who negotiated the purchase agreement for the society with building owner Carl Mott, said he believed it was not unethical for him to vote because he does not benefit personally or monetarily from the purchase. And the building, he said, is in very good shape.

“There isn’t a staple or wire or a piece of trim out of place in that structure,” said Cyr, who is a cement contractor and homebuilder who also owns rental apartments. He has volunteered to plow the society property for free, he said.

Society members didn’t seek an appraisal of the building “because it [an appraisal] costs money,” Cyr said. “It would be unfair for us to get an appraisal right now because the apartment market is too flat.”

“We need to generate income and to provide a benefit to Millinocket” with the building purchase, Cyr added.

The purchase might seem rushed, but the society needed to secure the building because, Mott told members, he had other buyers interested in it, Duplisea said.

“We were afraid of losing this ideal property for us,” Paul said.

Buildings such as McLean suggested “might be more historical,” Duplisea said, “but are not in a condition satisfactory to us. Not without spending a lot more money.”

The vote is the second since August in which some councilors voted despite possibly having conflicts of interest. Despite being landlords, Cyr and McLean voted Sept. 13 on an ordinance increasing the number of town inspections to general assistance rental properties.

Their vote in favor of the ordinance came after they successfully pushed for an amendment limiting some of the circumstances under which properties might be inspected. They argued against the ordinance before the amendment, saying it likely would cost landlords money in an already depressed rental market.

Neither rents to general assistance renters – and Cyr said he is trying to sell his apartments – but under state law, they cannot refuse general assistance renters without possibly being liable for discrimination.

Paul said Friday that he didn’t think there was any conflict of interest between the historical society and the council. Both work to serve the town, he said.