Lincoln negotiating town office move

LINCOLN – The town will begin negotiations with Penquis to see about moving the town office into a proposed facility that the Bangor social service agency would build and oversee at the former Lake Mall site.

The Town Council came out of a 35-minute executive session and voted 6-0 Monday night to enter into negotiations with Penquis. There was no public discussion. About 25 people attended the meeting.

The motion the council approved appeared to fall far short of the one councilors had on their agenda. The motion on the agenda would have authorized officials to relocate the town office, to negotiate with Penquis “a lease agreement commencing in June of 2010 and to direct the Interim Town Manager [Lisa Goodwin] to give the Masonic Fraternity written notice of the town’s intent to terminate its lease agreement at 63 Main St.”

Chairman Steve Clay and other councilors wouldn’t say whether the latest vote is a step back from a 5-0 council vote in early February authorizing then-Town Manager Glenn Aho to sign a development agreement with Penquis to build and oversee the 15,000-square-foot building at the former Lake Mall site.

“This just means that we are negotiating,” Clay said about Monday’s vote after the meeting.

He and other councilors said they could not comment further without infringing upon the confidential nature of the executive session.

The council’s February vote had one stipulation: The town would not relocate the town office until a cost analysis showed that such a move was worthwhile. It was not clear Monday whether that analysis was ever completed or the agreement was signed.

Penquis has said the proposed building would contain 24 senior citizen apartments, a retail space and possibly a new town office all worth as much as $6 million. If all goes well, construction will begin in spring 2009 and finish a year later, Penquis officials have said.

Earlier in the meeting Monday, Darrell Savage, a member of the local American Legion chapter, wondered whether the town would go through with the move. The legion has property adjoining the Lake Mall spot. The Lake Mall was devastated by arson fire in 2002.

“I would hate to see the American Legion blindsided by this,” Savage said. “I would like to have some input as to what’s happening there. We are kind of up in the air and if you could help us out it would be appreciated.”