NORWAY — Town Manager David Holt told selectmen at Thursday night’s board meeting that a proposal has been received for the purchase and reuse of the former L.M. Longley & Son Hardware building on Main Street and a second one is expected to arrive Friday.

“I’m very pleased,” Holt said. The proposals are from local people.

Holt said he and Tom Denison, the two trustees of the Higgins-Crooker Trust, owner of the building, will review both proposals and either accept one or negotiate with both. If they are dissatisfied with either proposal, the property could be put out to bid.

The Higgins-Crooker Trust was established in 1923 as a fund to benefit the “worthy, aged people of Norway, Maine if needy.” It consists of the L.M. Longley & Son building at 419 Main St.; the 100 Aker Wood building, 413 Main St.; a house at 20 Deering St.; and about $20,000 in several bank certificate of deposits.

Holt also noted that the Higgins-Crooker trustees and owners of 100 Aker Wood have reached a “handshake agreement” to buy the building. Additionally, closing on the third property owned by the trust at 20 Deering St. may happen as soon as Monday. The building is being purchased by former Norway Library Director Ann Seikman.

Holt said the goal of the trustees is to dissolve the trust and have some remaining assets that will be given to the town in the form of a charity for the benefit of the “worthy, aged people of Norway, Maine” according to the terms of the trust.

At that time, Holt and Denison will be relieved of their obligation to the trust and it will be dissolved.

In other business, a few voters approved a $214,000 capital project to replace the boiler and repair the air conditioning at the Norway Municipal Building. The decision was made at a special town meeting Thursday night.

Holt said the plan was originally to look at alternative forms of heat such as wood pellets, but when the boiler was inspected last spring, he was told that it may not last the winter. Knowing that the firetrucks in the adjacent fire station had to be kept warm and that he didn’t want a boiler breakdown to close the Town Office, Holt said he opted to do a lease purchase. He used money in the 2015-16 budget to pay for that fiscal year’s lease installments. This could be accomplished with the Board of Selectmen approval, he said.

When selectmen recently agreed to bond a new firetruck, Holt said he realized the projects could be folded into one bond issue and the town could save money.

“I’m a little embarrassed to ask you for money for the boiler that is already installed, but that’s the history,” Holt said. “It bothers me that it is so expensive.”

The price includes $85,000 for the repair of the air conditioning and delivery system and for the purchase and installation of two underground propane tanks. The boiler is actually two small propane boilers. If one fails, the other kicks in as backup, he said.

The vote authorizes the treasurer and Board of Selectmen chairman to bond the project. At an estimated 1.5 percent interest rate, the estimated cost of the bonds over five years will be $12,500.

Selectmen also agreed to declare property at 106 Town Farm Road a nuisance and dangerous building. The town will seeks bids to remove a trailer with a caved-in roof and debris inside and outside. It will place a lien on the owner from Madison, N.H.

Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman said she got a single response from the owner in September, asking for an extension to clean the property. The extension was until December. Nothing was cleaned up and the owner has not contacted the town, she said.

Selectmen also received a packet of information, including a petition signed by 81 residents who oppose a proposed wedding barn at 107 Morse Road. The proposal is being heard by the Planning Board under the town’s site plan review process.

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