PARIS — The Board of Selectmen voted 3-1 Monday night to allow Interim Town Manager Bill Guindon to enter into an agreement to sell the Mildred M. Fox School to Avesta Housing.

Voting in favor were Chairman Mike Risica, Chris Summers and Janet Jamison. Voting against was Scott Buffington.

During the public hearing on the sale of the former school on East Main Street, Seth Parker, director of real estate development for Avesta Housing, explained what the nonprofit wants to do with the building.

“Avesta’s intention is to reuse the school, which is a historic structure, and turn it into senior housing,” he said.

The purchase and sale agreement does not include the two parking lots associated with the property that residents approved buying at last year’s town meeting.

Buffington said he thought it was a great idea, but he had an issue with one part of the agreement.

“There is one item in this contract I am not a fan of so before I sign it, I would like to talk about it,” he said.

Guindon said there was legal review of the document and that he didn’t receive any feedback regarding the contract.

“I don’t think our attorneys would have let us get to this point if they saw something that wasn’t in our best interest,” Risica said.

Guindon advised the board to address concerns with the contract in executive session. Jamison asked if they could hold a quick executive session and Guindon advised against it because the executive session had not been posted.

Buffington said if he were going to vote on the matter Monday night, he wanted to discuss it. His contention was with default remedies.

“For some reason the town backs out of the contract, we would have to reimburse you for any costs you incur at that point, potentially thousands of dollars we would have to pay back,” Buffington said to Parker and Avesta Housing President and CEO Dana Totman. “You have the $5,000 deposit. If something goes wrong on our end, there is no end.”

Buffington said he believed $125,000 was “a very fair price” for the property.

Part of the funding for the project could come from historic and affordable housing tax credits, along with grants. Applications for the tax credits are due near the end of September.

“I just want to make clear that if we don’t get our financing, if this deal does not go through, you’re not on the hook for the cost we incur. The only thing that can put yourselves on the hook (is) if you arbitrarily say, ‘We’re backing out, we’re not going to sell it to you.’ You have control,” Totman said. “If we should fail along the way, that is our failure, that’s not a cost to you. All the engineering studies would go to you.”

Parker shared more details for the future of the school: The first plan would retrofit the existing building and create 12 mostly one-bedroom apartments, with some two-bedroom apartments. The second plan would build a 6,250-square-foot two-story addition onto the school, which would add 16 more units.

“The scale of the project is largely dependent on the availability of financing for this type of housing,” Parker said in an email Monday. “Our initial thinking is that the project is more competitive utilizing just the existing building and converting it into 12 units of senior housing with no new addition. However, it’s possible that could change as we work through the process.”

The income-based rent would be limited to those 55 and older, with incomes between $20,000 and $30,000 a year. Rent for a one-bedroom apartment would range between $500 and $600 and would include heat, hot water and electricity, Parker said Monday.

The town re-acquired the school from SAD 17 in July 2015 after owning the building in the 1960s. In December 2015, selectmen held a special town meeting where a handful of voters approved putting the school on the market.

In February, selectmen asked for requests for expressions of interest in the school, and Avesta was one of two entities that submitted proposals to the town.

A tentative timeline for the project includes breaking ground next spring and completion the year after.

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