The state will likely be removing a longtime weight limit on Wiscasset’s Federal Street, a Maine Department of Transportation official said Wednesday.

A final decision has not been made, but a change is most likely to happen, and that change will most likely be to remove the 6,000-pound weight limit, Scott Rollins of MDOT’s planning bureau said in a telephone interview July 8.

If that does happen, the town can request a weight restriction specific to a time of day, but not around the clock, Rollins said. However, the process for seeking the restriction is stringent, he said. So asking for one does not guarantee it would be granted. “Not at all,” Rollins said.

The Wiscasset Newspaper contacted Rollins after town officials reported Tuesday night that the state planned to make a change regarding the weight limit. They said the state did not name what that change would be.

Selectmen made plans to call a public hearing to ensure state officials have residents’ views.

The current 6,000-pound limit keeps trucks from taking Route 218 to get to Route 1 in Wiscasset.

The limit has faced challenges before, most recently in May as some Newcastle residents asked Wiscasset selectmen to consider removing it. An MDOT official at the time said the state has the authority to remove it, and would like to, but didn’t want to force the change.

Alna selectmen in May reaffirmed a prior board’s stance against the weight limit’s removal.

Federal Street resident Ed Kavanagh told selectmen on Tuesday that if trucks start coming through from an area gravel pit with crushed stone, “It’s going to be unbearable .... There’s a lot of people on the street that are concerned,” he said.

“We are as well,” Selectman Jeff Slack said.

No date was set for the public hearing. Board members said they would like local members of the legislature as well as representatives of MDOT to be there to hear residents’ comments.

If the state decides to pull the weight limit, the change will be timed to occur when the new traffic light is in place at routes 1 and 27 in Wiscasset, Rollins said. “So we would not be doing anything before that.”

According to information provided at the Lincoln County Commissioners’ July 7 meeting, the project at the intersection is expected to get under way this fall or next spring.

Nonprofit eyes getting

Whites Island for Wiscasset

Wiscasset selectmen gave an initial warm reception Tuesday to a nonprofit’s plan to try to buy Whites Island and offer it to the town to preserve as open space. Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Region Land Protection Manager Steve Walker said the land trust started exploring the idea after being approached by one of the island’s owners who inherited it from prominent Wiscasset resident Bill Phinney.

Selectmen thanked the trust and the Phinney family for their efforts.

“It’s a fantastic idea,” Selectmen’s Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said.

Vice Chairman Judy Flanagan recalled when she would go to the island.

“Many people have fond memories. I remember finding things (there). So to have this chance to give the children and grandchildren an opportunity to enjoy that space would be wonderful,” Flanagan said.

Footbridges to the island in the Sheepscot River need repair and are not currently open, Rines said July 2. A resident Tuesday night recalled the town learning years ago that the cost of the work would be prohibitive. Selectman David Cherry said he had a similar recollection, and that the high cost had related to the railroad-crossing there.

As for mowing and other stewardship costs, the land trust would be willing to help the town with fundraising, Walker said. “It’s a neat little spot,” he said about the island. The trust would seek an easement, he said.

There aren’t many islands as close to a downtown as Whites Island is, Walker said July 2.

The town’s 2015-2016 tax commitment book lists the island’s valuation at $26,700, for a tax of $453.90, according to Town Manager Marian Anderson.

Job openings update

The town is readvertising for a harbor master after no one applied for the job, Anderson said. Daniel Bradford, who resigned as harbor master, has accepted a short-term reappointment so that the town will not be without one, Anderson said.

The search for Wiscasset’s next town clerk is down to two finalists, Anderson said. Christine Wolfe resigned to take the town clerk’s job in Freeport.

Flanagan had asked for the latest on those searches and on the search for the Wiscasset Police Department’s next school resource officer. Anderson said she believed applications had not yet closed for the officer’s job but that she would get back to the board with an update. The current school resource officer, Perry Hatch, resigned and planned to leave the department in early August.

Also Tuesday, the board accepted Marla Blagdon’s resignation as animal control officer. Board members and Anderson noted Blagdon’s dedication during her years of service.

“She took it to heart, and she cared and was a good representative,” Flanagan said.

Wiscasset is looking into possibly having the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office provide animal control services as it does in several other towns.