An Atlantic Salmon Federation official is holding off renewing the Alna Head Tide Dam Committee’s charter while he evaluates the outlook for a project at the dam site.

Andrew Goode said Feb. 4, the committee has done a lot of good work and gathered good data; the next steps will depend on how restricted the panel’s, and the project’s, options would be, he said.

“We don’t want to waste anybody’s time,” Goode, the federation’s vice president of U.S. programs, said in Thursday’s telephone interview.

“It’s hard to say what the best path forward is.”

He expects to gather further information Monday, Feb. 8, to aid in his evaluation, Goode said. A meeting has been set for the committee and selectmen, at 6:30 p.m. at the fire station.

Selectmen renewed the committee’s charter in January, giving the panel another year to propose a project; however, they noted that the federation also needs to sign off on the deal, as it did the original one in 2015.

The 2016 charter bars any substantial altering of the town-owned dam. A deed covenant, from the Jewett family’s handover of the dam a half-century ago, calls for the dam to never be destroyed; selectmen have said they will honor it.

Goode hopes to find out from selectmen more about the terms the committee would be working under. “It really depends on how strictly that (covenant) is interpreted,” he said.

From the outset, he has sought a project that would aid fish passage, honor the site’s history and make other improvements, he said.

A project could shore up the aging dam, Goode said. “I’ve always believed this was a win-win,” for fish passage and the town as the dam’s owner, he added.

Goode will seek the selectmen’s input and the committee’s, as he considers the future of the nonprofit’s effort with the Alna site. He said he also wants to be sensitive to the concerns selectmen have raised about the potential for division in town.

“We don’t want to create polarization in the community,” he said.

Meanwhile, Goode has preparing for neighboring Whitefield’s town meeting vote regarding a dam there; so that has been taking up some of his time, he added.

Head Tide Dam Committee Chairman David Reingardt did not immediately return a message Thursday.

First Selectman David Abbott said the board could talk with Goode about the charter, but Abbott added he thought the board had made its position clear.

“That’s our stand and it hasn’t changed, that if they come up with anything that would violate the covenant, that we’re not going to bring it forward to the town,” Abbott said.

The upcoming talks with selectmen and the committee will help determine how best to proceed, Goode said. “Whether it’s to go forward, or it’s stepping back and picking one issue ... We’re in the evaluating stage.”