A meeting between Wiscasset officials and Maine Department of Transportation appears to have borne fruit.

The July 20 meeting included Town Manager Marian Anderson, Select Board Chair Judy Colby and Vice Chair Ben Rines Jr.,  MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt and MDOT engineer Bill Pulver. They discussed concerns about the off-street parking situation.

“MaineDOT and Wiscasset officials have had a good, productive discussion regarding side-street and off-street parking related to the downtown project.  Both entities support moving forward with a plan to provide a number of parking spaces consistent with the original concept, including off-street parking on Water Street,” MDOT Spokesman Ted Talbot said in an email.

Anderson said no specifics were agreed to. She said the town delegation's impression was the parking lot first planned for the Haggett building would be built.

When asked, Talbot confirmed the off-street parking on Water Street in the MDOT statement was the Haggett building at 36 Water St.

MDOT bought the building in an eminent domain process last year. The agency had planned to raze the building in December and construct a parking lot to replace some of the Main Street parking MDOT plans to remove. The town filed an injunction to stop the demolition and force MDOT to comply with the historic preservation ordinance, and due to the injunction, MDOT halted the project and canceled contracts. When the town dropped the lawsuit after a town vote, MDOT said the Haggett building was no longer in the plans, because the state had to terminate that part of the project in December.

Anderson said she believes the parking lot project will be separate from the main construction on Railroad Avenue and Water and Main streets, and the lot will come after since it was not part of the contract with Pike Industries.

Talbot said the parking lot is “consistent with the original concept.”