Wiscasset selectmen decided Sept. 5 to talk again Sept. 19 about the Wawenock building repair project downtown. Town Manager Dennis Simmons told the board, town counsel has drafted a letter to the owner; so far, the board has opted not to send it.

“I think we need to give (owner Wawenock LLC) a little bit more time,” Simmons told the board. “They’ve given us a timeframe, and let’s see if they work within (that). If not, then we can send them this nasty letter saying, ‘gonna to take you to court.’” Selectman Terry Heller said the town can name a timeframe rather than accepting Wawenock’s. Heller also suggested a fine, such as $100 a day, “to help them hurry up, so that they’re not just sitting around.”

That risks “huge amounts of legal fees” better avoided, he said. “I get everybody’s frustration with it, and he (Ralph Doering of Wawenock) created this situation, because he could have done this last year and not waited til this year and then have to list all these excuses about the weather and manpower, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But it’s where we’re at at the moment. You guys want me to spend the money ... you tell me and I will.”

Selectman Pam Dunning agreed about seeing what Wawenock gets done now, “before we start looking at the next step, keeping in mind that there is probably going to be a next step ... I don’t think we can realistically do anything until they do or don’t make their deadline they have set for themselves.” 

Chair Sarah Whitfield called it Wawenock’s “last chance” and said the matter will go on the next agenda. 

The timeframe everyone was referring to Sept. 5 was in the then-most recent communication to the town on Aug. 11 from Wawenock lawyer Sandra Guay of Archipelago in Portland. The letter said facade work should be finished this fall, barring more holdups.

The day after the selectboard’s discussion, Wiscasset Newspaper sought and got fresh word from Doering family spokesman Mark Robinson. And then the town got fresh word from Guay.

“As noted in that (Aug. 11) letter, we plan to keep the Town updated as progress moves forward on the restoration of 63 Main Street, with the intent to complete the façade work this fall ... I have been informed by the owner that the roof work is scheduled to begin this Thursday, (Sept. 7), ” Guay wrote Simmons in an email she sent him at 1:36 p.m. Sept. 6.

Robinson told Wiscasset Newspaper Sept. 6, the construction manager reported to Wawenock Sept. 5 that materials would be delivered to the site Sept. 7. “Earlier delivery could not be secured. (The) construction manager also reported that suppliers cannot find drivers to deliver. The labor shortage is real.”

A dumpster was to be delivered Friday, Sept. 8, and the roofer was due to be onsite Sept. 6 to set up and would start work Sept. 7, Robinson continued. He noted Wawenock received no objection to its Aug. 11 letter to the town, and “Wawenock’s attorney indicated earlier this afternoon (just a few minutes before I received a call from the Wiscasset Newspaper) that she is forwarding the update on roof repair to Dennis Simmons. We believe the timeline for completion is largely intact, despite the ongoing supply and labor frustrations. Cooperation and communication with the town will continue,” Robinson wrote in response to email questions.

“Nobody wants this job completed more than Wawencock. The owners are determined to complete this job and to be leasing up the building right after the first of the year,” Robinson added.