An uptick in COVID-19 cases has prompted a limit on the number of participants to 50 at a  Woolwich special town meeting Nov. 16 to consider a land buy. The select board signed the warrant Wednesday night, Nov. 4. Voters will consider buying two acres on George Wright Road from residents Dennis and Sylvia Fuller for the fair market value of $69,000.

Chairman David King Sr. said the meeting will begin at 5 p.m. and be held in the Nequasset Meetinghouse across from the municipal building. The purchase would give the town a new Route 1 egress from George Wright Road if state highway officials agree to dead end the road at the dike. The issue arose in response to Maine Department of Transportation’s plan to replace the Station 46 bridge. The new entry point would be about three-eighths of a mile north of the present one.

In the days leading up to the vote, the board plans to draft a letter explaining the proposal. Selectmen Allison Hepler and Jason Shaw plan to go door-to-door and meet with George Wright Road residents. King said building the new access road would cost significantly less than replacing a bridge and culvert at the lower end of George Wright Road.

King added a planned town meeting article drafted by the planning board to amend the marijuana cultivation ordinance would have to wait in order to comply with a requirement to hold a public hearing. Another special town meeting would be held for it. No date was set.

In other business, the select board promised Trott Road residents it will help determine the road’s status. At issue is whether the road was discontinued in the early 1960s. Since then, at least six homes were built there. These residents recently formed a road association and invested in improvements. They fear a planned logging operation could damage the road.

Hepler offered to see what role the state might have in regulating logging operations. Road Commissioner Jack Shaw said the time of year a logging operation is carried out is a big factor for causing road damage.

At Tuesday’s election, voters returned Hepler and Jason Shaw to the select board. Shaw received 1,494 votes; Hepler 1,280. Candidate Nathaniel Harvey received 753 votes. Jennifer Rich-Smith, running unopposed, was re-elected to the Regional School Unit 1 Board of Directors with 1,608 votes. It was Woolwich’s highest voter turnout ever.