From one issue four decades in the making, to a technology that continues to emerge, selectmen Tuesday night aligned with Federal Street residents to try to keep the street’s longtime weight limit; and the board split on whether to fund a drones course for high school students.

Drones raise privacy and safety issues and are the subject of tremendous contention throughout the country right now, Selectman David Cherry said in opposing the Wiscasset School Department’s request. “It’s not even remotely resolved.”

Joining him in voting against the request, Vice Chairman Judy Flanagan said it was a hot topic, and one that was hard for her to get comfortable with.

“For me, it’s a moral question of, can I support these things that we don’t really have a handle on yet,” Flanagan said.

In response to questions from Flanagan and Town Manager Marian Anderson, officials said no girls were signed up for the course yet, but that they still could.

Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said he wished drones had never been invented. “They’re going to be weapons of mass destruction at some point,” he said.

However, Rines voted with Selectman Jeff Slack in supporting the request. To succeed, the school needs innovative technology, Rines said.

The course would help move Wiscasset toward the new proficiency-based diplomas the state is requiring, and that give students multiple paths in their learning, Principal Cheri Towle said. “We don’t want to be a one size fits all. We want to give students choice in how they demonstrate (proficiency).”

Near the end of the course, students would dismantle the drones for reuse by the next class, officials said.

As for the questions that drones have raised nationally, School Committee Chairman Steve Smith said the course would give students a chance to learn about drones in a safe environment with teacher support, rather than going to Radio Shack and buying one for $99.

The 2-2 vote cost school officials the $4,750 they sought to buy five drone kits for a fall course at Wiscasset Middle High School. Twenty students who wanted to take it will be upset, Smith said.

In an interview after the vote, Smith further criticized the decision. The request had the school committee’s support, and the fund that selectmen were asked to tap, the Mary E. Bailey Fund, is dedicated to advanced courses, he said. The outcome was wrong, he said. He was also surprised that a split vote meant the funding would not happen.

It was the first 2-2 vote since Selectman Bill Barnes’ resignation one day earlier brought the board down to four members. Selectmen decided Tuesday that voters will fill the seat in November.

Board members suggested the school department ask again in November when the board will be back up to five members. Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot said later that the department would need to consider it then.

Prior to the vote, Flanagan had asked if the department needed an answer that night. Students’ fall schedules are being decided, so finding out at another selectmen’s meeting would be too late, department officials said.

“Tonight’s decision was a disappointment for the students who were excited to take this course. We really feel the course is well developed, focused on safety, (Federal Aviation Administration) guidelines and would have given students a chance to have a voice and learn responsible behavior and accountability,” Towle writes in an email response to a request for comment. “We will unfortunately not be able to offer the course in the fall. Wiscasset Middle High School will continue to develop exciting learning opportunities for all students.”

Federal Street residents

pack room

Don’t wait: Write letters to the Maine Department of Transportation and start a petition now. That was Cherry’s advice Tuesday night to a room full of Federal Street residents who shared the board’s concerns about the possible loss of the street’s four-decade-old, 6,000-pound weight limit.

It was the latest discussion since MDOT officials have said the agency is looking at a change. As in recent months, many of those who live on the street spoke of the possible impact on safety and on the saleability of properties if heavy trucks can travel it.

Federal Street resident George Green said if the limit goes away, he would have a case against the state due to the nearness of the middle of the road from where he lays his head.

At the board’s Aug. 18 meeting, selectmen plan to discuss how they will proceed in helping present the town’s position to the state. Anderson brought up a public meeting that MDOT will have in early September about the traffic changes at routes 1 and 27. The town and state could also discuss the Federal Street weight limit at that meeting, she said.

No decision on

Montsweag Dam repairs

Town Planner Jamel Torres asked about getting the Montsweag Dam repaired with stewardship funds that Central Maine Power gave the town along with the dam. Cherry asked if the town would be allowed to tap the funds to remove the dam instead of fixing it.

If the funds could not be used to take out the dam, Cherry said, “(That) doesn’t necessarily make it a bad idea but ... more expensive.”

Torres said the dam’s presence provides a backup water supply for fighting fires and other possible uses, but without it, fish could pass more easily. He planned to research Cherry’s question and, at Slack’s request, find out what the town’s conservation commission thinks about the idea of removing the dam.

Also Tuesday, selectmen told Torres their top priority for a crosswalk to get a free, flashing beacon from the state would be the crosswalk near Wiscasset Elementary School on Federal Street. He might be able to get a second beacon, depending on how many takers the state gets on its offer of the beacons, Torres said.

He acted early on it, he said.