(Lamoine) — The crunch in finding land appraisers has hit home with the committee searching for a suitable piece of land to set aside for either school or town government use. Public Works Study Committee Chair Ken Smith engaged an Ellsworth firm to conduct an appraisal of three properties behind the Lamoine School property, but has yet to receive the report. The Board of Selectmen authorized a letter to the appraiser asking for an explanation. A verbal response was that the appraiser lost some staff, but was still working on the report.

The appraisal is important to the town and the landowners as a basis for starting negotiations for a potential purchase. Once the appraisal is received, the town could meet with the landowners and discuss a potential price. The negotiations would go back to the Land Search Committee then be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen which would decide whether to seek town meeting approval for a land purchase. The timetable for starting negotiations may have accelerated a bit as the primary landowner has submitted a subdivision application to the Planning Board. The appraisal firm did not give an estimated date for its report.