BURNHAM - Given a choice between converting their former elementary school into town offices and selling the building Burnham voters on Nov. 5 favored selling the building by a small margin.  

This isn’t the first time residents have voted on this exact issue.

The town acquired the building in 2010 as part of a school district consolidation in MSAD 53. Referendums were held in November 2012 and March 2013 to decide between selling the building and using it for municipal offices. On both occasions, voters were faced with separate petition-initiated questions for each option.

Both options had strong advocates — an article in the Kennebec Journal earlier this year described the debate as part of an ongoing east vs. west conflict dating to the pre-Burnham villages of Clinton Gore and Winnecook. As a result, both options passed, effectively nullifying each other. 

The Nov. 5 referendum was put forward directly by town selectmen, who attempted to settle the question once and for all by posing only one question with two possible answers and the admonishment to “check only one box!”

Voters apparently got the message. Out of 331 total ballots cast, 187 favored selling the school, 142 supported moving the town offices from the Reynolds Corner Municipal Building into the former school.

Selling the school appears to be the cheaper option, according to figures given by town officials.

An engineering study found the old school would need $158,000 worth of work to bring it up to code for use as a town office building. News reports from late 2012 and early 2013 estimated a similar cost to upgrade the Reynolds Corner Municipal Building. According to one town official, the building has had some work done since the last vote in March. As of late October it was said to need only repairs to a cracked foundation, estimated to cost $12,500 on the high end.

A realtor appraised the former Burnham Village School building in 2011, according to town officials, and recommended a sale price of $70,000.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com