SEARSPORT - Voters at a special town meeting Wednesday rejected a proposal to build a new North Searsport fire station. They also declined to keep the land on which the station would have been built.

Residents had been scheduled to vote on the new building at the annual town meeting in March, but the article was postponed after firefighters were called away mid-meeting to respond to a reported fire.

The new fire station, which was to be located on Mt. Ephraim Road, originally called for an appropriation of $762,000.

In the months after the annual town meeting, the design was scaled back to one that would have cost $665,234. Voters turned down the new figure by a tally of 105-19, according to figures provided by the Town Office.

A second article asking whether Searsport should retain ownership of the parcel of land on Mt. Ephraim Road purchased two years ago for the proposed fire station was also turned down, though by the slimmer margin of 61-56.

A third article to move $4,000 from surplus to the Ambulance Reserve Account passed with all but two voters approving the measure.

Attendance at the special town meeting was roughly identical to that of the annual town meeting in March, which drew 127 voters.

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Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com