The Westbrook City Council has decided to delay taking any action regarding the pending sale of the old police station in Cumberland Mills.

In addition, at a meeting on Monday night, the council also elected to postpone first reading on a series of revised standards for large retail projects, such as a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter, until a public hearing could be held on Aug. 1.

The council will vote on the new standards following the Aug. 1 public hearing. If they are passed, the standards, which put restrictions on the size of buildings in the Gateway district, could be a stumbling block for plans to construct a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the site of the Saunders Brothers mill.

Regarding the old police station, Paul Gore and Joe Mazzone, who purchased the building from the city last year, have found a buyer for the building and have approached the city seeking to alter the deal they made at the time they purchased it.

Gore and Mazzone bought the building from the city for $450,000, with the stipulation that they invest an additional $250,000 in the building or add at least 5,000 square feet of new construction in the next three years. If those conditions were not met, Gore and Mazzone agreed to pay the city an additional $100,000.

Now that they have found a potential buyer for the property, a non-profit agency that would not pay taxes to the city, Gore and Mazzone are seeking to alter the terms of the agreement to allow them to sell the building. The two businessmen originally agreed to redevelop the building as a commercial property.

When the issue came before the council Monday night, a motion by Councilor Ann Peoples for the city to accept a $100,000 payment in exchange for releasing Gore and Mazzone from the terms of the agreement was not seconded. After that motion failed, the council voted, 4-1, to go into closed session to discuss the issue. Councilor Gary Groves cast the sole vote against going into closed session.

City Council President Jim Violette said the council discussed the issue for about a half-hour. While the council took no formal action after the closed session, councilors did direct the administration to continue negotiations with Gore and Mazzone to reach a settlement.

“We’re willing to work with Joe and Paul on this purchase,” Violette said. “But the administration needs to have more negotiations with them.”

In regard to the Gateway standards, the issue was originally on Monday night’s agenda for a vote on first reading. Violette said the council decided to postpone that vote until after the public hearing so councilors could take public comments into consideration when voting on the issue.

“I didn’t think it was appropriate for us to be debating such an important issue without getting public input,” said Violette. “We just felt it was more appropriate to have a public hearing before the first vote.”

The public hearing on the Gateway standards will be held at the next regular meeting of the City Council scheduled for Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School.

In other news, taxpayers got some good news Monday night when Mayor Bruce Chuluda announced during his mayor’s message that the Westbrook tax rate for 2005-2006 would be lower than initially anticipated.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said based on final calculations by the tax assessor, the city’s tax rate would be $23.10, which is 33 cents lower than the $23.43 rate that was included as part of the budget passed by the City Council in June. The new rate is 66 cents lower than the 2004-2005 rate of $23.76.

Bryant said the lower tax rate is due to higher than projected growth in new residential and retail construction as well as higher than anticipated values of business equipment and personal property in the city. He said the tax rate passed as part of the budget is an estimate, and it is not uncommon to see the rate change once the assessor sets the city’s valuation.

While it is not uncommon for the rate to change, Bryant said a change of 33 cents is unusual. “This is probably a little higher than normal,” he said.