GORHAM – Gorham next week begins new talks on how best to tackle two old problems – the Public Safety Building at 270 Main St., and the vacant Little Falls School on Acorn Street.

A town study committee had identified a litany of problems at the Public Safety Building, which houses police and fire departments in Gorham Village. In Little Falls, the town has shuttered the former school, which needs repairs, and a future use for the building is uncertain.

Gorham officials unsuccessfully have long sought solutions involving the two structures. The buildings previously have been linked in various scenarios for public safety upgrades, but in June, Gorham voters rejected the town’s latest proposal.

This time around, Michael Phinney, the new Town Council chairman, is seeking council solidarity for plans that the townspeople would support.

“Realistically, we’re starting from scratch,” Phinney said on Tuesday.

The Public Safety Building opened in 1974 as the municipal center. A study committee reported that the building as a public safety facility is now inadequate, with an overall space shortage and lacking separate bathrooms and showers for men and women.

Little Falls School opened in 1956. Voters in 2012 approved spending up to $500,000 for repairs at the school, which has an aging heating system and needs a new roof. But the council on Nov. 12 shelved a decision to award a contract for renovation and repairs.

The Gorham Town Council will discuss the futures of the two structures in a workshop at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

In an unusual move, the workshop will be aired on the town’s cable TV outlet. Phinney said he advocates keeping the public informed and involved in the process.

“We want to make sure we do it right,” Phinney said.

Fresh talks also get under way with some new blood – Benjamin Hartwell and Bruce Roullard, who were elected last month to the council.

“They may have some great ideas or input that needs to be heard,” said Shonn Moulton, Town Council vice chairman.

Moulton indicated this week that the workshop discussion of the Public Safety Building would include a history of past efforts.

“We want to get the council up to speed,” Phinney said.

Now disbanded, the Gorham Public Safety Committee in late 2012 had recommended a $6.3 million public safety complex be built at the Little Falls School site. But voters this year in a June referendum rejected the proposal.

“I believe that all options are on the table with the knowledge of how the past referendum came out,” Moulton said.

Since the June referendum, the previous Town Council had also weighed renovating the Public Safety Building, but that panel failed to move that proposal forward.

In 2009, the town, with voter approval, filed unsuccessfully for a federal grant to build a new fire station at the Little Falls site. Gorham also has previously weighed renovating the Little Falls School to house the police department.

Gorham’s Little Falls School is empty and needs work. The Town Council is about to restart discussions on the building’s fate.