LYMAN — Residents of Lyman voted again Monday night, in a 41-37 tally, to allow the town to fund the renovation of the former Cousens School.

The former Cousens School, at 282 Goodwins Mill Road, was built in 1937, with an addition built in 1965.

The building was last used as a school in 2007, and the town acquired it the next year. Since then, improvements have been made, and though it remains vacant, the town spends money every year on heating and general upkeep.

A town ad hoc committee last year came up with a projected cost of $1.1 million to renovate the building and transform it into town offices, leaving space for community use that could include a community center, historical society office and food pantry.

Town offices are currently situated at 11 South Waterboro Road, in a space town officials say is cramped.

In November, residents voted 1,537-984 to allow the town to borrow about $890,000 and use $250,000 of reserve funds to renovate the former school building for use as a town hall and community space.

The proposal came up to vote again Monday night at a special town meeting at town hall, where after about an hour of discussion, it was approved by a slim margin by a secret ballot of the nearly 80 people who attended the meeting.

The select board said the vote on the November ballot was not valid because it was missing a financial statement that was required by law, and thus the matter needed to be voted on again.

Selectman John Tibbett said there was an “unfortunate technicality” that was overlooked by select board members knowledgeable about bonds, the town’s “crackerjack treasurer” and the town attorney.

“So we’re sitting here with egg on our face on a technicality bringing this back to you,” he said.

Resident Roland Nadeau made a motion to change the referendum question to 10 percent of the amount, to hire an architect and get an estimate. Nadeau said he wanted a more solid cost estimate before approving money for the renovation project.

“I don’t believe these numbers,” said Nadeau.

Nadeau’s motion was overruled by moderator Rick Hull, who said, though the amount voted on could be decreased from the original question, the intention of the use for the money could not be changed.

Selectman John Houy said although the select board had previously voted unanimously in support of the measure, he was going to vote against it. He said, like Nadeau and other residents he had spoken to, he wanted more solid numbers.  However, if the residents passed the funding, he would work to make sure the town did the best job it could with the renovations.

Resident Victoria Gavel said because of the design of the current town hall and the lay of the land, it would be difficult to expand the building and add parking. She said there had been a lot of effort into the Cousens School building, including work down with the help of a  grant through the EPA Brownfields program to get contaminants out.

She said November’s vote showed it was “the will of the people” to renovate the building.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.