None of the five routes the state has chosen for a Route 1 bypass are acceptable, Wiscasset selectmen decided Tuesday night.

With just eight days left before the public comment period closes, Selectmen decided to follow a suggestion made by resident Bill Phinney to have Town Manager Arthur Faucher hand deliver a letter with that message to Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner (MDOT) David Cole. The letter will also say the town wants to work with the state, perhaps coming up with some of its own money, to hire a professional planner to design a better route.

"I feel there is still room for negotiation," Faucher said. "The state hasn't given enough consideration of the human impact of these routes."

Construction of any of the routes would have a severe economic effect on the town, Faucher said.

"We will be losing businesses, jobs, and tax revenues. It will take years to recover from that." He said he has recently talked to three business owners who were thinking of locating in Wiscasset, but they are reluctant because the bypass issue is not settled.

No one at the meeting spoke in favor of any of the routes. All four selectmen said they do not endorse any of them, but they do not want the so-called "no build" option.

Objections to the present routes are that they all begin too close to the village, too many homes and businesses will be disrupted, regardless of which route is chosen, and the town will essentially be split in two.

Chairman Duane Goud said if any of these routes are built, the road would only be used during the summer.

"I'd rather sit in traffic than choose one of these routes," he said. All of the routes start just south of the village at the NAPA auto parts store, cross the Old Bath Road, Bradford Road, Churchill Street, and the Gardiner Road, before the routes separate with different endings in Edgecomb.

"We have a good town manager - let him be our point man," Phinney said.

Former selectman Karl Tarbox said all it would take to get the money for the project is an earmark from one of the state's two senators, Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins.

"As soon as one of the senators puts that in, that's it," he said, saying the state could go forward with any route it wants.

Goud made a motion that passed 4-0 to write the letter to Commissioner Cole and send copies to Senators Snowe and Collins.

Faucher encourages residents to make sure they send their comments to the MDOT by December 21. Comments can be submitted on the website, www.midcoastbypass.com, or mailed to Ed Hanscom, project manager, 16 State House Station August, ME.

Don Jones, chairman of the town's transportation committee, presented a report to the selectmen on their findings.

"We were not satisfied with the lack of analysis on the interchanges," Jones said. The selectmen have gone on record requesting full interchanges on both Route 27 and Route 218. The consensus of the committee is that all the routes are too close to the village, he said.

One of the most persuasive arguments against the proposed routes came from longtime Wiscasset Realtor, Roy Farmer, who called the routes "terrible" and "pathetic" because of the number of people and businesses that would be hurt.

"Did you see that list of names in the newspaper?" he asked, referring to last week's issue, which included the names and addresses of all the property owners and businesses that could be "potentially displaced" if any of the routes are built.

"If there's any way in God's world we can stop this, we should. The route should have gone north of the high school. Bypasses are tough on everyone, not just those who lose their property but for those who end up living next to them. There will be so much depreciation on their property."

Tarbox said the reason the route starts so close to the village is because "prominent people" went to see the governor 14 times in four months, saying they didn't want their Route 1 businesses bypassed.

Former planning board member Prior Morrell asked, "What doesn't Augusta understand about no - we in Wiscasset don't need a bypass." In the summer of 2005, Morrell said he was talking to the late Doug Kennedy, who owned a car wish on Route 1. Morrell said he was complaining to him about the traffic, which was backed up to Shaw's supermarket.

"But it's moving," Kennedy told him. Morrell said he asked Kennedy how long it would take him to get to the Davey Bridge in this traffic. Kennedy told him eight minutes.

"I can't see spending $150 million - because that's what it will cost in 20 years, to fix an eight minute problem," Morrell said.

In other business the selectmen discussed putting out a Request for Proposals for a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at the Wiscasset Airport. Mike Muchmore and Ann Walko are closing their FBO, called Wicked Good Aviation, at the end of January.

Airport Committee chairman Ken Boudin praised them for their work at the airport.

"We will be real lucky if we find two people as good as they are," Boudin said. "That airport is way ahead of where it was when they took over. This is a great opportunity for someone." Boudin said he would help the town manager come up with the wording for the RFP.

The selectmen set a public hearing for January 3 for the January 15 election. Three people are running for an unexpired term on the board of selectmen (Phil DiVece, Bob Fairfield, and Prior Morrell) and there will be some amendments to the comprehensive plan on the ballot.

The selectmen voted to renew their agreement with Residual Management Service Agreement to dispose of solid waste from the wastewater treatment plan. Morrell suggested this is something that should be put out to bid. Rines said the town is paying $2 per ton less than they were a few years ago.