SKOWHEGAN -- Selectmen Tuesday night said they wanted to see more of a plan for an addition to the old county jail before approving an easement for Somerset Grist Mill owner Amber Lambke.

Board members scheduled a tour of the outside of the building, next to the municipal parking lot, for 5 p.m. today, with a special selectmen's meeting and vote on the requested easement, slated for 5:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building.

Lambke approached selectmen Tuesday night with the first phase of renovation plans for the former Somerset County jail -- 26-by-20 foot entry area with public restrooms leading into the cafeteria of the old stone facility, at the corner of the building facing the Cumberland Farms store on High Street.

"This is the most efficient means of getting the public into what will be a bakery and retail area and provides highly visible and convenient access from the municipal parking lot side of the building," Lambke wrote in her proposal to the Board of Selectmen.

Steve Dionne of Dionne and Sons is the general contractor.

Lambke said that to accomplish the first development phase of the grist mill project, she would need a a so-called "encroachment" easement of about two feet into the town-owned municipal parking lot.

The existing boundary line of the jail property is the fence line from the old jail, which is at an angle to the building.

Adding a vestibule with restrooms would cause the site plan to encroach about two feet onto town property for a distance of about three feet, hence the need for an easement, Lambke said. She said the encroachment would not interfere with parking or traffic in the municipal lot.

But Town Manager John Doucette Jr. and selectmen said it appeared the plan would take up six parking spaces, a fact that Lambke and Dionne said was incorrect.

Looking at a floor plan and actually seeing the physical layout were two different things, they said.

Lambke also is requesting a fire-code waiver to use wooden construction materials in the downtown area.

She and her business partner Michael Scholz, of Albion, a baker and wheat grower, plan to transform the 14,000-square-foot jailhouse into a grist mill for flour production, adding stone ovens for baking bread, a restaurant and a small retail store to sell bread and locally raised fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese and other dairy products.

Local wheat will be harvested, cleaned and milled into flour. Scholz then will make the first loaf of bread in late August.

Also Tuesday night, selectmen voted 5-0 to approve the second annual Bike Night in the downtown area, set for Saturday, July 18.

Cory King of the Chamber of Commerce presented the board with plans that would change slightly from last year, he said. Changes would include erecting two stages for musical entertainment on Water Street, a beer garden, also on Water Street, and a 23-mile bike parade from Skowhegan to Norridgewock, Madison and back to Skowhegan down U.S. Route 201.

Last year's event drew 500 bikes and 1,200 people to downtown Skowhegan.

The approval was granted by selectmen subject to licensing approval and proof of the necessary insurance to cover the event.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534, ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com