OAKLAND -- A potential buyer waiting in the wings, town officials are preparing to implement a $200,000 federal grant to partially remediate hazardous materials at the former Cascade Woolen Mill.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen said Tuesday he will address the matter to the Town Council tonight. The meeting at the town office begins at 6:30.

Weston & Sampson Engineers Inc., of Portsmouth, N.H., which helped write the grant application to the Environmental Protection Agency, will conduct the cleanup effort.

"We'd like to get it started by the time cold weather gets here," Nielsen said.

Nielsen said that Michael Dye, who runs a wooden shelving-manufacturing operation in the old mill, is the principal tenant there. Dye has an agreement to use the facility until he can offer to purchase it, Nielsen said.

The town has a $76,000 balance on a $200,000 mortgage on the property, Nielsen said.

The EPA has determined that soil under and around the old mill is contaminated with metals, volatile organic compounds and inorganic compounds.

"There are a number of materials that will be remediated," Nielsen said.

Nielsen said that Weston & Sampson will remove oil-contaminated soil from the north end of the building on Cascade Mill Road, near Messalonskee Stream. The company also will remove 20 drums of unknown composition, and asbestos from the furnace room.

Cascade Woolen Mill, built in 1882, closed in 1998.

Nielsen said he will present to the town council a letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection, detailing arrangements for the town's contribution to the cleanup. Terms of the grant require the town to contribute 20 percent of the funding, or $40,000.