An area land trust is looking at buying Wiscasset’s Whites Island and turning it over to the town, according to Town Manager Marian Anderson and a memo from the trust.

“If it could be worked out somehow, I think it would be great,” Wiscasset Selectmen’s Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said Thursday.

“Every kid should have the opportunity to see it. It’s just a little island in the middle of the Sheepscot River, but it’s a fantastic place,” Rines said.

The town already has footbridges to the island and a 40-foot right-of-way, but the footbridges need repair and are not currently open, he said.

The memo by Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s (MCHT) Midcoast Region Land Protection Project Manager Steve Walker states, “MCHT hopes to enter into a purchase and sales agreement with owners Donna Burkhardt and the Phinney sisters in early August. Assuming title, etc. comes back clean, MCHT would complete the purchase. “We would then convey the property to the town...”

The Topsham-based trust is proposing that it would hold a conservation easement, to be negotiated. “(We) would hope to keep the terms very general with the goal of maintaining the land for public use, conservation, recreation, etc. and preclude residential or commercial structures should the town ever need to sell the island. I would like to think that we could finish purchase by the end of the year,” Walker writes.

Anderson on Thursday said she knew only what Maine Coast Heritage Trust wrote in the memo. Whites Island is on the draft agenda for the board of selectmen’s July 7 meeting. The agenda was released Thursday.

Anderson described the island as beautiful; she had no opinion on whether owning it would be a good move for the town. However, she noted the island has been a subject of interest in the town’s comprehensive plan and other contexts over the years.

Reached Thursday, Walker said the nonprofit began exploring getting involved after being approached by one of the island’s owners who inherited it from prominent Wiscasset resident Bill Phinney. The price has not been determined yet, and funds would need to be raised for the purchase, Walker said.

Asked about the trust’s interest in preserving the island, Walker said there aren’t many islands as close to a downtown as Whites Island is. “You can walk right to it, and it’s important open space to the town. It’s a great place to sit and (look at) the harbor.”

According to information Anderson provided at the Wiscasset Newspaper’s request, the town’s 2015-2016 tax commitment book lists the island’s valuation at $26,700, for a tax of $453.90.

Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting at the town office starts at 7 p.m. Also on the draft agenda are next steps regarding Wiscasset Primary School; Federal Street’s weight limits; and a possible deal to have the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office provide animal control services.