WESTBROOK – Westbrook officials took care of two ongoing projects in separate votes at Monday’s City Council meeting, but not before hearing protest from one resident about efforts to help clean up and redevelop the property formerly known as the Maine Rubber plant.

“The city of Westbrook, in my opinion, has no business being in the private property development business,” said Bruce Libby, who lives at 8 Lewis St., and said his property overlooks the building at 942 Main St.

The council gave preliminary approval last month to contributing $4,000 to draw up plans for a new building at the site. Westbrook Housing is also contributing. In a recent interview, Westbrook Housing Director John Gallagher said he would be interested in a project there, but the extent of his organization’s involvement remains to be seen.

The property has been called an eyesore by more than one city official, and for years, the city has been negotiating with the Elowitch family, which owns the property, trying to find something new to do with the aging structure.

Last fall, a new grant became available to help pay for tearing down the building and cleaning up the property. That grant kick-started discussions once again, leading to the proposed study.

On Monday, the council voted 6-1, with Councilor Paul Emery dissenting, to confirm the funds allocation. Councilor John O’Hara, introducing the discussion Monday, said he hopes to see some sort of hybrid commercial/residential building there.

“The idea here is to try to get the best of both worlds,” O’Hara said.

Libby, who spoke when the council solicited comments from the public before voting on the motion, demanded to see a list of people who think the building is too ugly to bear looking ato. He warned that the city tried this once in the area known as Saccarappa Park, and never completed a proposed project there.

“I’m very disturbed by this proposal,” he said. “We have not learned the lessons of Saccarappa Park.”

None of the councilors responded to Libby’s protests, going straight to a vote when he finished.

In other business, the city authorized $6,000 be spent to finalize the plans to build a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the Walker Memorial Library. The city has already paid $6,500 to contractor Russell Martin of Freeport, and the remaining funds will finish the plans.

The system represents the last step in an ongoing renovation project that began last year. City officials initially budgeted up to $2.2 million to conduct all the repairs and upgrades, but have repeatedly said the project will be finished under budget.