LINCOLN, Maine — Town leaders have reopened their search for a new town office despite opting last month to discontinue relocation plans, officials said Monday.

The office could move into the former Smart’s Hardware at 42 Main St., the Lincoln District Courthouse building at 52 Main St., the former Regional School Unit 67 administrative office at 57 Main St., or remain at 63 Main St., Town Manager Ron Weatherbee said.

A Town Council ad hoc committee will study the proposals, which came despite the council’s unanimous vote last month to avoid seeking voters’ approval on Nov. 3 of a $1.1 million plan to move the office to the courthouse building. Councilors felt the expenditure unwise given Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC’s declaring bankruptcy on Oct. 21. The mill is the town’s second-largest taxpayer.

The renewed search request surprised committee members, said Ruth Birtz, the committee’s chairwoman, who also is the town’s assessor and economic development coordinator.

“The committee feels the circumstances have not changed,” Birtz said Monday.

With new properties becoming available and the town’s lease at 63 Main St. expiring in December, councilors felt they had to do something, Weatherbee said Monday. The search will likely take several months.

The town might benefit from the recent developments, council Chairman Steve Clay said. Smart’s Hardware closed in September, a month before RSU 67 officials relocated to offices at Ella P. Burr School.

The council will likely opt to extend the lease at 63 Main St., Clay said.

Town officials have said several times since November 2004 that the present office is undersized and lacks full Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. But several relocation plans have been shelved.

The town’s financial outlook might become clearer Thursday with the mill’s bankruptcy auction in Portland. The deadline for submitting qualified bids is Tuesday. The mill has continued to operate during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

The committee will meet to begin reviewing the proposals at the town office at 5 p.m. Tuesday.