PERU — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to re-elect Jim Pulsifer as chairman of the board Monday evening at the Peru Town Office.

Pulsifer, who was re-elected to a three-year selectman term at the June 11 election, told the board that this “will be my last year as chairman.”

“I will not run for re-election at the end of my term,” Pulsifer said. “So you guys will have to start thinking about who you want as chairman after.”

Selectman Danny Wing was re-elected as vice chairman by a 3-2 vote.

Initially, Wing recommended that the Board of Selectmen vote Selectman Larry Snowman as the new vice chairman, to which Pulsifer laughed and said, “Don’t want the job anymore, Danny?”

Selectman Laurieann Milligan recommended that Wing be re-elected as vice chairman, and during a subsequent vote, Wing was re-elected.

“I just wanted to give you a chance,” Wing said to Snowman as the board laughed.

In other business, selectmen unanimously voted to approve a building permit for resident Steve Leonard to build a 36- by 21-foot deck on the back of his house.

The board also voted to authorize a building permit for resident Michael Mann to renovate a house located at 118 Ridge Road, with the exception that he not replace the septic system until he receives a plumbing permit.

Mann told the board that he bought the 118 Ridge Road home “in the blind, without ever seeing it,” and that it would have to be remodeled “from the roof, all the way down.”

“When you have a building that’s been sitting as long as that one has, it’s easier to just take everything out,” Mann said. “It’s in pretty sad shape.”

Mann said that he was under the assumption that he didn’t need a new plumbing permit, since the plumbing of the existing building was already in place.

Pulsifer replied that the board required a proof of plumbing permit due to the fact that he would be completely removing the existing system and replacing it with a new one.

Mann then asked if he could “proceed with the other work and hold back on the septic rather than stop working in good weather.”

“Any time we give approval to start something like this, you do it at your own risk,” Pulsifer replied. “If you don’t come up with the appropriate site design or the plumbing permit, you’re stuck with tearing it down.”

Mann said that he understood.

Selectman Lee Merrill told Mann, “Just to be clear: If we authorize this permit, we’re not authorizing work on the plumbing. You’ll still need a permit.”

Snowman made a motion to accept Mann’s building permit, with the exception that he table construction on the plumbing until he gets the permit.

During public participation, a member of the group Peruvians for Honest Government requested that the Board of Selectmen edit the wording of the Public Participation section of the agenda.

The group said that the section that reads, “Once a particular subject has been discussed, please do not continue to want to rediscuss the issue at future meetings,” challenges their First Amendment right of freedom of speech.

Pulsifer said that the board would look into it in time for the next meeting.

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