PARIS — Selectmen adopted an updated charge for the Policy and Procedure Committee, after a row lasting several meetings in which selectmen and the committee disagreed about the board’s role.
The newer, more specific charge includes previous provisions to edit ordinances for grammar and clarity, and to make sure the town’s ordinances are consistent with one another, but adds a charge to examine “ordinances and policies for suitability, to insure they are consistent with the needs of the citizens.”
Selectmen passed the new charge unanimously.
The issue arose at the Sept. 10 meeting, when Policy and Procedure Committee Chairman John Richardson explained the town’s Traffic Ordinance Restricting Vehicle Weight, which the committee had just updated.
When the committee submitted a draft of the ordinance, Selectman Gerald Kilgore criticized the rule, which could prevent him from driving his business’s trucks on his own street. At the Sept. 24 meeting, Board of Selectman Chairman Sam Elliot said the committee should have studied the effect of the existing policy on local business. Richardson said that would have exceeded the committee’s authority.
The committee has been on hiatus while awaiting an update of its charge from selectmen.
The board moved to approve the new charge Monday after a back-and-forth between Richardson and Elliot.
“I’ve asked you the questions that we need to have answered. Once you’ve answered those, we’ll discuss it as a committee and get back to you,” Richardson said.
Richardson asked Elliot to imagine the committee starting from scratch, and asked him to create the necessary committee if one didn’t already exist. “Do you think you have a need for a Policy and Procedure Committee to exist?” he asked.
Elliot refused to entertain the notion, and repeatedly asked for the committee’s input on expanding its role. Board Vice Chairman Robert Kirchherr moved the question of passing a draft of the new charge, which expands the board’s power. The board passed it unanimously.
Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Vice Chairman Robert Kirchherr’s role on the Board of Selectmen. It was an editing error and has been corrected.
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