PARIS — Selectmen voted Monday to form an advisory committee on road improvement.

Selectman Jean Smart proposed the idea after the recent long debate on whether to take out a bond to begin road improvements. The board eventually decided the process had been rushed and voted to wait until the 2012 town meeting to ask residents to vote for road improvements.

Selectmen voted 3-2 to appoint a committee, which would advise them and the Budget Committee on the town manager's proposed improvement plan and recommend a course of action. Chairman Ted Kurtz and Selectman Ryan Lorrain voted against the motion.

The town will ask residents to sign up for the committee, and will decide on criteria for appointments. The board voted 4-0 to waive the standard bylaws on appointing committee members, with Lorrain abstaining from the vote.

The board is set to discuss criteria for committee membership at the Nov. 28 meeting.

Smart recommended setting up an all-volunteer committee with no involvement from selectmen or town employees, but the plan took about an hour of discussion as the board defined the committee's role.

Selectman Robert Kirchherr was concerned the board was abdicating its responsibility to advise a course of action to a committee.

Kurtz said residents would have a chance to voice their opinions at public hearings in the spring. He said he was concerned about the committee butting in on the Budget Committee's duties as well.

The board voted to put an ad in local newspapers advertising the committee.

treaves@sunjournal.com