WEST PARIS – Selectmen will conduct a study on the town’s office hours and whether the office should be open Saturday mornings.

The study, however, will be on hold for the rest of this month as the town converts to a town manager form of government, which will come after the March 6 annual town meeting.

According to Selectman Chairman Wade Rainey, he is not opposed to changing the hours in order to facilitate Saturday office hours, “but I think we need to wait until our town manager comes on board so he will be involved in the study.”

Selectman Howard Gurney agreed and said he also would be in favor of studying the issue after the new town manager, Donald Woodbury, is in office. Woodbury currently of Marietta, Ga., was hired by the board on the recommendation of the Town Manager Search Committee and is expected to arrive later this month. Although Woodbury has lived for several years in Georgia, he originally was a Maine native having grown up and been educated in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

Selectman Jim Johnston introduced the change in office hours. He felt that a lot of people, especially those who work Monday through Friday, would appreciate a chance to do their business at the town office when they have a day off and can get there conveniently.

“Several people have asked about having Saturday morning hours,” said Johnston, “and I think a lot of people would really appreciate the change so they could get to the office when they are off from their regular jobs. We could juggle the hours so one of the office girls could be part of a rotating system to staff the office Saturday morning.”

It was agreed that one staff member could handle the Saturday morning hours without any great difficulty and the decision was made unanimously to go ahead with the study after the annual town meeting on March 6.