MINOT – Selectmen voted 3-1 Monday night that two portions of Old Buckfield Road are abandoned.

The three who voted “yes” declared their decisions were wrenching.

Chairman Dean Campbell said it’s “something I spent lots of sleepless nights over.”

The three agreed that the legal analysis, conducted by the town’s attorneys, directed them to determine the sections were abandoned.

While they believed two sections abandoned, Selectmen Steve French and Eda Tripp said they had no problems with someone bringing the issue to the floor of March town meeting, calling on townspeople to decide whether they want these sections of Old Buckfield Road declared part of the town’s official road system.

Selectman Ralph Gilpatrick said that while he couldn’t argue with the legal argument, he also couldn’t accept the conclusion.

Gilpatrick said his reading of the evidence showed him that during the past 30 years, George Buker, one of the landowners most affected by the decision, had been led to believe it was a town road in conversations and dealings with a number of Boards of Selectmen. Thus, Gilpatrick said, the ethical implications overrode the legal.

George Buker, who in the spring pushed for selectmen to make an official ruling on the road’s status, noted that Old Buckfield Road is, in his memory, the first road in town that has ever been declared abandoned and he wondered whether the Board of Selectmen had more roads they were considering for abandonment.

Campbell said Old Buckfield Road was just a starting point, and that there were a number of roads that required looking into in order that they might be officially off the maps, ending a consideration that the town might have to put money into their development.

Among the roads that Campbell listed were: North Verrill Road, Jackass Annie Road from Wordens to Pottle Hill Road, Garfield Road from Shaw Hill Road to Harris Road, a spur off Pottle Hill Road to the Goodwin homestead and Witham Road.

Buker also asked selectmen whether they had figured out the cost for damages that he and others might incur as a result of the selectmen’s ruling. Buker said he figured he was losing about 35 prime house lots.

Selectmen said their legal opinion indicated that the town’s liability for damages arises only if it discontinues the portions of the road, not if they are statutorily abandoned and that what they were undertaking was a statutory abandonment.

Buker said the situation might be more complicated than selectmen or the town’s lawyers were aware.

“I don’t think your lawyers gave you all the information,” Buker said.

In other business, selectmen signed a warrant for a special town meeting to consider financing for the filtration system for the school’s new well. This special town meeting will take the form of a referendum vote that will be held in conjunction with the Nov. 2 general election.

At the request of School Committee Chairman Colleen Quint, selectmen agreed to meet with the School Committee to discuss the impact of the Palesky tax-cap referendum.

According to a memo from town Administrator Gregory Gill, it appears the town could expect a shortfall of about $770,000 in revenues if the tax cap passes. Selectmen and the School Committee will take a look at the implications for both the school and the municipal budgets. The two boards will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, at the Minot Consolidated School.