PARIS – The town will not be adopting Town Farm Road anytime soon, the Paris Board of Selectmen agreed Monday night.

The road is not up to town standards, the board said after hearing a report from Phil Curtis of the Maine Local Roads Center.

Curtis found the road failed to meet several standards included in the town’s road policy. Where 2-foot shoulders are required, for example, “More often than not, we found no shoulder at all,” he said.

Surface gravel was missing and the condition of drainage and ditching varied widely, he said.

Resident Erwin Merrill asked whether Curtis had inspected any other roads in town. “Because I could make a report similar to that on several roads around here that the town maintains,” he said.

Curtis had not.

Selectman Barbara Payne pointed out that voters adopted the current road standards by vote at a town meeting in 1993. This year at town meeting, she said, they voted to adopt Town Farm Road once it meets those standards and is approved by the municipal officers.

Monday marked the second meeting this month where Town Farm Road residents expressed frustration over failed attempts to turn their road over to the town.

At an Oct. 12 meeting, Paris Highway Director Frank Danforth requested a third party review of the road because he disagreed with Town Manager Steve McAllister’s assessment of the road. Also, Selectman Chair Bill Merrill lives on the road and has done work to improve it.

Curtis made clear that although he is employed by a division of the Main Department of Transportation, he was not speaking for the department. The state does not take stances on locally owned roads, he said. He even refused to turn his notes over to Selectmen Bruce Hanson, saying he was instructed to give only his verbal opinion.

Hanson called for a legal opinion on whether the town has public rights to, or an easement on, the road. The board voted 4-0 in favor of a motion to seek that opinion after acting Town Manager Elisa Whiteley obtains referrals from attorneys with expertise in road matters.

Payne cautioned the board against researching the Town Farm Road without being prepared to do the same for other roads.

She, Hanson, Merrill and Selectman Ray Glover voted in favor of Hanson’s motion, however. Selectman Gerald Kilgore was absent Monday.