NORWAY – Voters may next year be asked to consider a formal abatement policy in response to requests for property tax relief due to fires.

The Board of Selectmen on Thursday asked Town Manager David Holt to draft an abatement policy that may be presented at the annual town meeting. Holt noted that a Pike’s Hill property owner has requested a tax abatement due to a fire.

“The problem is, without a policy, it becomes very sticky,” he told the board, asking for its opinion. Without a policy, he said, the board will be making decisions “on our heartstrings.”

Selectman Bob Walker said he “would like to see a policy for primary residences, and address it only when financial hardship is proven.”

Chairman Leslie Flanders noted that the board has given property abatements on homes and businesses after fires, but Walker said business owners could still apply for abatements for financial hardship.

Holt told the board he needed to look into the legal issues regarding such policies, but he could have a draft proposal ready for its next meeting, Dec. 16.

Walker noted that the town should be “abating the house and not the land.”

In other business, Holt gave the board a draft response to concerns raised by Hobbs Pond property owner Steven Siskowitz. At a Nov. 18 meeting, Siskowitz for the second time complained about a neighbor, this time saying the man had violated the town’s shoreland zoning regulations.

Because of some of the issues raised through Siskowitz’s letter, the board agreed to have the town attorney review Holt’s response.

Holt said the town may have to take a look at some of its policies and in the areas of code enforcement and planning.

Flanders said he doesn’t “like ordinances or rules or regulations, but they’re a fact of life,” and the town may have to “right-quick stiffen up” its policies.

The board also on Thursday agreed it is time to remind residents about winter parking regulations.

The town has a policy that cars shall park on one side of the municipal parking lots downtown during snowstorms, Holt said.