By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

PARIS – Legal counsel has come into play in a dispute over whether Town Farm Road maintenance should become the town’s responsibility.

At a Board of Selectmen meeting Monday, members heard from Dana Hanley of Hanley & Associates, who was representing the Town Farm Road Association.

“It is not, I repeat, not the association’s viewpoint in this point in time, to initiate and legal or declaratory action,” Hanley said.

However, a letter he provided for the board stated that the town did not follow proper procedure when abandoning the road and responsibility for its maintenance in 1967.

Hanley alleged the town had failed to sign and file an order of discontinuance with the municipal clerk, failed to ask voters to approve the discontinuance and award damages to affected property owners, and failed to properly record the discontinuance with the Oxford County Registry of Deeds.

Because the proper procedure was not followed, Hanley said, “the 1967 discontinuance is defective.”

Also, Hanley argued, some court rulings have established that a town cannot declare a road abandoned when it periodically carries out maintenance or improvements. Hanley listed four specific incidents of grading and snow removal on the road since 2001, and said other work has been completed on the road since 1996.

The selectmen did not respond to Hanley on Monday, instead voting to approve Town Manager Sharon Jackson’s recommendation that the letter be forwarded to the town attorney.

The vote passed 4-0, with Chairman Bill Merrill abstaining.

Merrill, who has to drive down Town Farm Road to get to his property and has admitted to carrying out improvements on the road, has not stepped down during similar discussions at past meetings. At an Oct. 12 meeting he did abstain from voting.

Selectman Barbara Payne on Monday also asked Vice Chairman Bruce Hanson to step down. “I do think that he has become too involved and that has prejudiced his judgment,” she said, adding that she had previously sought legal advice on the matter.

Hanson, who otherwise would have chaired the meeting in Merrill’s absence, allowed Selectman Raymond Glover to assume the chairmanship responsibilities. He did not step down.

Town Farm Road has long been a source of contention. At the June 2004 annual town meeting, residents voted to adopt the road after it was “brought to town standards.”

On Oct. 25, the selectmen heard from Phil Curtis of the Maine Local Roads Center, who pointed out several areas where the road failed to meet the standards. The road was not adopted.

Some concerns were raised about inconsistencies between conditions the road association was told it would have to meet, and the actual road standards.