By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Selectmen voted Tuesday to hold a special town meeting July 18 to vote on several items.

The warrant, not yet finalized, may include the discontinuance of 330 feet at the dead end of Smiley Road and a change to the roller skating, skateboarding and scooter-riding ordinance to hold parents of 17-year-old offenders responsible. Currently, the ordinance refers only to the parents of errant rollers 16-years-old or younger leaving a one year gap until they are no longer minors.

The discontinuance at the terminus of Smiley Road, located off Knowlton Corner Road, was requested by farm owner Paul Ripa who would like to convert an existing dairy barn into a horse barn but would have zoning issues if the road remains a town road.

In a letter to Town Manager Richard Davis dated May 21, Ripa wrote, “Discontinuing this final portion of Smiley Road will allow us to operate our farm as one intrinsically complete parcel of land.”

He also told Davis he had gotten verbal approval from neighbors and would continue to provide a turnaround for public works vehicles.

Davis will be notifying abutters along Smiley Road about the proposed discontinuance, and a public hearing on the issue will be held at a selectmen’s meeting before the special town meeting.

Selectmen also voted to retain town land behind MBNA and next to Prescott Field that they referred to as the oxbow property. The marshy, wooded lot has served as a recreational area with a snowmobile/ATV trail running through it and shoreline along the Sandy River. A family member of the abutting landowner offered the town $6,000 for the 12-acre parcel but town officials felt the land was worth much more.

A letter from Richard Batt, president of Franklin Memorial Hospital, informed selectmen that one of their nominees for the NorthStar advisory committee would not be considered.

Selectman Mark Cayer had been nominated, but hospital officials, having just named his brother, Gerald Cayer, as chief operating officer, thought the selectman’s position on the advisory committee to be a conflict of interest. Batt suggested Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell as an alternate, and selectmen approved the nomination. Timothy Hardy, director of Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, and Richard Davis are two others nominated to represent the town.

A motion by Charles Murray to spend $3,500 from the municipal building reserve account for an air conditioning unit for the lobby did not pass for lack of a second. Stephan Bunker, having left part way through the meeting to respond to a Fire Department call, left the board with only four members who were split on the issue. Dennis Pike and Mark Cayer thought the money should be allocated as part of the budget process, though Murray and Wright thought the money could come from the reserve account.