RUMFORD – Selectmen want to know how long parking should be allowed on Congress Street.

The board, in response to merchant questions at a meeting earlier in the month, is asking businesses in the Congress Street area to fill out a short survey asking if two- or three-hour parking – or no parking limits – should be imposed. Most parking spaces in the downtown area now carry a two-hour maximum.

Exceeding the limit can result in a $10 fine.

Board Chairman Jim Rinaldo said some merchants were concerned with the two-hour limit because some of their customers were ticketed for parking longer than the town ordinance allows.

Selectmen have been grappling with parking limits, or a lack of enforced limits, for several years, prompting the hiring of a parking monitor a couple of years ago.

The survey, distributed late last week to downtown merchants, asks businesses to direct their employees to park in all-day parking spaces if the survey shows that a parking limit should be lifted.

The survey must be returned to the town office by the end of the day on Wednesday.

Rinaldo said the board will review responses at the Thursday night selectmen’s meeting. He said action will not necessarily be taken at that time, but instead, during the March 1 meeting.