PARIS – Selectmen paid a visit Monday to a former waste site that has undergone extensive cleanup efforts. The visit took place prior to the selectmen’s meeting.

All of the selectmen and Town Manager Sharon Jackson toured the waste lagoons of the former A.C. Lawrence Leather Co. The walk was led by AmyJean McKeown, on-scene coordinator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The site was used to store wastes from the company’s tannery until the mid-1970s, when the wastes were discharged to the town’s newly constructed treatment facility. The EPA identified 12 waste lagoons on the site off Oxford Street.

McKeown said a canoeist on the Little Androscoggin River first noted the pollution of the water by chromium deposits on the site around 2000. The EPA removed 3,300 tons of chromium-contaminated soil between Aug. 14, 2006, and July 6, 2007.

The EPA has also added improvements to the site, such as sheeting and a wall of rock that will bring the river back to its original course.

The project, which is expected to conclude in September, has cost $4 million to date, although Paris has not had to contribute to the bill. Any future developers at the site would pay for additional testing of the soil or water on site.

Chairman Ernest Fitts III questioned whether the EPA was able to remove all of the waste.

McKeown said only small amounts would be left, and they would not contaminate the soil.

Selectman Gerald Kilgore said he had observed equipment on the site that was not being utilized, and said that was “a bunch of government waste.” He commented that a local company could have done the job in a year.

McKeown responded that the equipment hours were available for review, and that the EPA had completed a year on site on Tuesday.

The town has waived foreclosure on the property for 20 years, and may take control of it at any time by allowing a foreclosure to take place. Jackson said the matter would not have to go to town meeting or a public hearing, but that the board would likely allow for public input on the matter due to the nature of the site.

At the selectmen’s meeting, the board decided on an amendment to fill vacancies among the officers. Selectman Raymond Glover proposed that a new election be held for chairman and vice chairman of the board in the event of a vacancy. Glover moved the same amendment at the last meeting.

Glover said an automatic advancement of the vice chairman would not cover election protocol for the newly vacated vice chairman’s seat. He said a selectman could also resign an officer’s position and remain a selectman.

Fitts said he preferred the idea of a “chain of command,” where Vice Chairman David Ivey would replace him if he vacated his seat. Glover’s amendment was defeated 3-2, with Fitts, Ivey and Glen Young voting against it. Glover and Kilgore voted for it.

Ivey then offered a separate motion where the vice chairman would become chairman in the event of a vacancy, and a new election would be held for vice chairman in that event or in the event the vice chairman resigns. The amendment passed 3-2.

Kilgore commented that selectmen were acting like lawyers when an attorney had already reviewed the town bylaws.

“I have a problem with this. I really do,” he said. “Somebody’s going to come in here with a suitcase full of these things and you’re never going to be able to go home.”

Fitts replied that the board wasn’t doing anything harmful, and was only trying to improve the bylaws.

The meeting grew heated when resident Christopher Stearns aired grievances about Code Enforcement Officer Claude Rounds during a discussion item requested by Ivey.

Though he did not identify Rounds by name, Stearns said he had experienced difficulties with the code enforcement officer in trying to get a road on his subdivision recognized as an existing town road. The matter has gone before the Planning and Appeals boards as well as a judge in Oxford County Superior Court.

Former Chairwoman Barbara Payne said Stearns was putting words in Rounds’ mouth, as Rounds was not present to defend himself.

“This wouldn’t fly on Judge Judy, and it shouldn’t fly with this Board of Selectmen,” she said.

Jackson said it is illegal for a town employee to be discussed without that employee present. She said an employee may sue the town if such discussion occurs.

“This is not the proper place to discuss it,” Jackson said at Monday’s meeting. “His case, as far as I’m concerned, is closed.”

Assessor Kevin McGillicuddy said the town had completed a valuation adjustment, gaining $82,930,360 in value. He said the adjustment brings the town’s ratio of assessed property values over the amount a property sold for to more than 90 percent.

By statute, the town must keep a ratio between 70 and 100 percent. McGillicuddy said the town’s ratio had fallen to 68 percent.

Selectman also approved a liquor license and special entertainment permit for the Smilin’ Moose Publyk House and Tavern. A contract for roadway and parking lot improvements was awarded to Pratt and Sons, the sole bidder. The company said it would do the work for $269,859.70.