PARIS – The Norway-Paris Solid Waste Committee and selectmen for the two towns agreed Wednesday to form an ad hoc committee to review the agreement between the towns.

The quasi-municipal committee was formed in 2003 to manage solid waste generated within the towns. The agreement between the towns is effective for 20 years and may be extended by a majority vote of either one after that time.

The ad hoc committee will consist of two members from the committee, two members from each of the selectmen’s boards, and one member of the public from both Norway and Paris. The town managers of the two towns will serve on the ad hoc committee in an advisory role.

The ad hoc panel will work on amendments to the joint agreement and will cover attendance, the annual joint meeting, the NPSW committee meeting schedule, and Right to Know Law procedures, but may address other areas of the agreement as well.

Norway Town Manager David Holt said he requested attendance requirements to ensure that the NPSW committee will have a group of dedicated members.

Paris Town Manager Sharon Jackson said the meeting schedule will update the agreement, which currently states that meetings may be called by the committee’s president or held as agreed to in the NPSW committee’s bylaws.

The agreement states that the NPSW Committee must meet at least twice a year; it currently meets regularly on the third Monday of every month.

Jackson said committee members are not mandated by law to take Right to Know training, but that such training was recommended due to the nature of the decisions the NPSW Committee makes.

“It would be wonderful if voluntarily they take the training that’s prescribed for our Planning Boards and Boards of Selectmen,” Holt said.

The solid waste committee came under scrutiny after voting to increase the disposal fee from $7 to $25 for any item left at the Brown Street transfer station that did not originate in Norway or Paris.

Chris Shorey of Main Street Furniture and Appliance in Norway protested the fee hike after it was proposed, saying that it reclassified his business as a commercial hauler. Shorey said the business would be subject to higher fees since it disposes of old furniture when it delivers new furniture to customers, and argued that items the business retrieves from out of town should be considered as being generated in Norway.

Committee member Al Atkinson said the board has since made the decision to bring the disposal fees back down to $7 an item.