NORWAY — Selectmen in Norway and Paris decided Thursday to meet next week to consider rescinding the appointments of all directors on the Norway-Paris Solid Waste Board.

The move comes amid continuing controversy over a decision by the waste board to remove one of its members.

Selectmen from both towns will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Paris fire station.

Attorney Rob Crawford said that amended bylaws recently passed by the waste board are inconsistent with an agreement between the board and the two towns. He described the agreement as a sort of “constitution” establishing and maintaining the waste board. He disagreed with changes that, he said, turn the appointment process established in the agreement into one of nomination.

“It would be much like someone passing a law in a state saying, ‘We don’t want to fulfill the state constitution, or the national constitution,’” said Crawford. “You can’t do that.”

Norway Town Manager David Holt said he agreed with Crawford’s opinion. He said he felt the waste board had erred, and was unsure if the issue could be resolved.

“Of late, I’m not so sure that I hope anymore that we’re going to straighten out any differences that we have through communication,” he said.

Norway-Paris Solid Waste Inc. is a quasi-municipal organization responsible for the management of solid waste generated in the two communities. Under an agreement between the towns and the corporation, three directors are appointed by each town to serve staggered three-year terms, with another director appointed on a rotating basis.

Under an amended set of bylaws approved by the waste board, which corporation President Al Atkinson says are consistent with state law, the appointments must be approved by a majority vote of the directors. If an appointed director is rejected, the board may also nominate a replacement if the town does not appoint another person within 10 days. The amended bylaws also allow the removal of directors by a two-thirds majority vote, with the board able to nominate a replacement if the town does not do so within 30 days of the removal.

The latter section was put to use soon after it passed, when the board voted 4-1, with one abstention, to remove Paris director Janet Jamison. Atkinson accused Jamison of “unprofessional and unethical behavior,” of being a “bully,” and of inhibiting board business. Prior to the vote, Paris selectmen upheld their appointment in August after the board voted 5-2 not to recognize Jamison as a director and again in January after Atkinson asked that they rescind her appointment.

Jamison, who had argued that the amendments are inconsistent with the agreement, has refused to recognize the removal. At the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday, she sat with the board but was not recognized. She agreed to leave so the board could go into executive session, but only after two police officers called in by Atkinson asked her to do so.

Crawford said the towns could amend the articles of incorporation to say the directors must conform to the agreement. He said that while the agreement does not allow the removal of directors, it is implied that the towns have the authority to rescind appointments as well as make them. He said the towns could decide to remove the waste board directors and appoint replacements.

Crawford said the towns could decide to dissolve the corporation. However, he did not recommend the option, saying it was “draconian and dramatic” because it could interrupt a public service and affect the employment of corporation employees.

Atkinson, who was not present at the meeting between the two boards of selectmen Thursday, said he did not believe Paris selectmen would be able to act on the item because their are only three of them now, because two have been recalled from office. He also said Bruce Cook, a Norway selectman and waste board director, should have told Crawford that the board had agreed Wednesday to have an arbitrator resolve the disagreement on the board and have attorney Dana Hanley correspond with Paris.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “All the facts aren’t out there.”

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