PERU — The Board of Selectmen will not get a legal opinion on when the board secretary’s position should switch from appointed to elected, because its 2-2 vote Monday night means the question failed.

In June, voters passed an ordinance that changed the position from appointed to elected, but an effective date for the law was not included.

The Maine Municipal Association advised selectmen that Kathy Hussey should be allowed to serve out her term, which ends next year. It also advised the board to get another legal opinion.

Chairman Tim Holland and Vice Chairman Laurieanne Milligan voted for a private legal opinion; Ed Ferland and Dick Powell voted against it. Hussey, who is also a selectman, abstained from voting.

Ferland said they should have added the word retroactive to the ordinance, but absent that, the issue should have been addressed immediately after the ordinance passed.

“We on this board dropped the ball. We should all resign,” he said.

“After you,” Holland replied.

The issue is connected to a second ordinance passed in June which bars town employees, such as the board secretary, from serving as selectmen or Finance Committee members. Because it’s not certain when the change in the board secretary’s position takes effect, Hussey is continuing as selectman.

In other business, the board reviewed new amendments to the open records provisions of Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. Under the amendments, officials must provide a good faith non-binding estimate of the response time and must make a good effort to respond within that time. A person may request copies be mailed to them, but a copying fee and mailing fee will be charged. The official should disclose what the cost will be. An agency or official is not required to create a record that does not already exist.

The law does not require an official to provide access to a computer terminal.

Road Commissioner Joe Roach told the board he wanted his budget in four categories to paint a clearer picture of his expenditures.

Ferland said there needed to be more accountability in the office.

Roach said that was what he was trying to do.

The four categories Roach presented were: Summer and tar roads, winter roads, garage and equipment.

The board may have erred in approving the junkyard in the old Diamond Match factory near the Androscoggin River, Powell said.

Patrica Aho, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, wrote Powell that the Planning Board did not have sole authority to approve the permit and it was up to the town to do so. Approval by the Planning Board should not compel the municipal officers to issue the permit, she said.

Abutting property owners have 30 days to appeal the permit and should do so if they have an issue, he said.