AUBURN — The three-month-old Androscoggin County Charter may soon get a touch-up.

County Commissioners voted 2-1 Wednesday to send a revised charter — the document that governs the county much like a constitution — to the Maine Legislature for adoption.

The new charter would clarify some items that were muddled in the version that was approved last November in a county-wide referendum.

Among the issues tackled was the fate of sitting commissioners when new commissioners are added in 2015 and a timeline for when a mandated county administrator would be hired.

County commissioners and members of the Charter Commission — including Chairman Richard Gross, Vice Chairman Richard Grandmaison and member Larry Moreau — talked over suggested changes with county attorney Bryan Dench for more than two hours.

Neither side agreed with what brought them to this place.

The Charter Commission spent nearly two years creating its 17-page document. Following months of meetings and public hearings and legal analysis by Auburn attorney Curtis Webber, the document evolved. It was changed numerous times until it was finalized in January 2012 and introduced to municipal groups in every town in the county.

“That’s where we made a mistake,” Grandmaison said. “We should have numbered them.”

Somehow, an unlabeled early draft of the document ended up in the hands of county commissioners instead of the final one. The earlier draft was the one approved by the county commission and ratified in November with a majority vote in each of the county’s 14 towns.

Problems in the document, including contradictions over whether sitting commissioners would retain their seats or face a special election, began to surface in December, said Randall Greenwood, chairman of the County Commission.

Commissioners met with Dench in January. In February, charter members were contacted. Meeting dates fell through until Wednesday’s meeting.

“This document, for better or for worse, has to be corrected to what your intention was,” County Commissioner Elaine Makas told the charter members.

Gross and Moreau agreed to the revision, saying their intentions were followed.

In the end, Greenwood and Commissioner Beth Bell voted to send Dench’s revision, with a few extra changes, to the Legislature. It is expected to be included in a bill within days, sponsored by state Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon.

Makas voted against the quick action, counseling the county leaders to take a few days to be sure of the wording and to give time for the charter group to comment further.

Grandmaison was upset with the resolution, insisting that the Charter Commission’s final draft should be approved instead. Both he and Gross said they were disappointed in the commission’s timing.

“If they had so many issues with this, why are we talking about it April of 2013?” Gross said.

Grandmaison agreed.

“There should have been some discussion of this in October, before it went to voters,” he said.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link