FARMINGTON — Selectmen will begin Tuesday’s meeting with a public hearing to consider a proposed amendment to the town’s Appeals Board ordinance.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 23, at the Municipal Building.

The proposed change, a disability variance, would allow setback variances to be granted by the Code Enforcement Officer instead of the Appeals Board. These variances are necessary for the construction to make a dwelling accessible for a person with a disability.

If the board accepts the amendment, the change would go before voters, perhaps during a special town meeting if one is held before, or at the annual meeting next March, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

Currently, when a variance is needed to install a handicap ramp or perform construction to make the home of someone with a disability or a building they frequent more accessible, the ordinance calls for a review by the Board of Appeals, which grants the needed variance.

After a recent request meant convening the board for a four-minute meeting, Davis recalled a law, LD 155, enacted in May by the state legislature.

The law allows a town to adopt an ordinance authorizing the code enforcement officer to directly issue the variance in cases where a setback variance is needed to construct an egress or structure necessary for access for a person with a disability, according to a brief description of the bill.

In other business, the board will award a bid for installation of 362 feet of guardrails on Voter Hill Road as part of the road rebuilding project.

Another 120 feet of guardrail was included for installation on the steep bank behind the municipal office, but Davis intends to recommend that the board wait due to other unexpected expenses at the municipal office this year.

The board will also receive an update on the Whittier Road erosion issue and discuss the staffing level at the police department.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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