POLAND — Selectmen on Tuesday took no action on a request from a Middle Range Pond resident to intervene in a dispute with town officials over an apartment above his garage.

Last week, the Appeals Board upheld Code Enforcement Officer Nick Adams’ ruling that the apartment above Ernest Ray’s garage constituted a second dwelling unit and gave Ray 45 days to appeal the decision to Superior Court.

Ray recounted that in 1985 he received a permit to construct “a 24- by 26-foot garage with a sauna overhead.”

Believing he had permission for a garage with an apartment above it, he built it and moved his daughter in. The garage is next to the main house.

Since then, the apartment has been used periodically and Ray secured permits for electrical and plumbing fixtures.

“Over the years, I probably paid about $21,000 in property taxes on it,” Ray said.

The building issue recently came to Adams’ attention when Ray tried to get some financing and the bank discovered he didn’t have a permit for the apartment. Adams pointed out that the town ordinance wouldn’t have allowed the second dwelling unit on the property in 1985 and it still doesn’t.

According to Adams, to have the second dwelling unit Ray would need 400 feet of frontage on Middle Range Pond and 400 feet of road frontage. He has neither.

A complicating issue is that the permit for the septic system stipulates that it is for a one-bedroom house.

Ray said he never heard of a septic system sized to accommodate a one-bedroom house and pointed out that the system appears to have the capacity to handle waste from both dwellings.

When selectmen asked what Ray expected of the board, Adams said that Ray was looking for an agreement from the board to allow the apartment. However, selectmen were not sure they had the power to overrule the Appeals Board.

“My concern is what’s the Pandora’s Box out there if we should allow the apartment?” Selectman Steve Robinson said.

In other business:

* Selectmen approved an extension of the rental agreement with Linda McConaghy through the end of September. The town purchased McConaghy’s property next to the Town Hall a few months ago and had agreed to allow McConaghy to remain in the house until the end of August.

The town is seeking to find someone interested in acquiring the building and moving it by the end of August. With no takers, it appeared unlikely to selectmen that it would be necessary for McConaghy to vacate the premises right away.

* Selectmen began a review of alternative designs for the municipal complex, which extends from Ricker Memorial Library to the Town Office and includes the McConaghy property.

* Selectmen named Keith Messer and Sandra Knowles to the Conservation Commission, and approved expanding board membership from six to seven. The two appointments make seven members.