PARIS — Norway residents voted Monday night to place tighter rules on campers placed on private property and to set aside money to build a fire substation.

More than 90 residents were still in the midst of the annual town meeting at 9 p.m., having approved about two-thirds of the articles on the warrant.

The proposed $4.6 million municipal budget is $133,651 more than last year, with increases for police, fire and highway departments. 

Voters agreed to appropriate capital budget items, including $70,000 for in-town street improvements, $200,000 for other road improvements and $115,000 for truck and plow gear replacement.  

Capital expenditures approved for new buildings included $15,000 for the expansion of the police station; $25,000 for a land survey of the town garage and reserve for the future construction of a town garage building, and $20,000 toward the eventual construction of a fire substation in the north end of town. The Budget Committee advised against the appropriation and had recommended waiting until a study identifying the operating costs and benefits had been completed. 

Residents voted to spend up to $9,000 to install a security camera system at the Town Office, despite a recommendation from the Budget Committee that a $500 system would work. 

Police Chief Robert Federico said the cameras were a deterrent and could help identify suspects involved in crimes around the building. 

Residents voted to update several ordinances. They approved the recommended housekeeping changes to the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, which Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman said would clarify definitions and sync the stream protection district maps with its text.    

Residents also agreed to changes in the Building Code which will restrict living in campers to 30 days on private property. Others, such as campers who pull off the road for an event, will be restricted to 60 hours.

Corey-Whitman said the ordinance changes will give “immediacy” to the issue, and were necessary to ensure adequate sanitation procedures are being followed. If individuals present a plan to haul away their waste, she said she was willing to work with them on the deadline to move out. The changes are not retroactive, she said.  

“I don’t have any problem with you parking your RV in your lot while you’re building your home, but I want to know what you’re doing with your waste,” Corey-Whitman said. 

An amendment to exclude the tourists from the provision by relaxing the rule during the summer was handily defeated. 

When one resident suggested the 30-day notice was too soon for someone who’d hit hard times to move, Corey-Whitman said it was a compromise reached after shorter notifications were dismissed. 

The vote will also allow town officials to move ahead with placing special tax liens on foreclosed and dangerous properties. Corey-Whitman said the measure will enable selectmen to act instead of going through lengthy and expensive court proceedings. 

ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net 

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