HARRISON — At their meeting last week, selectmen signed two consent agreements drawn up by Code Enforcement Office John Wentworth for a campground and a private residence to clear up some outstanding violations.

The first was with RMO Holdings regarding Vacationland Campground, owned by Gretchen and Tim Osgood. The issue stemmed from decks on various campsites and their proximity to the water. Selectman Richard St. John asked Wentworth if he had heard from the other party.

“Gretchen has looked and it and she said she wanted to have her attorney look at it before she signed it,” Wentworth answered.

St. John and Selectmen Chair Kathy Laplante discussed how usually the violating party is the one who signs the consent agreement first, as has been done in the past.

“[Town Clerk] Melissa [St. John] and I discussed this at length. We kind of came to the agreement if you sign it, it will require them to come in and sign it in front of Melissa as a witness to their signature,” Wentworth said. “If we mail it to them then we don’t know who has done what. If they don’t sign, it is a moot point anyways – then it will be a legal issue.”

Town Manager George “Bud” Finch said it would behoove selectmen to sign the agreement to get the issue cleared up before summer hits and they’re trying to hash it out when the campground is up and running.

“If we’re comfortable with it, why not sign it?” Laplante asked.

The board unanimously voted to sign the agreement. Selectman Bill Winslow was absent from the meeting.

The second consent agreement is with Andrzej Siwek and his property at 677 Cape Monday Road. Wentworth told selectmen he had been working on this issue for a while and it stemmed from Siwek wanting to rebuild his patio.

“In the course of trying to permit it, we discovered the original one had not been permitted. We also discovered the correct 100-foot setback line had not been used,” Wentworth said. “It is at least that from the shore of the lake. However, there is a cove that runs in on the property. Because the elevation of the cove is the same elevation of the lake, it is part of the lake. It needs to be 100 feet back from the cove and it is not. This would not have been permitted. … The problem was created by a prior owner.”

The code enforcement officer said he would put it bluntly and asked selectmen if they wanted to spend $40,000 to argue the case in court.

“This is a million dollar home. This guy is not going to tear it down and why would he?” Wentworth asked. “However, he’s been good about it.”

He added Siwek tried to get an after-the-fact permit for the patio and the agreement requires Siwek to grow back some bushes he had cut down and do not more construction near the cove unless its septic or utility-related.

Selectman Matt Frank wanted to know what would happen to the patio and Wentworth said Siwek gets to keep his patio with the agreement.

“It’s not an ideal situation,” Wentworth commented.

“It’s a compromise,” Laplante said.

Selectmen again voted to sign the agreement.

Selectmen also signed a quit claim deed for James Bean for his County Road property after paying his back taxes in full.

Finch said when he first arrived in Harrison five years ago, there were numerous properties in the foreclosure process, sometimes beyond the three years. He noted the town doesn’t want to be in the real estate or banking business and is required to follow state statute for foreclosure proceedings.

“I said, ‘You need to get out of that situation.’ Nothing pleases me more than being able to issue quit claim deeds to get property back to the owners,” Finch said.

He added he’s two weeks away from 2013 foreclosure deadlines.

“We are down to the fewest number of people we ever had to deal with,” Finch said. “Hopefully in the future we won’t even have to deal with these types of things.”

In other business, selectmen set the annual election and town meeting dates.

The election will be held on Tuesday, June 14, and town meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 15.

Nomination papers will be available beginning Monday, March 21, at the town office, and are due back by 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 29.

Positions include a three-year term for Laplante’s selectman seat, two three-year planning board seats as Barry Smith and Robert Celeste’s terms are up, a five-year term on the appeals board as Douglas Wall’s term will expire, a three-year term for the open seat on the appeals board, and Ann Marco’s term on the SAD 17 Board of Directors is done.

“All of you out there, the appeals board is waiting for you,” Melissa St. John said. “I know [Marco] would love it if someone would step forward and want to join the school board.”

After the selectmen’s meeting adjourned, the same people met as the board of assessors. It was with regard to a $127,000 tax abatement request from Marjorie Frank at 57 Town Farm Road. Wentworth told the assessors her property’s assessed value is $213,400.

“I couldn’t find anything that could support an abatement,” Wentworth said as he passed the assessors photos of the property.

Assessor Frank noted he was not related to Marjorie Frank.

“They’re asking for a huge amount of abatement. If they were asking for $10,000 they might be able to make a case on things like the garage,” he said.

Assessors agreed with Wentworth and unanimously denied the abatement because there wasn’t credible evidence to support granting one.

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