MINOT — Selectmen met with three members of the Planning Board on Monday to discuss questions about the performance of the code enforcement officer.

Longtime Planning Board member John Gould told selectmen that he and other board members heard from community members who believed Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt had exceeded his authority in issuing certain building permits.

Gould, backed by fellow board members Chuck Buker and Cathleen McAnneny, cited a mother-in-law apartment on Fortin Drive, a new building on Harris Road and another on Pottle Hill Road.

Gould said if the complaints are valid, it would appear Pratt issued building permits for the three projects that should have gone before the Planning Board for site plan reviews.

Gould said the Planning Board has no jurisdiction over Pratt because he works for selectmen, who would determine whether Pratt was doing his job properly.

In the absence of Town Administrator Arlan Saunders, selectmen said they would take the matter up after Saunders reviews the situation.

In other business, selectmen agreed to Fire Chief Dean Campbell’s request to hold a controlled burn on the grassy lot at Woodman and Shaw Hill roads. The burn will be a training exercise for firefighters from local departments.

Selectmen also commended highway supervisor Scott Parker for the fine work he and his crew did constructing and installing a new body for the department’s one-ton truck. The body was rotting and their work over the winter made is usable again and cost a little over $700 for materials.

Selectmen said the finished product looked like a factory-built model.

“It would have cost the town a whole lot more to replace the one-ton,” Selectman Eda Tripp said. “The crew is to be thanked for a wonderful job. They can do about anything,” she said.

Selectmen also received word from Recreation Committee Chairwoman Candace Gilpatric commending the highway crew for the new bridge it built on the hiking trail near the ball fields.

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