PARIS — The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Thursday evening to appoint Dawn Waisanen as interim town manager.

Waisanen, who has served as bookkeeper for Paris since November 2017, will continue to work as the town’s bookkeeper while serving as interim town manager, Chairman Rusty Brackett said.

The vote came after a 6 p.m. executive session held prior to the regularly scheduled 6:30 p.m. board meeting.

Waisanen will fill the spot left by Vic Hodgkins, who left the position after selectmen voted in November to terminate his contract, which was due to expire in September 2021.

In other business, selectmen voted unanimously to table discussion on whether to allow Police Chief Hartley Mowatt to buy and replace four Tasers for the Paris Police Department.

Mowatt told the board Thursday evening that the four electroshock weapons he has are old and “worn out” because of overuse. 

He said that the cost of four Tasers would be $6,908, for which payment would be spread over five years and would include “holsters, batteries and chargers.”

The board voted to table discussion until Mowatt could determine whether it would cost less for the town to buy the Tasers outright or to pay for them over a five-year period.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

Selectman Gary Vaughn looks at the Taser model that Paris Police Chief Hartley Mowatt proposed buying during Thursday evening’s board meeting. (Sun Journal photo by Matthew Daigle)

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