Paris to charge Buckfield extra fee for processing new vehicle registrations

PARIS — For nearly a year, Buckfield residents were required to go to the Paris Town Office to register new vehicles that required plates.

As the trend continues, the town will now be required to pay additional compensation for that service.

On Monday, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to charge an additional $7 for each registration by Buckfield residents.

Paris has processed vehicle registrations for its neighbor since last November, following the resignations of its Town Office staff.

Paris Town Clerk Elizabeth Knox said she recently talked to the Department of Motor Vehicles and was told it was not unusual for towns handling registrations for a neighboring town to charge an extra fee to offset expenses, such as sales tax and excise tax forms.

The town keeps an agent fee of $3 to $4 per registration. Knox estimated Paris processes three to five registrations for Buckfield per week.

Asked when Buckfield will be able to process new registrations, Paris Town Manager Dawn Noyes said, “It doesn’t look like this will change anytime soon.”

Buckfield is searching for a new town manager. Bradley Plante, who is interim manager, is the fourth one since August 2020. The two office employees have less than a year of experience.

Knox and Noyes noted that the town is using an old software system, which is part of the reason the town has been unable to process new registrations.

The town has stickers to reregister vehicles, but it does not have license plates for new registrations.

“We’ve made an effort to be good neighbors, but it is now costing us more money,” Selectman Scott McElravy said.

The board settled on the $7 charge, which will be billed to the town, not residents.

In other business, the board received a report from Edmond Morin, an audit manager for RHR Smith and Co. of Buxton, on the annual town audit through June 30, 2020. He said the town has a $1.6 million fund balance, which puts the town in “a good financial position” and would cover expenses for at least 60 days if money stopped coming in, which is within the 60-to-90-day window recommended.

The town affirmed the fee structure for marijuana dispensaries, of which there are none in town. Fees include $5,000 annually for a license, $200 for an application, $75 for a public notice, and $25 per person for background checks on everyone involved in the business.

Chairman Chris Summers recommended that the board consider revamping its application process for potential committee members, including an interview with selectmen.

McElravy said that the town’s Code of Ethics should be looked at. The discussion came up during consideration of Ray Garnett, who was seeking a position as an alternate on the Planning Board. His application was tabled.

The board later accepted the resignation of Rich Little as a member of the Planning Board.

Two private roads received names: Stevens Lane which is off Park Avenue; and Atchinson Drive, which is off Stevens Lane. The landowner is hoping to place two mobile homes on Atchinson Drive.

Noyes said the long-discussed repairs to the town line monument on Route 26 marking the boundary between Paris and Norway have begun by Deb Carroll of Maine-ly Monuments, who has cleaned up gravestones in the town’s cemeteries in the past.

When she’s done, it will look like it did originally, Noyes said. “I have no concerns whatsoever.”