PARIS — With one selectman willing to shut down all construction projects in town, the Select Board decided Tuesday to appoint Vice Chairman Scott McElravy as interim code enforcement officer.

McElravy is expected to serve about four months.

Town Manager Dawn Noyes announced she was naming board Chairman Christopher Summers for the position, but because he’s not trained and licensed, she proposed Summers be the assistant and McElravy, who is licensed, be interim and help train Summers.

With Summers and McElravy unable to vote, the appointments needed the approval of the three other board members — Peter Kilgore, Carlton Sprague and Walter Perry — for approval.

Perry said nothing during discussion before voting no.

Without the three affirmative votes, the proposal failed on a 2-1 vote.

Construction projects cannot proceed without someone from the town performing inspections and signing off on projects.

“We have stuff happening that we need that signature (of a CEO),” Noyes said. “We can’t operate if we don’t have an appointed code enforcement officer.”

“We need to do something, or the town is shut down,” she added.

Pressed by Noyes and his colleagues, Perry complained that the item was not on the original agenda, which was released the previous Friday.

Noyes apologized but said it could not be helped in this instance.

Perry said he did not agree with having a selectman serve as the code enforcement officer due to potential conflicts.

Noyes noted the town’s attorney saw no conflict with Summers serving in both roles. In addition, the existence of an Appeals Board would reduce the number of code and building issues coming before the selectmen, and Summers would abstain if anything did reach the board.

Perry offered no solutions to solving the dilemma.

Noyes proposed McElravy be named interim CEO without an assistant, which Summers agreed to, allowing him to vote. That motion passed 3-1 with Perry again voting in the negative.

In other business, the board accepted the low bid from J. Pratt Construction of Hebron to install a box culvert on Parsons Road for $149,000. The bids ranged from $149,000 to $186,000.

The board also approved the Fire Department holding a fundraiser, known as a boot driver, along state Route 26 near the post office Saturday and Sunday.