One week after three Paris selectmen voted to put Highway Director James Hutchinson on paid administrative leave, he resigned. 

His resignation was dated Oct. 30 and effective immediately. He cited the circumstances surrounding an issue involving the Select Board, road engineer and Maine Department of Environmental Protection as the reason.

Maine DEP had issued an undated letter to the town of Paris that referred to meetings between the state agency and town officials on Aug. 20 and Sept. 24. The letter was a recap of a site visit to newly paved Christian Ridge and Stock Farm roads, both of which had erosion after the roadwork was completed.

The letter summarized DEP’s inspection of the roads and gave an Oct. 20 deadline for town officials to contact its stormwater engineer and training coordinator.

Selectmen called a special meeting for Oct. 20, where Hutchinson was placed on leave following an executive session. During that meeting, the board appointed Town Manager Natalie Andrews to be interim road commissioner and scheduled an executive session hearing for Hutchinson to take place Oct. 30.

Instead, Hutchinson submitted his letter of resignation that day.

The board also voted to permanently add road commissioner duties to Andrews’ responsibilities. Highway Foreman Jesse Rowell is managing department operations in the interim.

Paris posted the open highway director position on its website Nov. 5.

Andrews told the Advertiser Democrat she is consulting with DEP, road engineers and former town road commissioners to coordinate solutions, which will further impact Paris’ tightly stretched budget.