HARTFORD – Newly appointed Code Enforcement Officer John Plumley received little if any support for his building code plan Thursday night at the selectmen’s meeting.

Road Commissioner Alan McNeil, a member of the Ordinance Committee, said the state only requires towns with more than 2,000 people to have a building code.

Plumley, who was aware of this, said, “A code would make for better and safer buildings, give better value to homes and would bring revenue to the town.”

His plan for bringing in revenue was to place the cost of inspection on new builders, thus taking the burden of his salary off taxpayers.

Board Chairman Scott Swain said that in a recent survey sent out to the townspeople, the building code question brought 170 negative answers out of the 192 returned. He also asked for a show of hands from the assembly in the hall. A large majority said no to the idea.

Most of the people had come to hear Michael O’Donnell talk about re-evaluation. O’Donnell said he thought he was only coming to speak to the board about moving the date of completion of revaluation to next year.

However, he was prepared with a handout explaining equalization, and spent 45 minutes talking to the people and fielding questions.

O’Donnell said he got the feeling from a resident before he entered the hall that Hartford, like every other town, was up in the air over taxes.

He said, “Our job is find property and come up with a plan to help us value the property at its true market value.”

Asked how to get equality and fairness, O’Donnell said they do a mass appraisal where pricing comes from factual data. He pointed out that most of the appraisal had been done locally, thus saving the taxpayer a great deal of money.

When asked if the locals were certified to do this, O’Donnell said the board thought the people were dependable and the work looked adequate to him. He said his model uses the same mechanics and pricing for everyone.

O’Donnell will meet with the board in December to set the date to begin their work.

In other news, Selectman Lee Holman announced a painting day for the town hall.

Swain asked her if she had checked the calendar to see if it was booked. She said she hadn’t.

Swain informed her that she had previously had a work day when a baby shower was scheduled, and the renters had complained about paint fumes and ladders around the building. Swain moved to have the party reimbursed the rental fee for the hall, and the board approved.

Holman presented two possible mediators suggested by Maine Municipal Association to help the selectmen facilitate their meetings. Swain said they would have to find the money from some other source in order to pursue this avenue.

Holman also presented three bids for a salt shed building.

Swain asked her to have the two lowest bidders come to the next meeting, which has been changed to Thursday, Oct. 28.

Holman asked why the board meeting was not listed in the Sun Journal, as were the Planning Board, Solid Waste and Road Committees. She said meetings should be posted and people informed.

Swain replied that people do make mistakes and that she was making too much of the situation. He said the meetings were legal.

Holman said she didn’t know about a special selectmen’s meeting last Monday.

Swain said that was not true; that he told her when she was in the office on Saturday. She admitted she may have forgotten.

Also, the board passed some revisions to the transfer station manual.