DIXFIELD – Thanks to the Board of Selectmen, the town’s code enforcement officer got some “enforcement teeth” at Monday night’s meeting.

But teething pains set in a day later when Town Manager Nanci Allard learned that both the vote and the new progressive fine structure that was approved might not be legal.

“Only a town meeting can establish a progressive fine structure,” Allard said.

The same lawyer who told her that on Tuesday was also checking the fine structure’s legality.

In presenting the new fine structure, code enforcement officer Jay Bernard said, “It has been the past practice of this department to do everything possible to bring violators of state ordinances into voluntary compliance. This practice continues.”

Currently, Bernard tells violators the possible fines, which range from $100 to $2,500 per day.

“A fine schedule that is already in place will help justify the fine amount requested by the code enforcement officer,” he added.

According to the the proposal, the State Planning Office advises a three-notice protocol to inform violators of the violation they are committing. The notices give violators instructions on their right to appeal.

“If they do appeal the violation, no action should be taken until an appeals board has made a decision,” he said.

After the decision is made, and if it upholds the town’s position, a minimum $250 fine should be imposed, Bernard said.

“Failure to respond to any of the notices should constitute a $100-per-day penalty for each day the violation continues after the deadline set forth in the final notice,” he said.

If it is a second, similar violation, the responsible party should pay $250 per day after the deadline set in the final notice, as long as the violation continues.

Any consequent similar violations will cause the per-day fine to be doubled for each repeated violation, up to $2,000 per day, he said.

“An example of similar violation would be a timber harvester that causes violations of shoreland zones,” Bernard said.

Violators who repeatedly fall out of compliance with state ordinances but come back into compliance with either verbal or written notification would be subject to a minimum $100 penalty. Any consequent “fallout” would be doubled, up to $1,600.

“An example of a fallout would be a junkyard that continually comes into compliance, then falls out of compliance again,” he added.