APPLETON, Maine — A special town meeting is likely to be held next month to decide whether the number of selectmen governing this community of about 1,300 should be increased.
The petitions were submitted Monday to the town office with 79 verified signatures of town residents, more than the 75 needed to force a town meeting. The board consists of three members, but petitioners want to expand that number to five.
Donald Burke, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said a tentative date for the town meeting is Tuesday, March 8. The board will next meet on Feb. 9, when Burke expects a date will be formally scheduled.
At a special town meeting on Jan. 12, residents voted to create a nine-member town committee to research the feasibility of creating a part-time or full-time municipal administrator. The committee was directed to report back to townspeople at the regular annual town meeting in June.
The board had discussed late last year whether to present an expanded board proposal to residents but instead opted to put forth the possibility of hiring an administrator to deal with the increasingly complex job of managing municipal government.
Resident John Fenner, who was one of the people gathering signatures in town, said Tuesday that the petition to expand the board is separate from the proposal to hire an administrator. He said the petitioners did not take a position on the administrator issue.
Fenner said if voters approve expanding the board in March, then the two new people could be elected at the regular annual town meeting in June.
He pointed out that there have been instances when one or more board members had to recuse themselves from voting on matters because of a conflict of interest. He said expanding the number of selectmen would allow the board to act even if one or two members did abstain from voting.
He said the change also would offer more representation to the town.
“The board would function better,” Fenner said.
Burke said he has no opinion on the proposal for a five-member board.
“To be totally honest, I can see the pros and cons on both sides,” he said.