Board approves draft merger agreement

PARIS — Shared police services between Paris and Norway moved one step closer to reality Tuesday evening when the Paris Board of Selectmen approved a revised draft interlocal agreement between the two towns during its meeting.

Residents will be given a chance to discuss the draft agreement at a public hearing on July 23.

According to Town Clerk Elizabeth Knox, residents will need to vote on shared services at a special town meeting that has not been scheduled yet.

In mid-May, the board of selectmen voted to delay the shared services agreement and removed it from the town meeting warrant.

At the time, selectmen said they were uncomfortable with language in the agreement that appeared to address shared services beyond the initial trial year.

The revised agreement largely corresponds with the suggestions the board of selectmen drew up after delaying the initial agreement.

Language referring to "Phase I" and "Phase II" of the plan has been removed from the revised document.

It now clearly states that the duration of the agreement "shall be for one year commencing August 1, 2013. If either town wishes to discontinue sharing of Police Services, Norway or Paris shall give a thirty day notice of termination."

Few other changes were made to the document – a section on termination of the agreement was removed and language concerning the creation of a Transition Board was trimmed up.

The original draft outlined the possible membership of the transition board – town managers, members of the two selectboards and a law enforcement professional.

Now, the agreement simply states, "As soon as practical, a Transition Board shall be formed to plan for a more comprehensive merge of the two Police Departments."

A provision suggested by the Paris board that would leave the current Norway and Paris chiefs as "acting chiefs" of their respective departments was not included in the revised agreement. 

The agreement sticks to the original plan to appoint a single chief for both towns.

The board voted unanimously to approve the draft agreement for the purpose of discussion by the public.

The public hearing will be held before the regularly scheduled selectmen's meeting on July 23 at 7 p.m. at the Paris Fire Station.