Board chairman criticizes traffic ordinance

PARIS — A recent draft of a vehicle weight restriction ordinance was sharply criticized by Selectboard Chairman Sam Elliot at Monday's board meeting.

Weight restrictions are intended to help protect town roads from damage that can be caused by heavy vehicles.

Elliot declared the updated ordinance was unclear, imprecise and unenforceable. He further said it could have a "dramatic" impact on some business owners in town.

The ordinance, approved in 2003, is controversial because it restricts heavy commercial vehicles from using the road, even if the operator lives along it.

The issue sparked a heated discussion between selectmen and Jack Richardson, chairman of the Policy and Procedures Committee during the September 10 board meeting.

The P&PC works on ordinance and town policy at the board's direction.

On Monday, Elliot claimed the ordinance did not list specific vehicle weight, used confusing language and did not include details such as bond amount and when the roads would be posted.

He also said the ordinance burdened business owners who worked along the weight-restricted roads. 

"There are nine owners of businesses on Oxford Street [a weight-restricted road] and you're basically just putting them out of business with this ordinance. I wonder if you intended to do that," Elliot asked.

Elliot further suggested the P&PC should have brought the inconsistencies to the board's attention and said it was the committee's responsibility to research and identify problems with the ordinance.

Anne Stanley, a P&PC member, told the board the committee was told to update and clean up the language in the ordinance. The committee would exceed its authority by rewriting the ordinance, she said.

If the board wanted to make the changes Elliot requested, it should give the P&PC clear guidance on what to do, Stanley declared.

Stanley was surprised that the ordinance was suddenly a hot-button issue, considering it was approved in 2003 and the recent draft had been reviewed by selectmen and town attorneys without comment.

Stanley said the P&PC took no ownership of the ordinances it worked on –  it worked for and took all direction from the selectmen.

"We're your scribes," she told the board.

"If you want us to change the policy tell us and we will do what you want us to do."

Vice Chair Bob Kirchherr questioned Elliot's analysis of the ordinance.

Kirchherr said the ordinance already addressed many of Elliot's concerns, but agreed some issues remained.

Kirchherr said the P&PC was not given a charge to rewrite the ordinance and reminded the board that the current ordinance was still in effect, although apparently not enforced.

Town Road Foreman Dan Nowell, who attended the meeting, admitted he had not read the ordinance, but the highway department usually started posting weight restrictions on roads in February.

Selectman Gerald Kilgore, who works with heavy commercial vehicles, told the board that in his experience, operators would contact the foreman in the spring to see which roads they could drive on and when.

The board decided to table the issue and consider what charge to give to the P&PC at a future workshop.