Paris voters reject land management policy

PARIS — Paris voters during a special city meeting Monday rejected a proposal to allow the electoral council to sell or dispose of any property, regardless of how it was acquired.

Currently, the board of selectmen has the authority to sell only properties acquired through foreclosure due to unpaid taxes, a routine item approved each year at the annual town meeting.

Residents voted against the article by a vote of 11 to 8. Some concerns centered on the fact that while the article requires public hearings to be held before any property is sold, it does not require the select board to listen to public advice expressed at said hearings.

Others felt that the special town meeting was not properly advertised and that a special town meeting was not necessarily necessary and that the issue should be brought to the annual town meeting.

City Manager Natalie Andrews explained that in July, the first property was originally listed online for $109,070 and the second was listed for $68,380. Both properties, measuring less than one acre, were then combined into one offer for $80,000. No proposals were ever received.

She then realized the board of selectmen could not sell the property because it had not been purchased with tax dollars, leading to a special town meeting.

The city received a private bid of $40,000 for both properties, which the commission accepted, Andrews said.

However, due to a “no” vote at the special town meeting, the select committee still does not have the authority to sell the lots.

The property was originally purchased for $80,000 at the 2015 annual town meeting.

Resident Janet Jamison said she doesn’t understand why there is such a rush to sell the land.

“I think it’s really short-sighted,” Janet Jamieson said. “This is an expansion of government power.”

“The board decided they wanted to start getting rid of city property,” Andrews said.