Voters in Paris reject the land drainage policy

PARIS – Voters in Paris on Monday rejected a proposal at a special municipal meeting to allow the limited government to sell or dispose of properties regardless of how they were acquired.

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

Residents voted 11 to 8 against the article. Some concerns centered around the fact that although the section requires a public hearing to be held before any property can be sold, it does not require the jury to heed the public’s advice expressed at the hearing.

Others felt that the special town meeting was not adequately advertised and that a special town meeting was not necessarily necessary and that the matter should be brought before the annual town meeting.

City Manager Natalie Andrews explained that the first property was originally listed online for $109,070 and the other in July for $68,380. The properties, both less than one acre, were then combined into one bid for $80,000. No bids were ever received.

She then realized that the select board could not sell the properties because they were not tax-acquired, which led to the special town meeting.

The city received an offer from an individual for $40,000 for both properties, which the select board accepted, Andrews said.

However, as a result of the “no” vote at the special town meeting, the select board still does not have the authority to sell the parcels.

The properties were 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 this is really shortsighted,” Janet Jamison said. “This is an extension of government power.”

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