DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen agreed Monday evening to wait until its next meeting to fill in vacancies in the Planning Board and Finance Committee, citing the fact that it needs more time to review the applicants.
Town Manager Carlo Puiia said that there were two vacancies on the Planning Board and one vacancy on the Finance Committee.
Puiia said that six residents had already applied for the Planning Board positions, but that it had not been advertised in the newspaper.
Among those who have applied for the Planning Board position include Jared Luczynski, Jeffrey Knight, Susan Holmes, Lauren Hebert, Ricky Davis and Michael Palmer.
Davis is currently an alternate on the Planning Board, an issue that Selectman Mac Gill brought before the rest of the selectmen.
“Ricky is already an alternate on the Planning Board,” Gill said. “He was voted onto the board. He doesn’t need to be voted back onto the board.”
“I don’t think a Planning Board member can be moved to a permanent member without a vote,” Selectman Hart Daley said.
While looking through the Planning Board rules, Puiia said that the Board of Selectmen have the power to move the alternate member to a full member position, as long as a vacancy exists.
“I actually encouraged Rick to fill out an application, because he wanted to be recognized as a full member of the Planning Board,” Puiia said.
Selectman Dana Whittemore said that he remembered several months ago, the board agreed to start taking a closer look at people who applied to different boards and committees.
“At this point, I’m not prepared to make a decision tonight,” Whittemore said. “At least not without looking through these applicants.”
Gill agreed and suggested that Puiia take out an advertisement for the available positions.
Puiia later pointed out that Davis, who also submitted an application for the Finance Committee position, would have to choose between the Planning Board and the Finance Committee, since an individual cannot serve on two boards simultaneously.
Davis said he would withdraw his application for the Finance Committee.
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