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Selectmen are concerned about the possible financial effects of a policy to address citizens concerns about their property.

Town Administrator Linda Sanders presented the selectmen a simply worded policy on how to address concerns that citizens raise when they think the town is negatively impacting or harming their property.

The proposed policy states that any Ashby resident that thinks the town has negatively impacted their property through damage or neglect can hire a certified engineer to assess it and bring a recommendation to the selectmen.

"It just puts someone in the middle of that who isn't associated with Ashby," Sanders said. "It takes the politics out of it."

The policy is being raised because a Mason Road resident approached the board this spring when water runoff from the town road was collecting on his driveway and in his front year. Selectmen agreed to have the highway department provide the labor to fix the problem if the resident paid for the materials and the long-term maintenance.

Selectmen received criticism for that decision and decide to hold off on the implementation until a policy was designed.

"If in our overseeing capacity we aren't doing it right we have some responsibility," Selectman Geoff Woollacott said. "Why didn't 'we' pick that up before it was an issue."

Selectmen agreed they needed to ensure that was a responsibility to the owner of the property so the board wasn't going to be facing a lot of false claims.

Selectmen discussed splitting the cost of the engineer with the resident or putting an engineer on retainer to deal with many issues in town.

As part of this discussion selectmen tried to figure out how to prevent issues like this in the future.

"You can't just run and put every fire out," Selectman Gerald Houle said. "We need to come up with a fire prevention plan."

One of these suggestions is over the next few years to develop a plan for long-term maintenance on buildings and on planning.

Board Chairman Peter McMurray said there might be a need to reorganize departments and committees because committee members have less and less time to serve the community.

"In the past the committees did all of the work," he said citing the cemetery, the solid waste, the building and grounds as well as the parks committee.

"I think down the road taking anything that is manual work and have it be put under someone who is in town every day," McMurray said. "I just don't think that the people who serve one committees have as much time as they once did."

In Other News:

 Selectmen received a promise from the building inspector that he would be more reachable after addressing complaints that he was unreachable and unavailable to do inspections.

Building Inspector Anthony Ammendolia told selectmen his cell phone had fallen into a bucket of water and was disabled for about a week, so his messages backed up because he couldn't receive phone calls.

"It's all set now," Ammendolia said. "I'm all caught up now."

He also expanded his office hours in town hall, so he will now be available starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday until about 8 p.m. or by appointment.

 Selectmen authorized Sanders to hire an engineer to design a replacement for the town hall's failing septic system. The money was appropriated for the design at a previous town meeting.

Sanders is trying to determine if the town has permission to tie into the elementary school's septic system next door.

"I think they went way bigger (then needed)," McMurray said.

The selectmen may put an article on the fall town meeting's warrant to appropriate money to replace the septic system.

 Selectmen decided to hold off addressing the issue of a possible parking bylaw until there is a new police chief in place.

 Sanders is waiting for the selectmen to review a request for quotation package she put together for the proposed public safety building.

Voters approved the expenditure of $38,000 at the November 2005 town meeting to pay for a public safety facilities architectural and engineering feasibility study and preliminary designs.

The money came out of the stabilization fund.

"I'd like something expandable," Woollacott said.

Sanders said the request asks the architect to look into building either separate buildings for the police, fire and ambulance departments, a single building or a complex of buildings.

McMurray said he liked the look of the public safety building in Brookline, N.H.