NEW GLOUCESTER — The Board of Selectmen agreed Monday to send a citizen-initiated petition establishing term limits for board members to the town attorney for review.

The petition garnered 427 certified signatures, exceeding the required 283 signatures, based on the number of town voters in the last gubernatorial election.

Under the proposed ordinance, selectmen shall serve no more than three consecutive three-year terms. However, service as an elected member of the board to fill a vacant position would not count toward the maximum period of consecutive service. After an absence of three years or more from office, a citizen may run and hold office again.

If the board sends the ordinance to voters for approval at a future town meeting, the provision will apply to current members retroactively, as well as future members of the board.

In other news, after discussion with an abutter and Code Enforcement Officer Debra Parks Larrivee, selectmen granted approval for a one-year renewal of a junkyard permit for the Larry and Vickie Wedge Junkyard at 119 Sabbathday Road. The board set a 180-day review by Larrivee for inspection of fluids and fencing.

The business has been in existence since around 1980, and is grandfathered for use on a nonconforming lot of record. Minimum requirements do not apply to the use and structures setback, Larrivee wrote in a memo.

Town Manager Paul First and Larrivee did a site inspection Dec. 9 after concerns from abutter Annette White and her request to selectmen.

Since that review, Larrivee reported a new fence section was installed, trailers are used as storage buildings, no vehicles were along the roadside, vehicles in the yard were permitted and tires are for sale and kept neatly behind the fencing.

The board also accepted additional grants for the Morse Road culvert replacement project that will have a positive effect on fish habitat:

* The Nature Conservancy, $25,000;

* Casco Bay Estuary Project, $5,000; and 

* Trout Unlimited, $3,000.

Last spring the town accepted a $95,000 grant from the state to replace a culvert on Morse Road.

A request for proposals will be developed for engineering services, installation of the culvert and selection of a contractor. The total cost is expected to be about $125,000. It is expected to take place between July 15 and September 2017, said Town Planner Will Johnston.