About 20 local contractors attended the Boothbay selectmen's meeting Monday night to show collective support for David Taylor to be re-appointed as plumbing inspector for the town.

Attorney Richard Elliott was also present to speak on behalf of Mr. Taylor and urge the board to re-appoint him. The matter ended up being tabled, along with other town appointments, pending consultation with the town's attorney.

The selectmen had earlier decided when they hired new code enforcer Marian Anderson that they eventually wanted to incorporate the plumbing inspector position with that of the code enforcer and keep those functions, with all permitting records and fees, centralized "in-house" in the Town Office.

This decision was formalized in the budget process when the plumbing permit fees were budgeted as revenues and the code enforcement account increased.

"It's no reflection on David," said selectman Dick Hodgdon. "When we hired the code enforcer, we thought it would be better to have everything in the town office," he said, adding that the interviews for the job had included that provision.

Marian Anderson is not yet certified as a Licensed Plumbing Inspector (LPI) but is in the process of taking classes and required tests and expects to be certified within six months.

In the meantime, the town has received a letter of temporary certification from the Division of Health Engineering in the Dept. of Human Services. The letter, signed by Wendy Austin, cites state law in granting the temporary authorization.

But Mr. Elliott argued several points in trying to convince town officials that they should keep Mr. Taylor on: 1) that it's not an issue of his not doing the job; 2) that the contractors are all satisfied with his prompt service; 3) that it's not an issue of cost; 4) that if it's an issue of record-keeping, his client would offer to put all records in the Town Office; 5) that Taylor has shown dedication through 25 years of service; and 6) that legally Ms. Anderson cannot be temporarily certified when the town already has a certified person on the job.

Elliott cited rules of the Division of Health Engineering and Maine law governing LPI certification by the State Planning Office, with exceptions outlined which he said do not apply in this case because the town cannot show hardship as it already has a fully qualified person employed.

Elliott suggested the town could have "the best of both worlds" by keeping Taylor on as plumbing inspector and making the code enforcer the back-up plumbing inspector.

"You'd have 24-hour service," he said, with Anderson covering days and Taylor, evenings. "You won't see a downside to keeping him on," said Elliott.

The board voted 5-0 to table the matter until the next meeting May 29 and to get a legal opinion from town counsel Bill Dale on the authorization letter the town had received.

The town of Boothbay Harbor had considered the same course of action as Boothbay a few months ago, but selectmen ended up voting to keep Taylor on as plumbing inspector.