Now the question is, whatâs next?
Does the defeat of the short-term regulations mean the town will be mailing out cease-and-desist orders tomorrow to the 500-odd rental properties in Conway? The short answer is no.
Minutes after the results were announced, Selectman John Colbath said: âWe do not have the information to decide what to do next.â
Added Selectman Mary Carey Seavey: âI want to hear what town attorney Peter Malia has to say. If we are going to issue cease and desists, it has to be orderly.â
Colbath said he believes many people voted against the regulations because they thought within a month there would be properties for lower-income people to buy. âThe reality is thatâs not going to happen,â he said.
Ten people filed for 12 of the 20 town and six school positions opening up.
One person who is not running for re-election, Town Moderator Deborah Fauver, shared in an email Tuesday that while âIâve decided not to run again, but I have recruited a great replacement. Then she added mysteriously: âYouâll have to wait for the sign-up period to find out who it is.â
That person is attorney Chris Meier, a partner with Cooper Cargill Chant in North Conway, which is the same firm where Fauver works as a lawyer specializing in estate planning.
Meier, who also serves on the board of the MWV Trails Association, joked with Conway Town Clerk Louise Inkell on Wednesday that Fauver personally escorted me hereâ to make sure he signed up.