NORTH YARMOUTH — Selectman Mark Girard announced his resignation at the Dec. 15 meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

“As a matter regarding personal choices, I am resigning from the Board of Selectmen as of the culmination of this meeting,” he told his fellow selectmen.

He then wished them happy holidays, and “good luck with all of the challenges that the board and the community face over the next year.”

“Thank you, Mr. Girard, for your service to the town,” Chairman Alex Carr told him. “We’ve appreciated it.”

The comments are included in a video of the meeting posted at vimeo.com/149298248.

Girard, whose term expires in 2017, could not be reached Friday for further comment.

A meeting has been set for Monday, Dec. 21, to set a date for a special election to fill Gerard’s seat, and also to further discuss a request for proposals concerning potential redevelopment at North Yarmouth Memorial School.

Girard was a proponent of Question 1 on the town’s Nov. 3 referendum, which proposed redeveloping the school, which closed in June 2014, as a municipal and community campus with a municipal sewer system to facilitate new development. Town Hall would have been sold for housing or commercial development.

The competing Question 2, which prevailed at the polls, opposed that plan and called for the town to cease all spending and work concerning the project or development of a sewer system.

It also called for Wescustogo Hall – the community gathering place destroyed by fire in 2013 – be rebuilt as stipulated in a 1997 agreement with the town; that the current Town Hall be maintained and renovated; that proposals be sought for the school building; that citizen feedback be garnered on all proposals, and for any plans for the school to go to a town vote.

Girard was elected to the board in June 2012 to complete an unexpired term, and was re-elected in 2014.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

Mark Girard

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