VASSALBORO — Town officials are addressing concerns that the Vassalboro Sanitary District cannot legally elect new members to its board of trustees.

The town’s Select Board held a public hearing at its meeting last Thursday to discuss a tweak to the sanitary district’s charter.

The sanitary district is a private company that was separated from the town’s government in 2017. The district still serves as a quasi-public utility, providing sewage services to about 200 households.

The district’s charter does not explicitly outline the process of admitting new members to its five-person board of trustees, causing municipal lawyers to raise concerns about its legality when the district moved in April to fill a long-standing vacancy on the board.

Discussions have arisen about the sanitary district’s leadership after Vassalboro residents voiced frustration for months about skyrocketing bills. The district has increased its rates significantly over the past year, leaving more than a quarter of its customers behind on their payments.

The Vassalboro Select Board has stepped in to allocate to the sanitary district up to $200,000 in tax increment financing funding to help reduce residents’ sewer costs.

While the district’s charter outlines term limits, meeting structures and ethical guidelines for Vassalboro Sanitary District trustees, it does not specify how they assume office.

Vassalboro Town Manager Aaron Miller proposed a revision at last week’s Select Board meeting, stipulating that current trustees will serve out their terms “until their successors are elected at large by a plurality vote.”

“This only applies to the election of the officers,” Miller said. “There’s nothing else in there. It’s just one section. It’s just to reinforce the plurality voting.”

Miller said residents must vote on the proposed revision at the annual town meeting or in the November election. It is the only proposed change to the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s charter on which residents could vote.

Two of the seats on the district’s board of trustees had been vacant for years when resident Lisa Miller applied to join in April.

Miller’s swearing-in was delayed until June due to health issues and lingering legal questions over the process, which did not specify if she had to be appointed or elected. The district’s trustees would ultimately decide to appoint Miller to the board.

“This is being changed to allow voting again versus self-appointed positions,” Select Board member Rick Denico said.

Sanitary district officials have said they hope more public engagement will help fill long-standing vacancies on the board.

The district’s staffing shortage is expected to become more acute in December, when longtime board members Ray Breton and Alfred Roy plan to resign as trustees.

“We’re looking to fill two immediate positions which is the vice chairperson and treasurer,” board member and treasurer Rebecca Goodrich said at the district’s meeting last month.

Though Miller would ultimately become a district trustee in June, one of the board’s five seats remains vacant.

While Miller pushed to begin sending out ballots in early October for a special election on the revision, Select Board member Chris French’s concerns about the cost of counting ballots prompted the town to delay discussion on the vote until its Sept. 19 meeting.