Select Board members sought to redefine the role of advisory committees at a September 26 meeting, after community members claimed the activities of an advisory committee led to a financial loss for their company.

The Select Board invited Pathways Committee chairman Alan Heureux to present the committee’s mission. The Pathways Committee was created about five years ago to research ways of making town roads more cyclist-friendly, said Heureux. The committee now has seven members who work to enhance both cyclist and pedestrian usage of the roads.

The advisory committee has succeeded in getting “Share the Road” signage along Chase Road, is working with the Department of Public Works to increase room for cyclists along Dartmouth Street, and has been asked to design a quarter-mile trail connecting the Parsons Reserve and Russells Mills Landing.

However residents say the committee overstepped its authority in publicizing the Padanaram Harborwalk — a plan to connect Smith Neck Road, the causeway, and Elm Street toward the New Bedford Yacht Club with a two-mile public trail. The harborwalk plan is only preliminary, said Heureux, but residents argued they already feel the aftereffects of the plan because Heureux’s research resulted in a state inspection of their property.

The Pathways Committee invited the state Department of Environmental Protection to help look at opportunities for public access to the water along this potential route, which includes the Davis & Tripp marina.

Andrea Langhauser, of the state DEP's Waterways Regulation Program, recently spoke with the Pathways Committee about state code for waterway access.

“One of the things we wanted to encourage was uniform signage that would indicate public access to the waterfront,” said Heureux.

Langhauser also inspected Davis & Tripp without an invite from the company, said general manager Sharon Tripp. Langhauser found all sorts of violations, including an outdated Chapter 91 license, which involves usage of state waterways, said MassDEP Spokesman Ed Coletta.

“It was a nice presentation, but now my company is going to be put on the table for the violations she noted,” said Tripp, who explained that the state hadn’t inspected her property since the 1980s. Coletta was unable to confirm the last inspection on Tripp's property.

Resident George Leontire — who recently bought the 4 Water Street property — said Langhauser also inspected his property without welcome, although she found no violations.

Leontire argued that Heureux had overstepped his authority by contacting the state as a representative of Dartmouth.

“Advisory committees don’t really have a lot of power,” said Select Board Vice Chairman Frank Gracie. “You have the power to advise and report to the committee that appointed you.”

The Pathways Committee is an advisory committee to the Select Board, meaning they can research and make recommendations, but it cannot take action, like an actionary committee can.

“We don’t want you to stop doing what you’re doing,” Gracie said, adding that the committee has done great work thusfar. He recommended the committee regularly check in first with the Select Board before going forward with plans.

Pathways Committee member Gerald Koot stood up to defend Heureux. “We invited someone down here who could explain this to us. We have a right to do this,” he said, explaining the need for an authority to define state requirements involving waterway access.

The Select Board reacted empathetically, but ultimately could do little to help the Tripps. They concluded that the Pathways Committee was in its right to research, but the resulting consequences for community members cannot be undone.

“The bell has been rung. I don’t know how to unring the bell for the Tripps,” said Gracie.

“It was a bad decision, but I know it was innocent,” said Select Board Chairman Stanley Mickelson.

Select Board member Shawn McDonald ultimately blamed the Commonwealth: “If the state was doing its due diligence, they wouldn’t be coming at them after 20-30-40 years saying, ‘Wait a minute. There’s a problem with the licences.’”

"I don’t want to necessarily restrict committees from doing their appointed tasks,” continued McDonald. “I don’t want to get involved with that level of micromanagement.”

The Select Board voted to notify Langhauser of the Pathways Committee’s role as an advisory committee and to clarify that its members do not speak on behalf of the Select Board.