Selectmen appointed Thomas Bicki as a "junk" bylaw educational ambassador on Tuesday night at the urging of Selectman Peter Teitelbaum.

"There are really a lot of people that don't understand the bylaw and people need to be made aware of it," said Bicki. "Unfortunately in this day and age, people don't read newspapers. Constantly we hear people saying they don't know about all of the things that go on in town."

Bicki will make personal visits to businesses and make recommendations to them, equipped with informational packets and application forms for "junk dealers" to acquire licenses.

Bicki served as chairman on the Junk Study Committee, which was approved at last year's April Town Meeting.

The current "junk bylaw" was passed by Town Meeting last year after Selectmen realized that the then-standing bylaw allowed for only five "junk licenses" while requiring everything from true junk dealers to high-end consignment shops to be licensed. At the time, that left nearly 60 local businesses technically operating illegally.

The new bylaw, completely rewritten by a committee chaired by Bicki, contains a similarly broad definition of businesses needing licenses but does not cap the number of available licenses.

Back then, Bicki voiced his concerns about enforcement of the bylaw.

“One of the problems with the previous bylaw was enforcement, and this proposed bylaw gives the enforcement authority to the Board of Selectmen, the police, and the health agent, so there is a broad authority for a whole lot of organizations to deal with these issues,” said Bicki in 2015.

His concerns became a reality. As of April, there have been only seven applications sent in for licenses.

"To date, virtually no one has paid any attention to us. It had become one of those bylaws that people think, 'Oh cute," said Selectmen Chair Judy Whiteside.

The Selectmen hope to create a main list of "junk dealers." They have waived inspection processes for the first year of the educational program until May 2017, with the agreement that all licenses must be acquired before then.