The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday discussed formally authorizing Salvador Pina, director of the Community and Economic Development Authority, to sign off on contracts and other budgetary projects.

Pina said that the authorization would only give him the ability to sign off on projects for which money has already been allocated by the town.

"I'm not talking about trying to commit the town...where we would not already have the money in place," said Pina.

Pina said after the meeting that examples of projects could be a rehabilitation of a home or a change in the recently completed downtown revitalization project.

Pina, who started working for the town in April, said that prior to his arrival CEDA staff would sign off of those budgetary decisions.

Pina added that since his arrival he started signing off on them in an effort to take responsibility for the decisions.

But Selectmen Ellen Begley and Cara Winslow took issue with giving Pina the permission.

"I do have a problem with this, because I feel the Board of Selectmen as a Board needs to be involved with CEDA," said Begley.

Winslow agreed.

"As mundane as it is, it is imperative that the Chairman of the Board [of Selectmen] - one of his duties, is that he is aware of what is going on," said Winslow.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Steve Holmes, who is also the liaison to CEDA, said that the projects were day-to-day activities and did not need his supervision.

"These are ongoing projects…they are proposals that we have already committed to," he said. "This has to do with day-to-day operations."

The Selectmen also discussed that exactly what authority could be given to Pina still needed to be hashed out taking into consideration the Town Charter as well as other laws.

Town Counsel Richard Bowen said that he would sit down with Pina in upcoming days in order to figure out the available options and bring his findings back to the Board.