James W. Farley, shown here at a Mt. Hope Farm function in August 2007, was voted off the Bristol Planning Board Wednesday night.

A 30-year member and the current chairman of the Bristol Planning Board was removed from his seat after a 4-1 vote of the Bristol Town Council Wednesday night.

When asked for comment shortly after the meeting, former planning board chairman James W. Farley said the decision not to re-appoint him "really kind of caught me by surprise." He said that although he had been reluctant to put his name back in for re-appointment, he had done so last Thursday or Friday after being urged to by several parties.

"I'm not really overly upset about it at all, I'll have to think more about it and we'll see what happens with it all."

The council voted to appoint Charles E. Millard Jr. of 620 Hope St. to take Mr. Farley's seat. Mr. Millard is a former state representative and currently serves on the Rhode Island leadership team for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Councilors Mary Parella, Kenneth Marshall, Raymond Cordeiro and Halsey Herreshoff voted for Mr. Millard, and councilor David Barboza was the lone vote against.

At first, the council technically appointed current planning board member Jerome A. Squatrito of 52 Fales Road and Mr. Millard by a pair of 5-0 votes.

However, this surprised Mr. Barboza, who said immediately after the votes, "What did we just do?" He added, "You didn't re-appoint Mr. Farley?"

Those votes were then recalled because of the procedural confusion and retaken. Mr. Squatrito was re-appointed again by a 5-0 margin, but Mr. Barboza changed his vote on the second vote for Mr. Millard.

When asked for comment after the meeting, Mr. Barboza said he was "very surprised" about the council's decision not to bring back the board's leader.

"I think [Mr. Farley] has done a great job, and to summarily dismiss him after 30 years is unfortunate," he said.

"He's got 30 years of service, and I believe he brings stability and reason to the planning board. He certainly has had his detractors, but overall I think he's done an excellent job."

Mr. Farley said he knows Mr. Millard from his years of service as a state representative, and called him "a good guy."

"I know him well, and I have a lot of respect for him," Mr. Farley said.

Mr. Farley first started on the planning board in 1978. He said he isn't sure if he will now serve the town in another capacity on a different board, since Wednesday's decision caught him by surprise. When he was asked how he would fill his Tuesday nights from now on, he laughed and said, "I think I'll manage."

Harbor delays — again

In other business, councilors technically approved changes to Bristol harbor ordinances for about 10 minutes, but then rescinded their vote and granted a continuance after concerns were raised by the Bristol Harbor Commission.

The confusion stemmed from a list of late items submitted by the harbormaster's office to the council to be incorporated into the ordinance change. These items were not discussed at previous open hearings held by the commission or the council. Commission member James Dollins said he and his fellow commissioners had not gotten a chance to review any of the changes, which include the length of tackle for moorings and allowing underwater camera inspections of moorings.

"None of the harbor commission has had a chance to see these changes," Mr. Dollins said. "I just think it's out of order to bring something forward without a public review."

Mr. Barboza also voiced his displeasure about the late submission by the harbormaster.

"I'm a little taken back at another set of 11th hour changes," he said. "This should have been wrapped up for us in one neat package by now. This is taking on a life of its own."

At first, the ordinance changes were passed by the council on a 5-0 vote, contingent on a review by the harbor commission. After Mr. Dollins spoke, the council voted to rescind the earlier approval, and to continue the proposed ordinance changes until the April 8 meeting.

Councilors and the commission did not have a problem with other aspects of the ordinance changes, such as upping the number of moorings in Bristol Harbor from 500 to 525 and the Kickemuit River from 165 to 180. Mr. Dollins said this was simply a maximum threshold, and the actual number would probably be lower.

Andy Tyska, the president of Bristol Marine, said he still had some problems with the ordinance changes, but he was in favor of them on the whole. In the past, Mr. Tyska took issue with a proposed reduction in the number of commercial moorings that could be held by any one owner, as well as regulations detailing how moorings are to be inspected.

The council added that Save Bristol Harbor withdrew its letter against the ordinance changes after talking with the commission.

By Stephen Greenwell

sgreenwell@eastbaynewspapers.com