DANVILLE — Selectman Russell Harding has been asked to resign after being accused of overstepping his bounds when he held a community movie night against the wishes of the town's police chief, who asked that it be postponed due to the threat of rain.

Selectmen asked for the resignation at Monday's board meeting after a dispute over a movie night held at Day Field on Aug. 18.

Harding has been given until the next board meeting on Sept. 4 to make a decision, but selectmen can't legally force him to quit.

“Did I overstep my boundaries? Maybe. But a resignation? I have a hard time with that,” Harding said.

Selectman Michelle Cooper said she felt Harding misused his authority, and she hinted at other problems that night.

“There could be more than what meets the eye, but at this point I really can't discuss it,” she said. “You have to be professional and there were poor choices made throughout the night.”

The idea to hold a movie night was suggested earlier this year by Police Chief Wade Parsons, who spearheaded the effort as a way to bring families together during the summer.

The town spent just under $5,000 on equipment and other related expenses to show a movie on a large inflatable screen at the field, while the police association also kicked in money to help pay for some of the movie license fees.

On the morning of Aug. 18, Parsons looked at the weather forecast and feared it could rain later that night when the town planned to show the movie “Transformers,” so he sent out a text message to a few other volunteers asking their opinions. He eventually decided it would be best to cancel the event because he said he was worried that the equipment could be ruined if it got wet.

Word spread quickly that the event was off, but Harding, who has also helped out with the movie night, said he was away during the day and didn't get the message until after it was already canceled.

Harding said he checked out three different weather services and only one showed a 20 percent chance of rain. He said he then contacted Parsons and told him that he thought it should be shown as planned. He contacted another member of the recreation committee who agreed, he said.

“I told him I didn't agree with changing it once I already changed the sign saying it was postponed,” Parsons said.

Harding eventually decided to haul the equipment to the field and show the movie despite the earlier announcement that it was postponed. He said it had been several weeks since a movie had been shown and felt it should go on as planned given the money invested in the event.

Harding said one family showed up at about 8:30 p.m., but at that point it was getting dark and he was already packing up the equipment.

“By the time we got down there it had been canceled for some time. The reality is I should have let it go because it was too late in the day,” said Harding, who was elected in 2011.

In hindsight, Harding said, he probably shouldn't have gone ahead with the movie night, but isn't so sure it warrants his resignation.

“I think this might be a little excessive to ask for my resignation over something like this,” he said. “Everybody makes a mistake.”

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Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.