CONWAY — Conway officials will continue to discuss major changes to the town's charter in October.

Conway's population reached a milestone in the 2010 census, with 10,115 residents counted. That's more than a 10 percent increase from the 2000 census, when 8,646 persons resided full-time within the borders of the town. The growth in the town has prompted some to wonder if it's time to change the form of municipal government, something that can only be done by revising the town's charter.

At the Conway Selectmen's meeting Tuesday, Town Manager Earl Sires announced there will be a workshop on the charter revision process and on variations of town government. The workshop, scheduled for Oct. 16 at 4 p.m., will be conducted by representatives from the Local Government Center.

In April, Conway voters turned down an article on the town meeting warrant that included wording that would have led to the creation of a charter review committee. The primary subject of the warrant article was the municipal budget committee. An affirmative vote would have rescinded the adoption of the committee; the article was defeated.

Since that time, town officials have been meeting to go through the town's charter, and at the Tuesday meeting town attorney Peter Malia reviewed several amendments to the charter that can be made without creating a charter commission.

Malia said major revisions are more complicated, and the proposed changes he presented to the board now are “just tweaking.” The amendments would reflect changes previously approved by voters.

He said in 1992, the number of selectmen was changed from four to five; in 1996, the town adopted the SB2 form of town government; in 1999, the town approved an article allowing the planning board to do capital improvement plans.

“I think the charter can be amended in those areas right now,” Malia said. He listed other changes that reflect articles already approved by voters or that line up the charter's language with state laws.

Sires said the three amendments did not need to go through a charter commission, and called the proposed changes “housekeeping.”

The changes, which the Board of Selectmen approved, still need to go through the statutory process. That includes getting the wording approved by the state, public hearings and approval by the voters next spring.

Sires said the charter and proposed changes will be available on the town's website, conwaynh.org.

syoungknox@newstote.com