The South Berwick Town Council addressed its rules of order and procedure at a meeting Tuesday night after a monthslong dispute about conduct resulting in calls for one councilor’s resignation.

Councilors are hoping a new amendment clarifying conduct rules will finally put the issue to rest and they assured residents at the meeting that they’re focusing on improving.

At a previous meeting on July 14, discussion became heated after Council Vice-Chair Mallory Cook read a letter regarding Councilor Sam Flinkstrom’s conduct. She said he had been bypassing the interim town manager and council chair in emails with other officials — a step that Cook and Council Chair John James said has always been an inferred piece of the charter.

But Flinkstrom argued that because it was never a written part of the rules of order and procedure, his actions were permissible.

Councilors said they were hoping not to discuss the issue further after publicly addressing the spat and adopting an amendment to their rules of order and procedure. But Flinkstrom realized the July 14 amendment, which he proposed, was invalid because it had not been submitted in writing and entered as “new business” in a following agenda, per the council’s guidelines. That meant they had to vote again Tuesday.

The amendment states that “all emails between Councilors and Town Staff must include the Town Manager and Council Chair.” Flinkstrom said in an interview that he hopes this rule will remove any gray area in councilors’ communications.

The councilors unanimously voted to make Flinkstrom’s amendment official, as they had done previously.

Thirteen emails that residents sent to councilors after the July 14 meeting, expressing disappointment in the council’s behavior, were included in Tuesday’s meeting packet. Most of them argued the new amendment was a step in the right direction, but that the issue was deeper.

South Berwick resident Cassie Crosby wrote that she did not view the conflict as a dispute about the technical language of conduct rules but rather a discussion about councilors’ basic ethical responsibilities.

“I was deeply concerned by what I heard, both the conduct described and the apparent unwillingness of Councilor Flinkstrom to recognize the legitimate ethical concerns his conduct raises,” Crosby wrote.

Other letters echoed Crosby’s concerns, some addressing each councilor’s actions one-by-one. Three of them called for Flinkstrom’s resignation.

“It is apparent to me that Councilor Flinkstrom does not take his responsibility as a public servant seriously,” resident Sarah Spates wrote in an email with the subject line, “Concerns About Councilor Flinkstrom’s Conduct and Request for Resignation.” She added that she felt the issue was interfering with municipal operations.

Flinkstrom and his fellow councilors said little about the letters Tuesday, instead simply thanking residents for sending feedback. He did not indicate plans to resign and said he looks forward to serving South Berwick for the next two years.

“This is not about one email or one meeting,” Councilor Joel Martin said. “It’s about figuring out how we can make this council operate to the best of its ability.”

Council Chair John James ended the discussion Tuesday by saying Flinkstrom’s amendment to the rules will help the council move forward in a united way.

“We will get better,” James said to residents. “Let us know how you feel, and we will be listening.”