LEBANON — Officials are expected Wednesday to create a new task force charged with writing provisions of the voter-approved “Welcoming Lebanon Ordinance” into the city’s regulations.

The proposed Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force also would be given leeway to suggest amendments to the ordinance in areas that “require minor clarification” or pose challenges to enforcement, according to a proposal drafted by Mayor Tim McNamara.

The City Council will ultimately decide whether to form the group, which the mayor is proposing will include two councilors, two members of the grassroots group that petitioned to get the measure on the city ballot, and three other Lebanon residents.

McNamara declined to name the individual members, saying he plans to unveil them during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

If approved, the task force would start meeting virtually this month and produce recommendations in September.

“My thought was and is that we need to take what passed in March and then translate that into a fair and impartial policing ordinance,” McNamara said during a phone interview Monday. “We need to turn our policy into an ordinance that reflects the wishes of the voters … but which also represents something which is enforceable and legal.”

Residents voted, 1,218-1,015, in March to adopt the welcoming ordinance, which bars Lebanon police from aiding immigration enforcement efforts, detaining people for violating immigration law or allowing federal immigration officials access to people in Lebanon police custody.

The ordinance also prohibits police from asking a person’s immigration status. It takes effect Jan. 1, although Lebanon’s city charter allows for it to be amended by the City Council before then.

McNamara says he hopes the task force will tackle two potentially problematic issues he sees in the ordinance.

First, he said, a provision in the ordinance forbidding the city from collecting information on “the basis of race, ethnicity, language, religion, citizenship or immigration status” could hamstring officials attempting to track police actions and make sure they are free of racial bias.

“That’s actually how we monitor our existing fair and impartial policing policy,” McNamara said. “If we aren’t able to collect that data then we can’t monitor or enforce our existing policy.”

He also worries about a portion of the ordinance that mandates the city inform residents when immigration officials are present. A legal review conducted by the city’s attorney in January referred to the section as “vague,” and said it could be viewed as obstructing federal authorities.

Devin Wilkie, who was part of the committee that petitioned for the welcoming ordinance, said on Tuesday that he’s been called to sit on the task force.

“The main focus is to make sure it’s stronger, to make sure it covers everything it intends to,” said Wilkie, who previously participated in the city’s arts and culture task force and now sits on the commission that took its place.

“It looks like the city is invested in following the will of the people and wants to make this as professional and complete and enforceable, according to its original intent, as it can be,” he said. “I’m excited to see that.”

Voters in Hartford and Norwich approved similar welcoming ordinances during their respective Town Meetings in March, while the Hanover Selectboard approved a policy last month, though supporters of that measure said language added by Hanover officials weakens its impact.

Meanwhile, the Lebanon Police Department has updated its internal fair and impartial policing policy to better clarify how interactions regarding immigration should occur.

The new policy, which took effect March 12, says officers cannot initiate a stop “based solely on information or suspicion that an individual is in the United States without authorization and proper documentation.”

It also bars police from asking about a person’s immigration status while investigating a crime or violation, such as a traffic stop, unless that information is relevant to the investigation.

A section of the new policy also addresses detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying officers “shall not prolong the individual’s detention based” on the requests, which are made without the approval of a judge.

Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello has said on multiple occasions that city officers don’t ask people they are questioning about their immigration status. Over the last four years, one person who was arrested by Lebanon police was handed over to immigration authorities after a routine record check flagged the person to the Department of Homeland Security.

Mello told the City Council in March that federal officials contacted Lebanon police in that instance, not the other way around.

He said Monday that the updates were written with the help of the city’s attorney, who found the department’s policies to avoid bias and profiling “could use some improvement.”

The new provisions will be in place until either the welcoming ordinance comes into effect or the task force and City Council amend it, Mello said.

The Lebanon City Council will discuss creation of the new task force when it meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday. People can find instructions to access the meeting at LebanonNH.gov/Live.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.