By Connie Footman,Special to the Sun Journal

LISBON – Selectmen say they support replacing the town meeting form of government with a town council, as recommended by an elected Charter Commission.

“We believe an elected seven-member town council will be more efficient and reduce the special interest’ problems our town meeting increasingly endured,” selectmen stated in a letter to the community released this week.

The proposed new town charter will be offered to voters for approval on Nov. 8, the same day as the state referendum election.

Townspeople voted in May 2004 to establish a nine-member Charter Commission to consider the adoption of a town charter. The commission was proposed largely to look at alternatives to the town meeting form of government, which has been in place since the town was incorporated in 1799.

The commission, aided by an experienced law firm, met 15 times over the course of a year and held two public hearings. Many forms of government were considered, including referendum voting.

A copy of the proposed charter has been sent to all residents’ homes for them to review.

Selectmen wrote that they supported the charter’s recommendation in part because of the town’s burgeoning expenditures.

“As combined town and school budgets now total more than $20 million annually, it is time to put our municipal operations on a businesslike footing,” they wrote.

The letter added that the Charter Commission had built in limitations such as all borrowing over $100,000 must be approved by referendum ballot. It also includes safeguards, such as a recall option for elected officials.

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