Charlie Lemon has some advice for Paul Morency.

It’s good advice from one business owner to another.

Lemon owns two bars in Minnesota; Morency owns two in Maine.

According to Lemon, the wrong kind of crowd can ruin a bar’s business. “Police are a bar’s salvation,” he said.

He should know.

Lemon hires off-duty police officers to work his clubs four nights a week. He pays them $35 an hour, required under union contract, with a minimum of four hours’ work. That’s $140 a night and it has saved his business.

He started this arrangement at his bar, The Twins, when gangs started hanging out there. In the beginning he hired officers every night. “It took me about four weeks and three or four grand, but we got rid of everybody.

“The trouble is, when you get these characters, they drive away the good customers. If you allow them to take over the bar, it’s going to cost you the business.”

We don’t want to see Morency out of business, but it might come to that if the Auburn City Council revokes his liquor license next week.

Morency’s bar, Midnight Blues Club, registered 136 calls for law enforcement service last year, including 18 assaults, 22 fights and 21 complaints of disorderly conduct. Those calls resulted in 32 arrests.

That’s unacceptable.

And that kind of activity can ruin paying clientele, Lemon advises.

He believes that if Morency follows his advice, “Troublemakers won’t come with a police officer on the premises. He could solve his problem in three weeks.”

Last year, when Morency was in danger of losing his license because of excessive police calls, the City Council required him to hire bouncers, train his barstaff to spot trouble and pay police officers to patrol inside and outside the bar. As a result, the calls went down, and the city permitted Morency to maintain his liquor license after a three-month probation.

Now, a year later, he’s back negotiating with the city to keep his license. He still has bouncers on the premises, but they are not police officers.

Morency has suggested that, to preserve his license, he might shut down “The Cellar Door,” the basement-level social scene at his club. That’s not a solution.

The Cellar Door is a popular nightspot for a younger crowd. It’s a rowdy crowd, to be sure, but bad behavior can be reined in without shutting the place down. If Auburn and Lewiston are serious about revitalizing their downtowns, the club scene must be part of that plan, and bar owners and police departments can work together to create a peaceable, profitable atmosphere.

We strongly encourage Morency to follow Lemon’s advice and hire permanent off-duty police officers to work the bar and restore order. Not just for three months, but year-round.

That should satisfy the City Council, reduce the need for police response, preserve Morency’s liquor license and keep him in business.