LISBON — Complaints from taxpayers that doors at the town’s community center are being propped open in midwinter prompted members of the Town Council to try to get to the source of the problem Tuesday night.

The MTM Center, originally built as a school in the 1950s, has a heating system that overheats some rooms, leaving hallways and other rooms too cool, MTM Board of Directors Chairman Gordon Curtis told the council.

Curtis was one of several committee chairmen who met with the council to update them on what’s happening in their areas.

“Our biggest problem is the heat,” Curtis said. “We can’t seem to get it fixed. I don’t know if it’s a circulator issue or not, but we have one zone that we have no control over. Some people are saying we should shut it down.”

“I complain about it myself,” Town Council Chairman Fern Larochelle said. “I see doors propped open with chairs; I see the new windows open. I don’t think the council is saying shut it down, but is it worth renting if we are heating the outdoors? Some rooms are 70, some are 90.”

In addition to activities sponsored by the town’s Recreation Department, the town rents space in the building to nonprofits and individuals.

“I thought we were going to have someone look at it,” Councilor Lisa Ward said.

“There was a contract awarded to Siemens, but I was told today there’s no money left,” Curtis said.

Town Manager Steve Eldridge said the one-year contract the town signed with Siemens will include a report on the heating issues. He said there appeared to be a problem with valves and the furnace, but he hadn’t received a cost estimate.

Asked how much the town spends on fuel, Eldridge said he didn’t know, but the building has an 8,000-gallon tank.

“Don’t ask,” Larochelle said.

Councilor Gina Mason suggested they look at increasing the fees.

“Then you would have people saying, ‘We already paid for this,’” Eldridge said.

Councilors agreed the activities in the building are popular.

“I drive by there late at night, and there are always people in there,” Councilor Dillon Pesce said.

Curtis agreed, saying, “We had 90 people at the senior luncheon last week.”

Larochelle suggested they wait until they get a report from Siemens before taking any action.

Councilors also heard from Planning Board Chairman Don Fellows, Trails Commission Chairman Steve Warren, Ethics Committee Chairman David Bowie and Miriam Morgan-Alexander, who was recently elected chairwoman of the Finance Committee.