LISBON — The Town Council on Tuesday held an executive session on a personnel matter, after which Chairman Dillon Pesce said rumors were falsely and unfairly accusing Public Works Director Ryan Leighton of not being qualified for the position and embezzling from the town.

When Leighton was hired in 2001, neither state law nor the town charter required the position to be held by a professional engineer. Projects under $100,000 do not require a professional engineer and those over $100,000 are sent to bid and a professional engineer hired, Pesce said.

Also Tuesday, Faye Brown, recipient of the 2015 Lisbon, Maine Spirit of America Foundation Tribute, was recognized for her community service.

Most notable was her work with the town gardens and founding the Green Thumbs Gang. The group was started in 1999 to spruce up the area, Brown said. Painted flower pots were placed in businesses for donations, and over the years the donations have totaled over $32,000.

Brown got schoolchildren involved, teaching them how to garden and working with them on projects such as making stepping stones for the gardens.

There are about 20 volunteers tending gardens around Lisbon.

“It’s a wonderful place to live” Brown said.

If she could have one wish, she said, it would be to bring back the tree program. Many of the trees in the parks were donated by families in memory of a loved one.

“That was a good program. I wish we kept it up,” Brown said.

Also attending the meeting was Boy Scout Troop 109 to observe communication at local government meetings. It’s one of the requirements for the communications merit badge.

“We look at communication in several different ways,” Scoutmaster Ray Schlotterbeck said. The troop recently finished a merit badge on tying knots and will soon work on an outdoor cooking badge. Scouts will go to the New England Aquarium in Boston on April 19 and attend a summer camp in New Hampshire in July.

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