LISBON — The Town Council voted down a proposed one-year lease with the Lisbon Area Christian Outreach food pantry Tuesday night after a lengthy discussion at the Town Hall. The council also discussed the idea of making Lisbon Emergency Inc. a town department, though no action was taken on it.

Earlier this year, town officials asked the organization to find a new space to operate so the MTM Community Center can be better secured for the Recreation Department’s after-school program.

At an Aug. 21 council meeting, councilors instructed Town Manager Glenn Michalowski to negotiate a lease after the food pantry requested a three-year agreement. The lease proposed at Tuesday’s meeting would have reduced the amount of pantry space from two rooms to one.

Pantry officials objected, saying both spaces are required to continue to offer the same level of services, which also include a clothing bank, according to Vice President Debbie Hill.

Many supporters have felt the town is trying to push the food pantry out with no place to go. Supporters packed the meeting room Tuesday night to share their concerns about the proposed lease agreement.

Cynthia Hall reminded councilors they represent the people and Lisbon Area Christian Outreach supports people in town. “They’re trying to help our people, the people of this town, … and if you don’t support them, shame on you,” she said.

Pantry volunteer Amy King said the town was built by blue-collar workers, who sometimes needed a “helping hand.” She said the town is moving away from its roots and the people who have lived there for a long time. It feels like nobody cares, she said.

“We know we’re not welcome in that space anymore but we need just a little bit of help so that we can find the space so that we can continue to service the town the way that the town deserves,” King said.

After a roughly 20-minute outpouring of support from supporters, Town Councilor Raymond Robishaw said he sees the organization’s struggle to find new space as a community problem, not just the nonprofit’s problem.

Other councilors expressed interest in allowing the organization to keep both rooms while they search for a new location.

However, that search has been difficult and though pantry officials have called many places in town, they have found none that are affordable and amenable to the pantry’s needs, according to one board member.

Councilor Fern Larochelle impressed upon councilors the need for change regardless of giving pantry officials more time at the community center. He said the pantry cannot continue to operate there “forever.”

He said is disheartened by the lack of safety for the children attending the after-school program because it is not as secure as it should be and that affiliated churches cannot take in the food pantry.

The after-school program is growing, Larochelle said, and the food pantry is growing, and town officials must figure out how to move forward with a plan that addresses both programs’ needs.

Councilors unanimously rejected the proposed lease and directed Michalowski to draft a new one with input from pantry officials.

Later in the meeting, councilors discussed the idea of making Lisbon Emergency a town department. Michalowski presented councilors with a draft ordinance to give them an idea of what it would look like if the town took over the service.

Councilors took no action on the draft ordinance but expressed interest in having the service be its own department and not operated under the Fire Department.

In previous discussions, councilors did not seem to support making the organization a quasi-municipal service but seemed open to the possibility of making it a part of town government, Michalowski said. 

The town already funds the service through tax dollars.

The only thing the ordinance would change is the structure of the service.

One resident said if the town is funding the department with tax dollars, it should not be billing residents who use the service.

Michalowski said if the service does not bill residents for rides, then it cannot get Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements.

Larochelle said if the service did not bill insurance companies, then the town would have to pay more to support the service. Lisbon Emergency can recoup operating costs by billing people.

Councilors had a long discussion about town emergency departments, mostly the Fire Department, what resources the town has and how the town might be able to use those services for EMS calls.