LISBON — The Town Council has appointed town attorney Kristin Collins to examine the charges leveled at council Chairman Fern Larochelle in a citizens’ recall affidavit.

Collins will have 21 days to conduct her review before reporting her findings to the council.

The recall against Larochelle, who has served for nearly 20 years, claims “Larochelle has demonstrated a pattern of neglecting core financial and ethical responsibilities associated with his official duties as chair of the Lisbon Town Council.”

The affidavit claims Larochelle has repeatedly said that he wishes to “ween the town off of the unassigned fund balance.” It later states that despite contrary evidence, his position would lead or already led to a “structural budget deficit.”

The petitioners say evidence includes what they claim is a 60% increase in municipal expenditures without proportional growth during the past two budget cycles.

Larochelle has also been accused of conflict-of-interest issues exposing the town to legal action by failing to recuse himself. Specific examples are not spelled out in the complaint.

A recall was also filed against first-year Councilor Jeremy Barnard, who has since resigned from the council.

While not addressing the complaints against him directly, Larochelle spoke about the overall climate of the adversarial relationships between the public and town officials, saying he was disappointed it had come to this.

“In today’s day and age, it’s very scary to make accusations against people that have no merit,” Larochelle said. “I have a wife who is very concerned every time I come into the council chamber because little seeds put out there and accusations add up.”

Collins will investigate the stated reasons for the recall. After she files her final report, both sides may appeal her decision to the Lisbon Ethics Panel.

Councilor Chris Camire suggested that people interested in filling Barnard’s seat should apply at the Town Office by July 10. The council will appoint someone at its next meeting July 15.

“I think it is very important to fill this position very quickly,” Camire said. “We have a lot of important work to do this summer.”

The person appointed will serve until the next election in November.

Barnard, who served less than one year of his three-year term, was praised by Larochelle for not being afraid to speak his mind.

“People took out papers to remove him under very false premise,” Larochelle said. “Because of his responsibility to his family and his responsibility to his business, he had to step down. To me, if that happens to every good person who comes forward and wants to serve his c0mmunity, we’re going to end up with people we don’t want serving our community.”