LISBON — A proposal to dissolve the town’s elected Budget Advisory Committee will be on the November town ballot, while another proposal for a budget referendum vote was removed from the ballot at Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting.

Budget Advisory Committee member Dot Fitzgerald said the proposal to switch from an elected committee to a council-appointed committee was “tantamount to having the fox watch the henhouse.”

Larry Fillmore agreed, arguing that dissolving the Advisory Committee “is nothing more than retaliation” because the committee voted against the last budget.

John Wierzbicki rebutted Fillmore’s charge, however.

“I was chairman of the Budget Advisory Committee,” Wierzbicki said. “Didn’t this idea come up well over a year before this budget was voted on?” he asked, looking at Town Manager Steve Eldridge.

“Yes,” Eldridge replied.

While councilors voted to keep this question on the ballot, concerns from residents about a referendum voting proposal apparently convinced them to remove another question from the ballot.

According to Eldridge, the idea of allowing residents to vote on the council’s budget came from a citizens group about four years ago. This led to a petition to put a straw vote on last June’s ballot, asking whether voters were in favor of it. That vote favored the change, and wording to put this into effect was included in the ballot question.

However, the referendum process itself came under heavy criticism by several people who spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Currently, the public can express its views on the proposed budget at public hearings, but the council has the final say.

Under the referendum process, if residents vote down the budget, or if less than 15 percent of the registered voters who voted in the last general election vote on the referendum, the council-approved budget is implemented on a month-by-month basis until a second vote can be scheduled. If there’s a second vote against the budget, or less than 15 percent of the voters cast ballots, the budget adopted by the council goes into effect.

Charter Commission member David Bowie was the first to speak against the idea, saying it would be a change in the Charter, “which should be done through a Charter revision commission.” The town Charter was approved in 2007, changing the form of government from a selectmen-town manager form to a town council-town manager form of government.

Aside from the need to make Charter changes through a Charter revision commission, Bowie said the referendum process itself “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” referring to the need for a second vote if it doesn’t pass the first time, then an automatic implementation of the budget if the second vote also fails.

Budget Advisory Committee and Planning Board Chairman Don Fellows agreed.

“I don’t understand why if people vote it down twice, it (the budget) goes into effect anyway. It makes no sense,” Fellows said.

Councilor Mark Lunt said if residents want to change the form of government, it should be done through a Charter revision committee.

“This would change the form of government,” Councilor Gina Mason said. “The people did vote for a council form of government. I think we need to look at this again.”

“I know the public voted to have a referendum on the budget,” Councilor Lori Pomelow said. “Whether they understood what it would entail, I’m not sure. I agree with Gina. We need to do more thinking about it.”

Councilor Roger Bickford, who helped organize the June straw ballot, according to Eldridge, expressed doubt that a good solution can be reached.

“This council will never be able to do it,” Bickford said. “We can’t come to an agreement on this.”

“I don’t think we’re going to make anyone happy,” Mason said. “We’re not ignoring the 2,000 people who voted for this, but this has been in the works for several months. I don’t see many new faces here,” she said. “I know people say they don’t want to speak out, but I think it’s their responsibility to speak out.”

Following the unanimous vote to take this issue off the ballot, the council also decided to take more time before adopting a fireworks ordinance. Several councilors said they had received calls from residents, some supporting the proposed limited allowance of fireworks on holidays and some opposed to allowing any fireworks.

In addition to the election of town officials, the November ballot will also include an “advisory referendum” question, asking whether the town should dissolve the Lisbon Water Department and have the town take it over.

An open house at Campus Commons, new senior housing apartments fashioned from a brick school building, will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26.

In other business, the council:

* Approved the $956,000 sewer budget submitted by town engineer Ryan Leighton.

* Awarded a $3.89 per yard sand bid to Premier Development, Lisbon Falls.

* Awarded a paving bid for $120,000 to Pike Industries, Westbrook.

* Awarded a $14,000 comprehensive HVAC service agreement to Siemens, of Scarborough.

At the end of the meeting, the council voted to go into executive session to discuss a personnel issue. Chairman Fern Larochelle announced that no decision would be forthcoming.

Future of Moxie Festival to be discussed

LISBON — Town Council Chairman Fern Larochelle urged people to attend a public forum next week on the future of the Moxie Festival, a three-day event honoring Maine’s most famous drink.

The event, which attracts about 50,000 people, according to Town Manager Steve Eldridge, began about 30 years ago and is held annually on the second weekend of July.

The public forum will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at the town office.

Although the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce initiated the annual celebration, more and more of the responsibility in recent years has fallen to the town, Eldridge said Wednesday.

A lot of the work has been carried out by staff members at the town office, including Economic and Community Development Director Scott Benson, Town Clerk Twila Lycette and Administrative Assistant Jody Durisko.

“The council has never really said, ‘We own this.’ They want ideas about what the future of the festival should be. We’re trying to find a more successful way of running it, how to find more volunteers. I don’t think people know how much work it entails.”

Eldridge said he and Benson have gotten some ideas from people involved with the Yarmouth Clam Festival, a weeklong event that attracts more than 100,000 people. In addition to a festival director who works year round, there is also an administrative assistant who works 20 hours a week on that event, Eldridge said.

“It’s very, very important that the public comes forward,” Larochelle said Tuesday night. “If you want Moxie to continue, you need to step forward and voice your opinion.”