LISBON

Lisbon voters will head back to the polls to decide on a school budget Aug. 11.

That was the date set by the Town Council Tuesday night, forced to set a new referendum after the first proposed spending plan was soundly rejected by voters June 9. The School Committee will meet Monday to discuss the school budget. The council will vote on the budget June 30.

Town Councilor Dillon Pesce also addressed the special town meeting petition the town received earlier this month by a group of citizens who wanted residents to be able to vote on the School Committee’s proposed school budget at a town meeting. The petition was found to be “insufficient.” Pesce said several people have called to ask him why the petition was held up in the clerk’s office.

“Our clerk followed the procedure to a T,” and sent the petition to legal counsel for review, Pesce said. “Unfortunately the clerk was put under a lot of nuisance from different people, different organizations, that wasn’t called for.

“People are not going to come in and harass the staff,” he added. “It’s not going to be tolerated.”

Resident Dorothy Fitzgerald noted the end of the fiscal year is fast approaching on June 30, and asked when the council will vote on the municipal budget and if the revaluation has been completed.

Pesce said the town has not yet received the revaluation, which “is not where I expected it to be either.”

The town council is scheduled to have a special meeting June 30 to vote on the municipal budget, but Pesce said he is waiting on the police department study the town contracted to have completed, due by the end of the month.

Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson discussed the possible consolidation of Lisbon dispatch with the county dispatch service. There are different options available for the town, Samson said, and the major challenge will be integration of the records management. The county is looking to apply for a federal technology grant that would help with this, and should hear back in October.

Pesce asked when the town could see costs associated with the consolidation, which Samson said will be included in the grant application which the town will get copies of. He stressed the dispatch consolidation, if approved, would be a roughly seven-month process.

The council also approved a resolution authorizing legal action against Androscoggin County related to actions of the county commissioners.

“There is a pretty serious issue going on with the charter, where one charter was proposed by the county charter commission,” which was voted on by the public, said Councilor Mark Lunt, who met with other county communities recently interested in joining forces for a possible lawsuit.

“Apparently the county commissioners did an end run behind our backs and got the Legislature to somehow tell them that they go ahead and change it,” Lunt said. “It’s very murky whether they actually have the legal authority to do that and give themselves basically carte blanche with no checks and balances at all.”

In an effort to try to divest itself of town-owned land, the council voted to proceeds with the process Tuesday. Councilors decided to have the town reach out to abutters about acquiring a handful of vacant town-owned properties.

The town is looking to split off a corner of the 22-acre parcel on Gartley Street where the superintendent’s office is located and ball fields maintained by Lisbon Junior Athletic League. The town will talk to real estate agents about this property and another 33-acre forested property on Ridge Road. Lunt suggested having the public weigh in on use of a 22-acre parcel on Summer Steet designated as a town park.

Town Councilor Eric Metivier said at the end of the meeting he wanted to clear up “disturbing” and “bogus” accusations posted on social media alleging the Open Book Bible Church, of which he is a member, wanted to purchase the entire abutting property on Gartley Street instead of just a corner piece.

“Stuff was put out there that shouldn’t have been put out there,” Metivier said.

Pesce said he heard a lot of “mumbo jumbo” from the audience during the council meeting and said the taunting must cease. If there is talking, he said, “I’m just going to ask you to leave. It’s very distracting for all of us up here.”

dmoore@timesrecord.com