A former Gorham town councilor wants the town’s clock, removed last year for restoration, returned to its original spot in a church steeple.

“I think the clock belongs in the tower,” Phil Dugas told the town council last week. “The clock is unique.”

The clock, a gift to the town from Toppan Robie in 1868, had been in the steeple at the First Parish Congregational Church for 138 years. The clock once was connected to the church bell to toll the hour. Taken out in the fall of 2006 for repair after it stopped ticking, the clock has been restored in Freeport at Balzer’s Family Clock Works.

A conflict arose about spending taxpayer money to repair the clock housed in a church. Gorham residents John and Rose Phinney agreed to donate money to pay for repairs, resolving the problem.

That offer cleared the way for the town council last spring to return the clock to the church. The church agreed to pay for maintenance and insurance.

The town and church also agreed to locate the clockworks in a former organ chamber in the base of the steeple so people could see it. The four clock faces would remain in the steeple.

Dugas suggested that, if the clock were returned to the steeple, a TV monitor could be utilized so people could view the clockworks. As a former church sexton, Dugas made his way up steeple stairwells 550 times over 10 years to wind the historic clock. Dugas is looking for support for his position. He can be reached at 839-2806 or by writing to him at 145 Cressey Road, Gorham.

According to Town Manager David Cole, the town has spent about $30,000 on the repair, and has not yet been reimbursed by the church. The church has raised about half the money needed to modify the building and to construct a device to go up through the church to the steeple, linking the works with hands on its four faces.

“We need $25,000 to $30,000 more,” Mark Faunce, church moderator, said recently.

Meanwhile, the clock remains in Freeport, and Rick Balzer, the restorer, is awaiting word about re-installation.