Last Night's Town Council Meeting

All Residents of Lisbon

At the Public Hearing last night, a member of the council tried to slip an additional item on the agenda. Thank goodness Roger Cote was there to put a stop to it because it concerns all the residents of Lisbon.

The issue is the Town Council Working Rules. Councilor Pomelow has stated in a prior meeting, she wants to do away with the Audience Participation at council meetings. Councilor Pomelow believes this is not allowing the council to be as effective as it can be. I believe it is because some of the council members do not want the residents to know what is going in this town.

In the Town of Lisbon, it is the “Good Old Boys” controlling the town. Let’s take for example the Dragon Pit off Route 196. This area sits on the Town’s water supply and has been labeled a “Residential Area” for many years. Now someone is trying to change the Lisbon Comprehensive Plan to change this area to “Commercial”. This Dragon Pit has not been utilized for a while and yet now, without a change in status, is being developed without any permits. Do you think someone has a plan they are not telling the residents about? Do you think there are any underhand dealings going on with this property? Why would any one spend money developing an area unless they had a guarantee it was going to be rezoned?

There are members of the Town Council who do not want the residents to know what is going on in this town. Another example is the town owned property a 4 Campus Avenue (old school house) valued at $265,050.00 was sold by the town to the Brunswick Housing Authority (BHA) for $1.00. I am sure the town is getting its monies worth on this deal. Also, the name on the deed is Housing Associates of Lisbon, LP. I had no idea who this was so I called BHA to find out if it was true they purchased the property and sure enough it had and deeded it to Housing Associates of Lisbon, LP so Bath Savings could purchase Tax Credits on the property once it was renovated. Very strange dealings! I wonder what other deals are going on we do not know about?

I believe the problem is not with the audience participation but with the town not providing ALL available information being discussed at these meetings to the councilors and the public well in advance of the meeting so everyone can study up on the issue and talk about it intelligently without having to bring the public and some councilors up to date on what is going on. We have elected these councilors to represent us in town matters but they also have an obligation to keep us informed so we can render an opinion prior to them voting on any issue. This is not being done.

The pure fact the Town Council is trying to eliminate any interaction between residents and the council is outrageous. The residents of the town are the “people” and we need to have a say in what is going on at these council meetings.

Larry A. Fillmore

Concerned Citizen