LISBON — Town Council Chairman Roger Bickford on Tuesday urged councilors to “think seriously of putting Allen Ward as chairman” and re-electing Chris Brunelle as vice chairman. 

“I know no chair has ever done this before, but I didn’t get defeated,” Bickford said. “I retired and I wanted to put my two cents in.”

Vice Chairman Eric Metivier, who was defeated by Mark Curtis Lunt for the District 1 council seat, congratulated Brunelle and Lunt on their election.

The town also discussed Lisbon having one working loader, because its second one has mechanical problems.

“Having only one loader is not going to work in the winter months,” Ryan Leighton, Public Works director, said.

Since 2011, the town has spent around $46,000 on the 1999 loader.

“The total estimated cost to do all the repairs is $61,744.31,” Leighton said.

It was agreed that instead of spending money for maintenance, the town will solicit bids and execute a lease-to-purchase agreement on a new loader.

The town will spend no more than $150,000.

Finance Director Lydia Colston said the annual payments will be $52,000 for three years, with around $6,000 of interest.

“We need that loader to keep the streets going,” Bickford said. “It’s public safety.”

The council voted 7-0 to hire a new sewer lab technician and to set the starting salary based on education and experience. The position has been consistently changing, mostly because of a low rate of pay, Town Manager Diane Barnes said.

“We need to try to retain people and eliminate training ground,” Ward said. “The pay should be in correlation with education and ability.”

The council voted 7-0 to pay the final bill of $11,926 to the Maine Department of Transportation for the town’s share of expenses related to the Androscoggin River Trail.

Leighton assured the town that this is the final invoice for the River Trail Project.

In other business:

• The council elected Dan Leeman as Planning Board associate member.

• The council voted 7-0 to authorize the municipal treasurer to record a waiver of foreclosure on three mobile homes in Lisbon. These foreclosures include a mobile home on 189 Summer St that has been demolished. The two other homes are at 23 Larry Drive and 29 Sabattus Creek Drive. The council agreed these mobile homes were a liability to the town because of outstanding rent, fees owed to the trailer park owner, problems with 2014 tax lien and overall bad condition.

• The council voted 7-0 to approve the bid of $16,850 from All Seasons Weatherization and Insulation LLC to insulate the Lisbon Falls Fire Station Hose Tower. The bid was more than $1,000 higher than that of Quantum Insulators but it included the cost of installing the staging to access the entire hose tower.

• The council voted 7-0 to pass an ordinance to establish the Lisbon Development Committee. The committee will work on revitalizing and redeveloping Lisbon by implementing projects like the Route 196 Master Plan and the CDBG Downtown Grant.

• The council voted 7-0 to ratify the police sergeant’s contract.