LISBON — The Town Council voted down an ordinance Tuesday that would have established an Emergency Medical Services department.

Though the council has taken no formal actions toward an EMS department, the ordinance would have been a crucial step in taking over the nonprofit-operated Lisbon Emergency Inc.

“The EMS department was voted down because we have a new fire chief who just came on board who had thoughts and changes,” Town Clerk Becky Taylor-Chase said Wednesday. “We wanted to give him time to put his eyes on it and to get recommendations.”

Councilors appointed Craig Bouchard as new fire chief and Taylor-Chase as town clerk at the same meeting.

Had councilors established a new EMS department, it would have had its own chief and deputy chief and operate as its own department in the town.

However, if Lisbon Emergency Inc.’s directors decided not to dissolve the nonprofit — an action necessary for the town to take it over — the town could continue to contract the service out without filling positions in the newly established department, Town Manager Glenn Michalowski said in a previous interview.

If the service were to be taken over by the town, it would retain current staff and essentially maintain the status quo within the department currently, he said. Service contracts with other towns would be honored and maintained going into the future.

The benefits of a town-operated service include maintaining good patient care, ensuring that residents have access to emergency services, controlling operations and managing expenses, Michalowski said.

As for the future of a town-run EMS department, Taylor-Chase said the board will revisit the topic in January.

“We’re going to bring it back in January for a first reading and start all over again with the new fire chief on board,” Taylor-Chase said.