FAIRFIELD — Three candidates will be on the ballot on Election Day for two open seats on the Fairfield Town Council.

Aaron Rowden, a lawyer and the lone incumbent, is challenged by Jeffrey Neubauer, a member of the town’s Economic and Community Development Committee, and Beverly Busque, a retired former Somerset County Jail corrections officer.

Town Councilor Stephanie Thibodeau, whose term expires this year, declined to seek re-election. The term of office is three years.

Rowden grew up in Fairfield, attended high school at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone and earned his law degree at Georgetown University.

Rowden said the council has just wrapped up revisions to the town’s land use ordinance, and the next job will be overseeing the implementation of the new guidelines. He said it has the potential to help the business community in Fairfield by making more beneficial use of land to start and grow businesses.

He said the town budget is the most important part of the job of being a councilor, and he plans to continue to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money.

“I’ve been consistent in supporting budgets that are as flat as possible,” Rowden said, adding that the town cannot continue to use surplus money to offset taxation. “We need to tackle the question of spending and services.”

Rowden serves on the board of Central Maine CATV and is the past president. He practices law at the firm of Schneider & Brewer in Waterville.

Rowden said he is the most experienced person running this year, citing his three years on the council.

Neubauer, 42, site manager at Matheson Gas, industrial gases and welding supplier, in Bangor, said he has no complaints about town government and just wants to contribute.

“I care about the town. We’ve spent 19 years there and I just want to have a voice in how it continues to run,” he said. “I’ve been civicly active in the town for a number of years. I care deeply for the town. I’m looking to make sure we make the best fiscal and community choices for the town of Fairfield.”

Neubauer said he wants to continue work on the community development committee looking into the possibility of moving the annual Fourth of July events from Winslow to Fairfield. As a councilor, he said, he would work to bring new economic development activities to Fairfield to boost the local economy. He also said he would continue work on establishing walking trails in town — one from the high school to the PAL fields and another to Mill Island Park.

Neubauer graduated from Madison Area High School and received commercial oil burner certification from Kennebec Valley Community College. He has served on the town Budget Committee and finished a term on the local school board in December.

Beverly Busque, 56, went to Lawrence High School and completed the corrections course at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. She said she has no political experience but will work hard to get things done on the council.

“I want to make a difference,” she said, noting that she and her husband lived in Waterville for 25 years. “I want to see Fairfield grow. Fairfield is a very viable town, and the people here in Fairfield are so much nicer.”

One of the problems that she plans to work on if elected, Busque said, is the confusing and potentially dangerous intersection by the Victor Grange hall in Fairfield Center, where Route 23, the road to Oakland, meets Route 104 to Norridgewock, with a connection to Ohio Hill Road.

The intersection has no traffic light, and she said that would be a top priority for her.

“That’s something I’d like to bring up and rectify before somebody gets killed,” Busque said. “At 5 o’clock, forget it — they go down there barreling through there like a bat out of hell.”

Busque said the council might need some new blood and she’s the candidate to bring it.

Also on the ballot Nov. 8 are two seats on the School Administrative District 49 school board. Shawn Knox, the incumbent, is seeking re-election unopposed on the ballot. Caroline Toto-Lawrence also is on the ballot unopposed. The term of office is three years.

Albert Hodsdon III is running unopposed for a three-year term representing Fairfield on the Kennebec Water District board.

Fairfield voters also will be asked to vote on a referendum question on whether they will approve the town charter revisions, as recommended by the Charter Commission.

Polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Fairfield Community Center, next to the police station.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow