Stonington — More than 70 borough residents turned out at the LaGrua Center on Thursday night to learn about nine potential options for the borough’s future, including dissolving the borough and merging with the town.

Thursday night’s forum was the third in a series that began last summer. The first centered on the challenges facing borough merchants, nonprofit organizations and borough government, while the second discussed three possible options for the future of borough government. They were: do nothing, and assume young, civic-minded people eventually will take over the operation of borough government; create a charter revision commission to make borough government more sustainable, or disband the borough.

Variations of those options were presented Thursday night by Glen Chalder, the Planimetrics consultant hired by the borough to develop the options.

Before Chalder presented them, Warden Jeff Callahan outlined the problem facing the borough. He said the borough’s declining and aging population, combined with increasing number of state and federal requirements, has made it difficult to find the 30 people needed to staff boards and commissions and run for elected positions.

“I spend more time recruiting than a football coach does,” he said, stressing the cost of government and taxes is not the issue — the lack of people to serve is.

He predicted that if nothing is done and the population continues to decline, it will become more difficult to fill positions, which would lead to lawsuits against the borough because of a lack of action by groups such as the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The borough was created by a special act of the state legislature in 1801 and was once a bustling 19th century transportation center linking Boston to New York with steamships and trains.

While borough residents also are town residents and the town provides services such as schools and police, the borough has its own planning and zoning regulations and a Board of Warden and Burgesses that oversee the policies and operations of the borough, and its own two-person public works department that plows and maintains streets. The town provides funding for road maintenance in the borough. Borough property owners pay borough taxes in addition to town taxes.

Slightly more than 900 residents live in the 240-acre borough, which has 772 dwelling units. It is less than a mile long and a half-mile wide at its widest. The population swells on weekends and in the summer to 2,000, with an influx of part-time residents, boaters and tourists.

Once the home of Portuguese, Italian and other immigrant families who were fishermen and mill workers, the borough is now an upscale address of renovated homes, shops and restaurants, with many retired residents.

The nine options, which Chalder presented with their advantages and disadvantages, were as follows:

[naviga:ol]

[naviga:li]The borough would continue operating as it does now.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Allow nonresidents who own property here to hold office, allow remote participation in meetings.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Reduce the numbers of members on the Board of Warden and Burgesses and Planning and Zoning Commission.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Hire a professional borough manager to take over operational duties of the warden and burgesses, who could then just focus on policy issues.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Eliminate or reduce borough services such as planning and zoning and parks and road maintenance and let the town take over those responsibilities.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Dissolve the borough and convert to a special services district to provide services such as fire protection, planning and street maintenance, eliminating the cost of general government.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Dissolve the borough and consolidate with the town. It would then be called a village. It might retain some land use and historic district authority to control aesthetics.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Disincorporate with services being provided by the town, including planning and zoning.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Become a city or town.[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ol]

Residents discussed the various options Thursday night and then voted by paper ballot not only on the option they prefer but also what they like best about the borough.

The results will be tallied and posted in coming days on the borough website and at Tom’s News. The Board of Warden and Burgesses then will decide how to proceed based on input from residents. Ironically, if the borough decides to form a charter commission to recommend changes, it will need members to serve on the commission. Residents would have to approve any charter changes.

During Thursday’s discussion, residents asked questions about voter and population totals, the charter revision process, the burden of state and federal requirements, pro and cons of having nonresidents serve on boards, using new technology, improving communication, having a committee further study the options before any decisions are made, the need for professional management and technical assistance and the fate of the fire department (it would remain and become a fire district under the options).

j.wojtas@theday.com