CAPE ELIZABETH – As the Cape Elizabeth Town Council gears up for its annual post-election spate of appointments to boards and commissions, it may put one out of its misery.

The town Arts Commission was founded 25 years ago, and despite what Town Manager Michael McGovern calls “very minimal” funding of $1,000 per year, the group has managed to coordinate art exhibits at Thomas Memorial Library, sponsor arts prizes at local schools and inventory the town’s art collection. It also picks the piece the town buys each year at the Engine 1 Fort Williams Park Labor Day Weekend Art Show.

Despite this, there has long been a revolving door on commission membership. According to McGovern, about half of the commission turns over every year, no member has served two consecutive terms since 1998 and, in the past seven years, there have been 14 resignations. This year, there are only four applicants (including three of four incumbents) for the seven available seats.

At a council workshop Monday, McGovern suggested it may be time to dissolve the Arts Commission. And after a discussion at the meeting that showed little council opposition to disbanding the group, McGovern said the question of dissolving the Arts Commission could come up as soon as the Nov. 14 Council meeting.

“It’s done a lot of good things,” he said. “But it hasn’t seemed to work as a continuing body.”

“In all my time on the council, it’s just sort of limped along,” agreed Councilor Anne Swift-Kayatta. “There’s never been a full compliment on the board at any one time. It’s been tittering on the edge for quite a while. In fact, it was almost shut down [by the Council] three or four years ago, by a 4-3 vote.

“No offense to anyone who’s on there now,” said Swift-Kayatta, “but I don’t think it’s been effective for the town, and I don’t think it’s working effectively for at least half of the people who join up, because they keep quitting.

“I’ve got 12 years of every year looking at this organization and every year it’s painful trying to recruit people,” she said. “It’s just not working in the way that everybody hopes it would.”

“There is no one reason for the tremendous turnover,” said commission member Wendy Seltzer, who, with five years served, is an exception to the rule. “It’s a different reason each time [a resignation occurs].”

“There are some people on it who are dedicated to keeping it going and who have lots of good ideas,” said Seltzer, stumping for a last-minute reprieve. “I’d be sorry to see it go.”

As a solution, McGovern suggested dissolving the Arts Commission and trusting that something else might spring up in its place from the grass roots.

“We feel that there might be another model to do it, rather than through a Town Council appointed commission,” he said, raising the idea of an independent “Friend of the Arts” group be formed on the model of the Cape Historical Preservation Society.

“That is a totally independent group of volunteers,” said McGovern. “We work closely to them, but, at the same time, no one has to apply to the council to join.”

Councilor Jessica Sullivan suggested that if such a group were to form the town could continue to supply the usual $1,000 operating funds, only as an annual line-item donation. It also was noted that, by not being a town commission, an independent arts booster group would be free to undertake fundraising drives the commission is barred from launching now.

“Given the challenge of filling those spots, I’m inclined to disband it as well,” said Chairman David Sherman. “I feel badly, because there are obviously people in town who are devoted to it, but I don’t think we’re killing the arts. I think we’re just going to do this in a different way.

The only minor dissent on the council came from Frank Governali. While he did not oppose disbanding the Arts Commission, he preferred to wait, he said, until something new arose to take its place.

“There’s a number of people we can talk to, to encourage something, for there to not be a gap,” said McGovern.