AUBURN – Water District trustees viewed a preliminary drawing of the layout for the proposed chloramination water treatment facility that will be built inside the district’s garage Wednesday.

The district will save 10 to 15 percent of the cost by acting as its own general contractor.

The board accepted a recommendation by Superintendent Norm Lamie that the project be funded from the 2003 operational budget. There will be no bonded indebtedness.

Lamie said a preliminary cost estimate prepared by Wright-Pierce, an engineering firm from Topsham under contract to the district, is $115,000.

Subcontractors will be hired for the concrete, electrical and plumbing work, according to Lamie.

The final design is expected to be completed within 30 days. Construction is scheduled to start in early September, or possibly in late August. Completion is expected in late October.

The chloramine feed system would be a short-term solution for the next three to five years. Similar systems are in use in Massachusetts and New York, and in several cities in Europe. The cost in Auburn is expected to be between $150,000 and $175,000.

Lamie said the long-term solution that would satisfy federal and state environmental regulations would be a dual system, possibly using ultra violet light and ozone. He told the board that it is likely that Auburn and Lewiston would jointly build a facility at Lake Auburn between three and five years from now.

A recent water quality study indicated that chloramination might reduce acidic compounds that caused the district to be out of compliance with federal drinking water standards. Chloramination uses a combination of chlorine and ammonia to reduce haloacetic acids.

In other business, Lamie informed the board that the replacement of an eight-inch water main on Granite Street between Court and Fern streets has been completed.

The cleaning and lining of the 16-inch main on Court Street is scheduled for the week of Aug. 18-25.

In another matter, the board approved a request from Marcel & Terry Tremblay, an abutting property owner to the Court Street reservoir site to purchase a 35-by-176-foot strip of land adjacent to the Vista Heights subdivision on Park Avenue, that was recently approved by the Auburn Planning Board.

The district will retain flowage rights and no buildings will be permitted on the strip of land. The sale price will be the cost of preparing a deed, Lamie said.

The board was also informed that John Storer was hired to be the new district engineer. He will begin work on Aug. 11. Storer comes to Auburn from the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells Water District.