LEWISTON – Spending and budgets will be the main topics as the Lewiston Mill Redevelopment Corp. meets Thursday for the first time in five months.

City officials and developers from Platz Associates have been in negotiations to sell the remaining mill buildings since last October.

With those talks under way, there hasn’t been much for the LMRC board to do, Chairman Dick Albert said. The board last met on May 15.

“But it’s been a long summer, and we need to bring everybody back up to speed,” Albert said. “I don’t think there’s any big reason for us to start meeting regularly again, but that depends on what happens Thursday.”

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Bates Mill Executive Office Building.

The city took over the property in lieu of back taxes in 1992 and created the LMRC to manage it. Last year, Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett began negotiations with Platz designed to get the city out of the mill. Bennett said in September that he hoped to bring a deal before the City Council this month. That could be the end of the LMRC.

Albert said the LMRC board would discuss those negotiations Thursday. The board will also discuss efforts to market the mill, it’s proposed budget for 2004 and issues with current tenants.

“The day-to-day stuff – the city staff does a great job handling that,” Albert said.

“We don’t need to meet regularly to find out what’s going on. But we do need to see how things are going with the tenants and discuss our marketing program,” he said.

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