Councilors adopted fee increases for parking and trash collections at apartments and increased fines for parking scofflaws during Tuesday’s meeting.

Trash collection fees increased from $1.35 to $1.55 per unit per week. Owner-occupied apartments will no longer get free trash collection, according to the changes. Buildings with three or fewer units will still qualify for city collections.

Councilors also agreed to set property tax collections at $39.9 million for fiscal 2005. They are scheduled to adopt the final tax appropriation and set the tax rate at the next meeting on June 15.

– Scott Taylor
Lewiston: Cultural center gets boost

The Lewiston Public Library will get a $100,000 grant to help build its Marsden Hartley Cultural Center.

The grant is part a $1 million award to 15 public libraries through the Maine State Library’s New Century Bond Grant for Public Library Construction.

The cultural center, named after Lewiston artist Marsden Hartley, is part of the library addition that’s under construction in the former Pilsbury Building at the corner of Lisbon and Pine streets. Work is expected to be done by May 2005. When finished, the cultural center will include a performance and meeting room, a regional history center and archives, a computer lab and a conference room.

The Friends of the Lewiston Public Library are raising funds to cover the final pieces of the library project. An additional $91,000 is needed to cover the remainder of the furnishings and equipment for the expansion.

– Scott Taylor
Lewiston: Council nixes workshops

The City Council will meet twice over the summer, once in July and once in August. At a meeting Tuesday, councilors agreed to dispense with workshop meetings in July and August. They normally meet on the second Tuesday of each month for workshops.

This summer, regular meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. July 20 and Aug. 10. The council’s regular schedule should resume in September.

– Scott Taylor