Lewiston

Skate park sign gets nod

Downtown skate park backers will mark a corner of Kennedy Park to show where they plan to build, councilors agreed Tuesday.

The Skate Lewiston Auburn Movement, or SLAM, will put a 4-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide sign advertising the planned concrete skate park at Pine and Park streets, across from City Hall.

Work on the park is scheduled to begin in April. Backers plan to unveil detailed plans of the park at Sept. 29 meeting.

Designs show a skate park on 12,000 square feet of seamless concrete in Kennedy Park along Park Street and north of the swimming pool. The southern third of the park would have a 9-foot-deep, canyon-like bowl, with steep walls. The rest of it would feature street-like obstacles – rails, curbs, ramps, benches, ledges and pyramids.

Methadone clinic ban extended

Councilors could have until May to figure out where they want to allow methadone clinics.

The group Tuesday extended a temporary citywide ban on the clinics for another six months. They’ll vote on the matter a final time at the Oct. 4 meeting.

Methadone is used to treat addiction to opioid drugs, like heroin or OxyContin. The council first enacted the ban last May in response to rumors that a methadone treatment group was considering opening new clinics in Maine.

City Administrator Jim Bennett said councilors will have to act before then if they want to have a say where the clinics can go in the city. The city can’t ban them entirely but can regulate them with zoning codes.

Junkyard permits renewed

Four city junkyards have another year to continue their business after Tuesday’s meeting.

Councilors gave the operator of a fifth, Dana’s Garage at 193 Crowley Road, another month to meet city standards.

City Clerk Kathy Montejo said permits for all of the city’s junkyard and automobile graveyards expire on the same day each year – Sept. 30. Owners need to get city approval and a fresh permit to operate.

Councilors gave renewed permits to the St. Laurent’s yard at 1445 Sabattus St., to Grimmel Industries at 50 River Road and to KTI Bio Fuels at 38 Alfred Plourde Parkway.

They also renewed the city Public Works Department’s permit to store old city vehicles at 424 River Road.

Councilors agreed to give Dana’s Garage owner Norman Jalbert until October to finish work on an access road onto his property at 193 Crowley Road. That will give firefighters better access to the site and let Jalbert remove some tires and several vehicles from the site.

Councilors are scheduled to review Jalbert’s permit again at the Oct. 18 meeting.

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