By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Developer Nino Naous will get back some of the money he spent re-striping outer Lisbon Street to make it a three-lane road.

But city staff couldn’t say how much Naous would receive, as councilors puzzled over whether they should pay him anything.

“We have spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out just what the council did agree to,” said City Administrator Jim Bennett. “I think it’s clear that if you ask our eight elected officials what they voted on when they first approved this fee, you’ll get eight different opinions.”

Naous had asked for permission to re-stripe the road in August, making it three lanes instead of four. The road would have one lane bound for Lisbon, a second bound for downtown Lewiston and a third turning lane between the two.

That would slow down traffic on the road and allow him to get a planned convenience store project at 1930 Lisbon Road approved by the state.

Bennett suggested councilors approve Naous’ plan, but said it would only be temporary fix. The road would have to expanded to five lanes eventually, and that could cost millions of dollars.

Bennett proposed a fee on development along outer Lisbon Street. Developers could pay 5 percent of what they would have had to spend to meet state Department of Transportation requirements. Those fees would help pay for the future five-lane expansion of Lisbon Street. Naous would be credited for any money he spent on the three-lane conversion.

Councilors agreed to Bennett’s plan in October. But Tuesday night, they couldn’t agree on whether they intended to pay Naous back for any money he spent. Bennett said staff and councilors reviewed notes, the city’s minutes and videotape of the meetings and still couldn’t determine the answer.

Councilors agreed Tuesday to treat Naous like any other developer. The city would calculate how much he would have owed if the state had required him to make Lisbon Street five lanes in front of his business. He would owe the city 5 percent of that, Bennett said.

Since Naous paid about $60,000 this fall to change Lisbon Street to three lanes, the council agreed to pay him back for any of the $60,000 beyond the fee. But they weren’t happy about the confusion.

“Talk about a need to slow things down,” Councilor Mark Paradis said. “This confusion is what happens when we try to do things too quickly. I’m not comfortable with how fast we decide some of these things.”