LEWISTON – With a $152,900 grant from the state, Twin Cities’ leaders are on the hunt for a joint services coordinator.

“I hope we can have somebody hired and in the position by the year’s end,” said Lucien Gosselin, president of the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council.

That person will lead efforts to combine services in the Twin Cities, culminating work kicked off by Twin Cities’ mayors Normand Guay of Auburn and Lionel Guay of Lewiston.

“We know what we want because we’ve been talking about it all along,” said Donna Steckino, co-chairwoman of the Mayor’s Commission on Joint Services. “Now that we got the grant, I think we’re ready to take the next step.”

The Twin Cities were among the 14 groups that received grants through the state’s Fund for Local and Regional Efficiency on Wednesday.

Auburn and Lewiston asked for $200,000 from the fund to pay for someone to lead consolidation efforts. They received $152,900 from the state, according to a Wednesday announcement. That’s in addition to a $10,000 check from the State Planning Office’s Regional Challenge Grant presented to councils from both cities in August.

Steckino was part of the commission appointed by the two mayors in 2004. Their job was to find ways to save money by combining services between the two cities.

They released a report in February calling or consolidation of the city’s bread-and-butter services – police and public works – over the next five years. It suggests eventual cooperation for Lewiston and Auburn fire departments and school systems.

Back office services, such as building codes and computer systems, would be the first things to be consolidated.

To get there, the effort would need a staff person studying both cities and working to combine them. Gosselin said that person should be in the job by the end of year.

“That person will have a significant amount of work and a pretty aggressive time frame to get it done,” he said.

Gosselin said he doubts the group will look outside of Maine to fill the job.

“One of the main criteria is familiarity with the area and the Twin Cities and their history,” he said.