LEWISTON – Trailer owners should pay the same $30 storm-water utility fee as other homeowners, councilors agreed Tuesday.

Next, the city will consider whether the bill should be mailed directly to the trailer owners or whether it should be delivered to trailer park owners.

“But the fact is, $30 seems fair and everyone that lives in one of those parks should be aware that’s what they’re being charged,” City Administrator Jim Bennett said. “If they end up getting billed from the park owner for more than that, they need to be aware that something’s wrong.”

Councilors agreed Tuesday during a council workshop, and Bennett said he would bring the changes back for an official vote at the Nov. 14 meeting.

Councilors adopted the utility fee plan as part of the city budget in June and settled on the details in September. The fee is based on the amount of hard surface on each property, including roofs, sidewalks, parking lots and driveways. Single-family homeowners would pay $30 per year and duplex owners $45 per year. All others, including businesses, churches and nonprofits, would pay 4.4 cents per square foot.

Trailer parks fall into the 4.4-cent category under the current rules, and that led to speculation about bills costing as much as $115 per year per trailer.

But Bennett said that shouldn’t be necessary. Trailer park residents would be charged $30 for the hard surfaces on the property they rent as well as a share of the hard common area on the rest of the park. There shouldn’t be any other cost for park owners, unless they have on-site offices, empty lots or model trailers.

“But those are business expenses and the trailer owners shouldn’t be paying those anyway,” Bennett said.

Tuesday night’s broadcast of the council meeting was delayed because of a technical issue at City Hall. Councilors began the meeting late. Once the problem was solved and the broadcast had begun, councilors recapped their discussions.

Petition at 113

Meanwhile, a petition that would force a November 2007 vote on the storm-water utility continues to gather signatures, according to City Clerk Kathy Montejo. As of the close of business on Tuesday, 113 people had signed the petition.

If 1,000 voters sign the petition by Jan. 11, it will force the city to suspend the new fees until the vote. That would leave a $1.8 million gap in the budget.