Board: Auburn City Council

Met: Monday night

Airport taxiway

Issue: A parallel taxiway at the Auburn Lewiston Municipal Airport will run into 2.5 acres of wetland under current plans and airport officials need to find alternate wetlands in the city to preserve before Army Corps of Engineers will let plans proceed.

The scoop: Airport officials propose buying 26 acres of land along South Main Street from the city setting it aside as open space. According to Airport Manager Rick Cloutier, the Federal Aviation Administration will pay for most of land as well as the taxiway construction.

Up next: Councilors will vote at their March 5 meeting to allow the airport to get appraisals for the land.

Eastman stays residential

Issue: Neighbors and residents along Eastman Lane feared their neighborhood would be changing back in 2005. City comprehensive plans and land-use maps listed the area as a potential one for industrial development. City councilors began meeting with Planning officials back then.

The scoop: Councilors agreed Monday to change future land use for the neighborhood to low density residential. That will keep the zoning in place and allow neighborhood residential development to continue.

Terms for Joint Services group

Issue: Councilors named five people to a new Citizens’ Commission on Joint Services at a hurried meeting Feb. 13 in Lewiston The group will investigate combining municipal services and departments with Lewiston. Councilors didn’t say how long each person will serve on the committee.

The scoop: They named Curtis Webber to a one-year term on the committee, Roger Blais and Lee Jay Feldman to two-year terms and Peter Garcia and Eric Howes to three-year terms.

Comprehensive plan group

Issue: The city’s comprehensive plan maps out zoning and land use trends for the future of the city. It was last updated before 1995 and was due to be updated before 2005. It is now two years out of date.

The scoop: Councilors are naming a new committee to write a comprehensive plan for the next 20 years. Councilor C. Ellen Peters said the city needs as many as 30 people involved in the process.

Up next: The city is taking volunteer applications now and Peters said the new group should begin meeting within a month.

Liquor licenses

Issue: Local restaurants and bars must reapply for liquor licenses and amusement permits each year. Liquor licenses let them serve alcohol; amusement permits let them play music, have a DJ or karaoke, or have games on site.

The scoop: Councilors approved a new liquor license and special amusement permit for Amanda’s Restaurant and Pub, 2 Great Falls Plaza.

Contact government reporter Scott Taylor via phone at 689-2846 or via E-mail at [email protected]