LEWISTON – Two Twin Cities lawyers will lead the next step toward municipal service consolidation.

Members of the newly formed Citizen’s Commission on Joint Services appointed Auburn’s Peter Garcia and Lewiston’s Ron Bissonnette as co-chairmen of their group. The panel will meet every fourth Thursday in the Business Service Center at 415 Lisbon St.

The commission consists of five representatives from both cities appointed by each city’s mayor. Auburn representatives are Garcia, Roger Blais, Lee Jay Feldman, Eric Howes, and Curtis Webber. Lewiston representatives are Bissonnette, Mark Carrier, Ron Farris, Anthony Ferguson, and Bette Swett-Thibeault. They continue a joint-services effort that began late in 2004.

The 2004 commission was appointed by the mayors of both cities and tasked with finding ways to save money by combining municipal services.

They released a report in February calling for consolidation of the city’s bread-and-butter services – police and public works – over the next five years. The report also suggested 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 combined.