People on either side of the river have agreed for years that Lewiston and Auburn should work together better – but they haven’t been prepared to do more than talk.

That’ll change now, according to two local attorneys, leaders of the newest Lewiston-Auburn joint services group.

“It’s institutionalized cooperation now,” said Ron Bissonnette, co-chairman of the Citizens Commission on Lewiston Auburn Cooperation. “It’s not just something that’s political discussions. It’s a real, nuts-and-bolts effort.”

Bissonnette, Co-chairman Peter Garcia and the eight members of Citizens Commission on Joint Lewiston Auburn Cooperation have met twice since their group formed in February. They have a joint services coordinator to work with them and the political will to make change happen.

“It really looks like the intent now is to move into some specific changes,” Garcia said.

It’s too soon to say what those changes will be, but the group could begin making suggestions this summer. The biggest roadblock will be time.

“The staff, the councilors, they need to find the time to give this the priority it deserves,” Garcia said. “They have a lot of things on their plates right now. Just as long as they realize this goes beyond the current budget cycle. This is something that can change the life of this community for decades to come.”

The Twin Cities have been courting the idea since 1975, when staff and elected officials participated in a University of Maine study titled The Rockland Experience.

They worked together on a number of projects and initiatives after that, but didn’t consider combining services until 1996. Garcia sat on L-A Together board and said it showed a blueprint for city leaders.

“We had between 40 and 45 individuals involved, and they voted unanimously in support of it,” Garcia said

But then, efforts stopped.

“For whatever reason, each city decided they just had other fish to fry,” Garcia said.

The concept languished until 2004, when brothers Lionel and Normand Guay – then mayors of Lewiston and Auburn – created a group to update the LA Together study.

Bissonnette, long a student of Lewiston’s political history, was tagged to serve on that group.

Two new, opulently expanded libraries helped push that effort forward, he said. Lewiston reopened its library, complete with $2.7 million in renovations, in 2005 just as Auburn was beginning work updating its library. Auburn’s newly redone $7 million library opened in 2006.

“When people found out I was selected for the last group, they said, ‘Make sure we don’t end up with another library,'” Bissonnette said.

The Mayor’s Commission finished its work last year, calling for the consolidation of the biggest services – police and public works – over the next five years. It suggested eventual cooperation for Lewiston and Auburn fire departments and school systems.

But back-office services, such as building codes and computer systems, could be combined right away – within a year if councilors moved quickly.

The first step was to create a standing committee to work with government staffs in both cities and hire a full time, paid coordinator. They did, bringing on former Rumford Town Manager Stephen Eldridge earlier this month.

“He’s free to work with the staff in both cities,” Bissonnette said. “He’s been learning about both cities and the way they work. He’s the first person that’s been able to do it that in-depth.”