LEWISTON – Councilors moved quickly Tuesday, condemning two city-owned parcels of land to give would-be hotel developers clear land titles.

The decision helps clear the way for Raleigh, N.C.,-based Winston Hotels Inc. to build a downtown hotel. The company announced plans in June to develop a hotel on the 1.16-acre paved parking lot on Mill Street, overlooking Veterans Park and the Great Falls.

The hotel will become the first phase of the Island Point redevelopment project announced in 2005. Developer Travis Soule plans to redevelop Cowan Mill, immediately north of the planned hotel, for condominiums and a restaurant.

The city has owned that Mill Street parking lot since 1993, when it took the land via lien for unpaid property taxes. The best solution was to condemn the lot, taking the property by eminent domain and clearing up the title once and for all.

“Now, it has to go through review by the courts, and that should take a couple of weeks,” said Lincoln Jeffers, assistant to the city administrator.

Beat the clock

The condemnation resolution was the only item on Monday’s special agenda, and councilors handled it quickly. With Mayor Larry Gilbert in Washington, D.C., attending an All-America City ceremony, the remaining councilors opened the meeting, finished their business, and adjourned before the clock in the City Council Chambers had finished striking 7 p.m.

“We hold the record for the longest City Council meeting of all time,” Councilor Norm Rousseau said. “Now, we have the record for the shortest one, too.”