LEWISTON — A two-year effort to draft a plan for consolidating city services in Lewiston and Auburn isn’t finished, according to backers.

Members of the  Citizens Commission on Joint Lewiston Auburn Cooperation will meet at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in Lewiston City Hall to review one last draft of their plan.

“We’ve been working on a thorough compilation of all of the work that’s been done on subject to date,” Co-chairman Peter Garcia said. “We’re just working to get it finished, and we certainly hope someone will take the time to read it.”

Auburn councilors voted to end the group’s efforts in January, thanking them but saying the work was no longer necessary. Members continued to work on their final report, however.

Garcia would not say Tuesday what was different about the report now, compared to January.

“It’s the commission’s report,” Garcia said. “I don’t want to get too far in front of them and the work they’ve continued to do. I’ll wait to comment until they’ve approved a final draft.”

The  meeting will be shown live on Great Falls TV, channel 7 for Time Warner cable subscribers and channel 1 for Oxford Networks subscribers.

Twin Cities’ officials have been talking consolidation since 1996, with the formation of the L-A Together board. A second study, in 2006, called for combined police, public works and back office operations by 2011. It also called for a permanent commission, with a staff coordinator, to guide cooperative efforts. The commission began working in 2007. In all, Lewiston and Auburn have received $197,916 in state grants to study consolidation.

The group’s final report will be sent to the state, as well as Lewiston and Auburn councilors. The state grant requires the local group to issue a final report.

“But that’s just a part of it,” Garcia said. “The main reason we’re doing this now is to get the work everyone has done in writing, in case it’s useful in the future. If someone decides they want to look at it again, in the future, they can just get the book off of the shelf.”

The group released a preliminary report in December urging the cities to adopt a shared software suite for back-office operations. That would include planning and permitting software.

Councilors from both cities heard a pitch from staff last week for just that kind of software. The suite, made by Georgia-based company Energov Solutions, would improve services to contractors and citizens and make the city more efficient. It would also let the city share planning and inspection staff more efficiently.

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