AUBURN — The manager of Auburn’s water and sewer districts will step down at the end of the month, taking a job with the state’s drinking water program.

Norm Lamie, manager and superintendent of the Auburn Water District and the Auburn Sewerage District, said his new job will have him working with drinking water programs around the state and managing the revolving loan fund for drinking water utility improvement projects.

“I like working with drinking water, being able to deliver clean water to peoples’ homes,” he said. “I also appreciate the environmental side of it. I like the idea of taking care of our natural resources.”

Lamie has spent 35 years working in the Twin Cities, first as a civil engineer for the city of Lewiston and later as Lewiston’s superintendent of water and sewer and finally city public works director.

He crossed the river in 1986 when he was hired to head Auburn water and sewer districts.

“I think we’ve done wonderful things in these cities since I started,” he said. “The year I started working in Lewiston, 1974, that was the year the water treatment plant went online. Up to that point, sewage was flowing right into the river. But now, we’ve come so far.”

Lamie said he is also proud of his work to help protect the land around Lake Auburn, the Twin Cities’ water supply, from development. He helped found the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission in 1993.

Lamie officially ends his time at the Auburn districts on Jan. 20 and begins his new job in Augusta on Feb. 1. John Storer, assistant superintendent under Lamie, will serve as the interim manager while the trustees from both water and sewer districts look for a permanent replacement.

staylor@sunjournal.com