LEWISTON — The City Council moved plans for a Lincoln Street parking garage forward Tuesday night, but final approval was delayed by a technical requirement.

Councilors narrowly approved $4.96 million in borrowing to build the 378-space garage, after haggling to reach a 4-2 majority.

But with Councilor Tina O’Connell not in attendance, they couldn’t muster the five-vote majority to override the city’s bond debt ceiling.

“I think this is an important enough vote that we should all be here,” Councilor Renee Bernier said. Councilors tabled the debt ceiling vote until their next meeting March 2.

Bernier and Councilor Larry Poulin consistently have voted against the new garage, saying it’s in the wrong place.

“Is this really the view we want people to see when they cross the bridge?” Bernier asked.

Poulin agreed. “I don’t feel this is the appropriate use for that very important piece of land,” he said.

Plans call for building the three-story garage along Lincoln Street, in the shadow of Bates Mill No. 5. It’s part of an effort to increase parking spaces downtown, as called for in a 2004 Bates Mill exit strategy with local developer Platz
Associates. According to that agreement, the city must provide 1,162
parking spaces through 2011.

The city is behind schedule: It
was supposed to begin work on the current garage in 2007, City Administrator Ed Barrett said.

There is a penalty if the city falls too far behind. It could give
up bonds and other mortgages totaling between $6 million and $7.8
million. That money would go to Platz Associates to build its own
garages.

Councilors discussed the garage at a workshop meeting last week, then went into executive session to discuss other lots they could purchase to build the garage.

Most came to Tuesday’s meeting convinced they had no choice but to build the Lincoln Street garage. But it didn’t make them happy.

“I’ll vote to support this, but I will say I feel like we have a gun to our heads,” Councilor Mark Cayer said. “I think a previous council put us in this position and we don’t have much of a choice.”

Councilors originally voted 3-2 in support of the garage bond, with Ward 7 Councilor Stephen Morgan abstaining. Although technically a majority, the council needed four votes to pass the motion.

“I’d challenge anyone voting an abstention on such an important issue,” Cayer said. A second vote passed, with Morgan reluctantly supporting the garage bond.

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