LEWISTON — The fate of a planned $4.96 million, 378-space garage in the shadow of Bates Mill No. 5 will wait another week.

Councilors met Tuesday to see whether they had the votes to override a borrowing limit put in place by the previous council. A yes vote by at least five councilors would have allowed the proposed Lincoln Street parking garage to proceed.

Instead, councilors went behind closed doors for an executive session to get legal advice from city attorney Martin Eisenstein. They emerged 90 minutes later, voting to put the discussion about the garage on the table until their March 2 meeting.

City Administrator Ed Barrett said the executive session discussion centered on the city’s rights and responsibilities, specifically pertaining to the 2004 Bates Mill Enterprise Complex exit strategy.

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.

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. The city is behind schedule: It was supposed to begin work on the current garage in 2007.

The council at its Feb. 16 meeting voted 4-2 to proceed with the borrowing and the plan to build the garage.  That would have satisfied the contract with Platz for now.

But a 4-2 margin wasn’t enough to override a bonding cap put in place by the previous council, and the seventh councilor, Ward 5’s Tina O’Connell, wasn’t at that meeting. Councilors voted then to table the bond until Tuesday’s specially scheduled meeting  when all seven councilors would be on hand.

Tabling the matter gives the councilors more time to study the issue, according to city staff.

“We’re at the point now that we will have to make some sort of decision, soon,” Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said.

[email protected]