Board: Auburn City Council

Met: Monday

Trash pickup
Issue: City officials changed trash collection rules in October 2003, saying they would not collect from condominiums. City Manager Aho said the city still collects trash at about half of the 540 condo units in the city.  Some complexes pay for the service while others receive it free.
The Scoop: Aho said residents from one condo complex requested the city begin picking up their trash last month. That looks to force the council into a difficult decision. They can choose to expand collections to all of the condominiums in Auburn — an additional $20,000 per year in costs to the city — or they could enforce the 2003 ordinance and end collections to all condos citywide. That would be guaranteed to anger residents used to having their trash collected.
A group of about 15 condo residents attended the meeting to defend condominium trash collects and demand the city continue collecting their trash.
Up Next: Councilors said they needed more information. Aho said he did not have an accurate list of condo associations, and Mayor Dick Gleason suggested those groups contact Aho and make themselves known. Gleason said councilors will discuss the matter at a future meeting.

Web page
Issue: The city is redesigning its website at www.auburnmaine.org. City Manager Glenn Aho said he wants the website to promote the city as being business and developer friendly. Toward that end, Aho said he’s asking developers who have worked with the city to submit testimonials to tout Auburn’s friendly climate.
The Scoop:  Aho said he’d come up with an impromptu slogan: “If we’re not the best place to do business, we want to hear about it.” He asked councilors for their input and suggested they come up with their own testimonial to sell the city’s friendly climate.
Up Next: Mayor Dick Gleason suggested he and Aho come up with some examples for councilors to review and adopt.

Vincent Square
Issue: When the city removed a tree in New Auburn in front of the Vincent Square apartments last year, they vowed to replace it with something.
The Scoop: City Manager Aho said the city is planning a small landscaped pocket park for the triangle of grass. The new park will have a flagpole and colorful landscaping, he said. It is being designed by city staff, so no money is being spent to pay designers.
Up Next: Aho said staff are nearly finished with the design.

Chamber audio
Issue: City leaders frequently hear complaints from residents watching their regular meetings on Great Falls TV that they can’t hear what’s going on. Councilors and Mayor Gleason regularly ask speakers to lean forward and use the chamber microphones.
The Scoop: Gleason said that he and Manager Aho met with an audio engineer who studied the chamber’s audio system and looked for ways to improve things. One suggestion was to turn off two speakers at the rear of the building.
Up Next: Aho said the engineer wanted to study the chamber’s acoustics more thoroughly  and would suggest more in-depth changes later this year.

Next meeting: The next workshop for the Auburn City Council is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m.

Contact government reporter Scott Taylor via phone at 689-2846 or via e-mail at [email protected].