AUBURN — Crews building the Twin Cities part of Central Maine Power’s $1.4 billion line upgrade want to set up their work site at Auburn’s Intermodal facility.
The Hawkeye Elecnor Group wants to pay the city $10,200 to rent staging space at the South Auburn site for the next six months. They’ll use it to store materials and equipment for the Lewiston Loop project, part of the CMP’s Maine Power Reliability Program.
Work on the project is scheduled to begin in August.
It was one of two new uses councilors approved for the facility since the Canadian National Rail ended service to the facility last August. The Power and Construction Group is leasing to buildings on the site for $650 per month. That group is also renting space on the site to store utility poles.
The rail line abutting the facility is owned by St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad.
“And if the railroad is able to secure the need for this area, the people will vacate the space,” Miller said.
Councilors are scheduled to vote on the leases at their May 18 meeting.
Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said he felt the action is a waste of a valuable resource to the city.
“It really concerns me that we are nickeling and diming ourselves, rather then creating a strategy for this asset which is critical for the economic development of our region, not just Auburn,” LaBonte said. “We are so fragmented, we are just nibbling at the edges of Intermodal Facility. We are not effectively engaging with the state.”
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