LEWISTON — Officials from both sides of the Androscoggin River will meet Thursday for the first time since the contentious merger referendum was shot down last year. 

But the agenda items — on generating tourism and upgrades to the L-A 911 system — aren’t likely to stir much controversy, especially as officials have previously vowed to increase cooperation between Lewiston and Auburn. 

The workshop at 6 p.m. at Lewiston City Hall is also the first joint meeting between newly elected mayors Shane Bouchard in Lewiston and Jason Levesque in Auburn, as well as the new city councils. 

Both Bouchard and Levesque were opposed to consolidating the two cities last year, and after voters handily voted down the effort, the pair promised to pursue making it more difficult to initiate the consolidation process. 

The discussion of tourism, and the overall image of the Twin Cities in Maine and New England, were among the core issues at the heart of the merger debate. 

During their campaigns and since the election, both mayors have said Lewiston and Auburn can improve their images without consolidating. 

Levesque has since focused his attention on raising Auburn’s profile in Maine. He’s created an economic advisory committee and the city has recently completed a sports tourism study. 

A consultant working on the study suggested that Auburn should create a dedicated office for tourism, but with councilors wary of limited resources, Levesque suggested that the tourism push should be a regional effort. 

The chances of that effort moving forward will likely be discussed Thursday. 

The joint workshop agenda states that “there has been considerable interest focused on tourism recently,” including Auburn’s sports tourism study, the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce tourism subcommittee, and a regional tourism program of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

Each of the organizations will review their programs Thursday “as a starting point to further efforts to develop the tourism industry in Lewiston-Auburn and the surrounding region,” the agenda states. 

The sports tourism study in Auburn sought to lay out how Auburn can grow its brand as a regional hub for hosting sports tournaments and other annual events. Bouchard has said that he wished Lewiston had also been involved. 

“I’m looking forward to building a working relationship with the Lewiston council and staff that will lead to more substantive conversations concerning revenue-sharing and joint service agreements,” Levesque said Wednesday, regarding the meeting. 

During a chamber panel discussion in January, Levesque said Auburn has been looking into ways to add lighting, or light shows and fireworks at the Great Falls, which seemed to surprise Bouchard. 

He responded by saying that Lewiston owns most of the falls. 

L-A 911

According to the meeting agenda, the councils will be asked “in the near future” to provide funding for a full radio system replacement for the cities’ joint emergency communications system. 

According to Lewiston City Administrator Ed Barrett, the project to replace all of the program’s radio equipment will occur in 2020, when a choice must be made between “retaining the current VHF system or moving to an 800 MHz system.”

Barrett said the current system has some “significant limitations,” while an 800-megahertz system would provide “greater operational capabilities, but at a higher cost.” 

Next year’s capital improvement plan for Lewiston, approved by the City Council on Tuesday, includes $511,000 in bonds toward Lewiston’s share of replacing dispatch consoles and other equipment.

While the CIP was approved, actual funding for projects isn’t allocated until the City Council approves next year’s budget in the spring. 

Also on the agenda Thursday is an update on the Lewiston and Auburn Railroad Co., including efforts to conduct a feasibility study of the Lewiston lower rail corridor toward establishing a rail trail connecting downtown L-A with Lisbon and beyond. 

arice@sunjournal.com 

Lewiston Mayor Shane Bouchard, left, and Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque make a joint appearance at January’s Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce breakfast. (Sun Journal file photo)

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