Ever since Gov. Janet Mills’ executive order went into effect July 8, mandating certain businesses in Lewiston and Auburn enforce the state’s face-covering requirement, reports of potential violations have been directed to the respective cities or the state. 

The response to those reports in each instance has been to use education to resolve any issues, local and state officials have stressed. 

“So far it’s really been about education, and people have been willing to adjust to meet the standards that the governor set for us,” said Eric Cousens, Auburn’s deputy director of economic and community development. 

Across the Androscoggin River, the message is the same. 

“Our response to complaints are initially addressed through education and outreach, primarily through this office,” said David Hediger, Lewiston’s director of Planning and Code Enforcement Department. “We believe this approach in most cases will resolve the matter. In certain cases if that approach is not effective then, as a last resort, we could report the incident to the state for license enforcement. We are also authorized to enforce the order through other licenses issued by the city, but hope to avoid having to exercise this option.” 

Complaints have also been directed to both city’s police departments as well, though representatives from both say the number of complaints has been low. 

Auburn police Deputy Chief Tim Cougle said his department responded to two calls for commercial violations between July 9 (the first full day the executive order went into effect) and July 14. Cougle said that both complaints “were concluded by education provided by the officers.” 

Lewiston police Lt. Dave St. Pierre said his department has had “very few” complaints, and the responses “have been and will be initially addressed through education and outreach, primarily through our Code and Administrative Offices.” 

Lisa Silva, program manager for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Inspection Program, said her program has also received complaints about businesses in Lewiston and Auburn failing to comply with the executive order. 

“Our staff and the local health representatives have worked to educate business owners about how to comply with the executive order,” Silva said. “At this point, the Health Inspection Program has not had to take any punitive action against businesses in Lewiston or Auburn.” 

Cousens said he and other officials at Auburn Hall have directed people with complaints to go to a reporting website set up by the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. A post on the City of Auburn’s Facebook page also directs people “compelled to report alleged violations of the Executive Order” to the DECD reporting website, rather than calling 911 or the Auburn Police Department. Cousens said the city has been using the Facebook page “to kind of get ahead of it.” 

The DECD said in a statement to Bangor television station WABI that while it “developed the portal for reporting, we are not a licensing agency and do not have enforcement authority. When a report is submitted through the department’s portal, it is distributed to the appropriate department of state government that has licensing oversight jurisdiction.” 

Hediger said most of the complaints Lewiston has received have come directly to the city, with only a couple coming from the DECD website. He said he didn’t have a sense if the state is receiving many complaints using the form. 

Cousens said his department had received few complaint calls earlier this week, “and I’m not sure if that’s because there’s a backlog at the state, and they just haven’t come back to us, or if they’ve really slowed up. But we really since (Monday) haven’t had as many as we had Thursday and Friday of last week.” 

Cousens said some of the initial calls involved businesses that aren’t included in the executive order, which covers retail stores with more than 50,000 square feet of shopping space, restaurants, outdoor bars or tasting rooms, and lodging establishments. 

One of the calls that Cougle said Auburn police received involved Hannaford on Spring Street, which has just under 50,000 square feet of shopping space, according to Cousens. Cougle said the other commercial call was by a worker at Walmart, which has more than 50,000 square feet of shopping space.

“If people are sending a complaint, hopefully it’s only in places where it actually is a violation and not looking into things or getting frustrated with a business that is doing everything that they’re already required to do,” Cousens said. 

Only seven retail stores in Auburn are above the 50,000 square foot threshold, according to the City of Auburn Facebook page: BJ’s, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Lowe’s and Walmart. 

Hediger said that according to assessing records, only eight properties in Lewiston have more than 50,000 square feet of shopping space. Many of those properties are strip malls, according to Hediger, and the records don’t indicate the shopping space for each individual business of a property. The properties include 10, 20, 27 and 40 East Ave.; 692 Sabattus St.; 760 Main St.; 9 Westminster St.; and 855 Lisbon St.

Another discrepancy that could affect violation complaints is what constitutes a restaurant. According to Louis Lachance, Lewiston’s sanitarian and one of its code enforcement officers, “A bakery or market without seating is not considered a restaurant. A restaurant without seating has a Special Food Handler license from the city and a state DHHS Eating Establishment license. Any establishment with seating, to eat prepared foods on-site, needs a City Food Service Establishment license (just like a restaurant).” 

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