AUBURN — Androscoggin County commissioners took the first step last week to seek a countywide bond to build the new sheriff’s office by sending notice to the Budget Committee.

The notice, however, lacked one important detail: the amount for the proposed bond.

Commission Chairman Andrew Lewis of Auburn said it was important to get the process started in order to place the bond on the November ballot. The amount can be added later once the commissioners consult with the design firm Harriman, which was hired to turn the former Evergreen Subaru dealership at 774 Center St. into the sheriff’s office.

Commissioners were debating whether to spend $26 million or $29 million. The board wanted feedback from Harriman on what would be cut to meet the $3 million lower cost.

The county purchased the property for $4.5 million in February 2022.

The Subaru building sits on 6.54 acres. The site is less than two miles north of the current sheriff’s office in the Androscoggin County Building at the corner of Turner and Court streets in Auburn.

A feasibility and a space study conducted in 2022 by Harriman concluded that the courthouse at 2 Turner St. lacked the room for a safe and professional operation.

The new facility will house the sheriff’s office, which includes the administrative offices, patrol, criminal investigation and civil divisions and the regional communications center. The Androscoggin County Jail will remain at 40 Pleasant St.

The involvement of the Budget Committee is required before the bond can move forward. The committee needs to weigh in on the proposal and hold hearings. The county held caucuses last week to fill the 14-member Budget Committee. Only Lewiston in District 1 and District 2 failed to nominate candidates for those four positions. The rest of the county nominated at least two candidates in each of the five remaining districts. Those will be voted on by the municipal governments within the next couple of weeks.

The lack of a firm budget number for the bond bothered a couple of the commissioners. Garrett Mason of Lisbon said it was inappropriate for the commissioners to send the bond question to the Budget Committee without a firm dollar amount.

In a 4-2 party-line vote, Republicans Mason and Sally Christner of Turner opposed sending the bond question to the Budget Committee. Voting in favor were Democrats Andrew Lewis, Jane Pentheny of Poland and Lewiston’s Shukri Abdirahman and Roland Poirier.

Brian Ames of Lewiston, a Republican, was absent.