Androscoggin County commissioners will hold a workshop next week to discuss a proposal by Auburn Mayor Jeff Harmon to consolidate Lewiston/Auburn’s and Androscoggin County’s dispatch centers.

Harmon presented a proposal Wednesday to commissioners outlining how a regional communications center could work made up of the Lewiston/Auburn 911 Emergency Communications Center and the Androscoggin County Regional Communications Center, which provides some level of dispatch services to all other county municipalities.

The idea would be to share space at Auburn Hall that is currently being renovated for a new L/A dispatch center. The county communications center is currently in the Androscoggin County Building across the street from Auburn Hall.

The plans have not been solidified, Harmon said, and it is open for discussion. While Auburn has taken the lead on this, he said, they have been coordinating with the city of Lewiston. Lewiston’s city administrator and mayor have been involved in discussions.

Several different proposals have been considered over the past two years but none have been approved.

“Given the current situation — a new communications center is being constructed at Auburn Hall that would be sufficient for not only LA 911 but a countywide operation, and the unnecessary burden on taxpayers to build another communications center — the current proposal seems a reasonable way to proceed,” Harmon said.

Lewiston and Auburn officials are open to developing an interlocal agreement that would provide for equitable governance and cost apportionment, he said.

The purpose of the countywide Androscoggin County Regional Communications Center would be to establish, operate, and maintain a public safety answering point and emergency services communication system for all public safety departments within Androscoggin County.

The proposal presented by Harmon shows a 15-member board of directors to oversee the regional center including hiring a director. Board seats would include fire and police chiefs from Lewiston, Auburn and some other towns, as well as a resident from each of the seven county commission districts.

Under the proposal, voting would be done by weighted votes based on population.

The workshop by county commissioners to discuss the proposal will be at 5:30 p.m. June 3 at the Androscoggin County Building.

In a related matter, the majority of the Androscoggin County commissioners at the Wednesday meeting rejected a proposal to sell Center Street properties in Auburn originally purchased in 2022 for the relocation of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office. The property includes a former Subaru auto dealership and four houses.

The commission rejected the relocation plan as too expensive and discussions have been ongoing about the future of the properties.

But on Wednesday, commissioners directed county Administrator Jeff Chute to bring back a proposal for the properties that included a new sheriff’s office/public safety building, but removed two elements of the original plan: a communications center and a gymnasium.

With those elements removed, the project could come in at a cost that could get commission approval, commission Chairperson Jane Pentheny said.