Board: Lewiston City Council

Met: Tuesday night

Overnight parking

Issue: The city currently bans overnight parking during the winter, from Dec. 1 to April 15. Staff can expand those bans to include daytime during heavy storms. Those rules are designed to keep the roads clear for city plows during a snowstorm. Councilors reviewed the policy during a workshop.

The scoop: Staff presented three options; doing nothing to the current rules, shortening the ban by one month in the spring and switching to just bans during heavy storms. Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said that could double or quadruple the number of cars towed each storm. Currently, the city tows an average of 22 cars per storm. Portland, which bans on-street parking just during storms, averages roughly 100 tows per storm.

Up next: City Administrator Jim Bennett will summarize the possible changes for councilors before they begin their budget discussions. He recommended making any changes to the parking rules effective in December 2008.

Petitions

Issue: The city’s current ordinances for challenging council decisions require residents wanting to sign a petition to come to City Hall. But those rules likely break both state law and the city charter, and councilors and staff have been trying to create new rules.

The scoop: The latest version would let 10 registered voters take out petitions challenging council decisions and circulate them around the city. They’d have 60 days to collect signatures and would have to collect roughly 1,200 – 7 percent of the number of voters in the most recent gubernatorial election. Councilors approved it on first reading last month.

Up next: The changes got council approval on final reading Tuesday.

Solid waste

Issue: The city continues to face questions about the future of its solid waste landfill, even though councilors and residents defeated a management plan for the dump last fall.

The scoop: Councilors agreed to form a standing committee to review and make recommendations on all issues relating to the landfill and trash collections. That could include collection fees for apartments, agreements with Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. and future expansion at the landfill. That plan passed on first reading last month.

Up next: Councilors gave the committee final passage Tuesday. The nine-member committee will have room for two city councilors and seven registered voters. Applications for the committee are available at the city clerk’s office.

Chef school

Issue: Lewiston school officials are expanding their culinary arts program, building a 10,000-square-foot restaurant school with two classrooms, a large teaching kitchen, and a dining room that could seat 150. It would replace the existing restaurant run by the Lewiston Regional Tech Center students, The Green Ladle. That is currently located off of Plourde Parkway. The new culinary arts building would be built near Lewiston High School.

The scoop: The project will cost $1.5 million. The school department hopes to bond $1 million, which will be repaid by a Maine Department of Education grant. The rest would come from the school department’s fiscal year 2008-09 budget. However, only the City Council can approve real estate transactions and municipal debt.

Up next: Councilors approved the bond package.

Boards, commissions

Issue: City government relies on several support and advisory committees. Most have limited authority to make or interpret city rules and decide policy.

Up next: Councilors appointed Gerald Berube and Eric Agren to three-year terms on the Lewiston Auburn Railroad Board of Directors.

They postponed decisions about three seats on the Lewiston Urban Civic Center Enterprises LLC, Board of Directors which manages the Colisee. Those seats are currently held by City Administrator Jim Bennett, Finance Director Dick Metivier and Mayor Larry Gilbert.

Contact government reporter Scott Taylor via phone at 689-2846 or via e-mail at [email protected].