LEWISTON – The lack of sliding glass windows kept the tax reform talk to a minimum Friday night at the Colisee ice arena.

City Council leaders from five of Maine’s largest cities and a handful of state legislators couldn’t compete with a public address system, the Zamboni and an early crowd eager to watch the Lewiston Maineiacs square off against the Quebec Remparts.

Luckily, formal discussions were just part of the agenda, according to Lewiston city leaders. Another goal was to show off the Colisee and the Maineiacs to dignitaries from Augusta, Bangor and Portland.

“I think it worked pretty well,” said Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett.

Lewiston invited leaders from Auburn, Augusta, Bangor and Portland to the Colisee’s new VIP Room for dinner, some tax reform discussion and a Lewiston Maineiacs hockey game.

The VIP Room is part of the new three-story facade that crews began installing last spring. The city will begin selling premium tickets to the VIP Room in February, offering special seats, drinks and dinner during Maineiacs games.

Crews still have to install three glass partitions between the room and the rest of the arena – sliding glass windows that Colisee staff can close for special functions or open for games.

Without those partitions, the room stands open for its entire width and from the ceiling down to a half-wall. That wasn’t an issue while councilors were mingling before dinner or while they ate. But it became a challenge for speakers, as ice arena noise kept most speeches short.

The group was asked to pledge their support to the Service Center Coalition. That group represents Maine’s largest communities to lobby the state Legislature.

Augusta City Manager Bill Bridgeo, the current president of the coalition, said the group was lobbying the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation to get some relief for Maine’s largest cities. Those cities generate 75 percent of state revenue and have between 65 and 70 percent jobs in the state.

“We don’t see much of that coming back,” he said.

And since rural communities outnumber cities in Maine, service centers tend to be outnumbered in the Legislature.

“That’s why we ask you to continue supporting the coalition,” Bridgeo said. “Only when we urban centers have a unified message to send will our taxpayers be treated fairly, on par with the taxpayers in the rest of the state.”

State Sen. Peggy Rotunda, D-Lewiston, said the group was having an impact.

“When these great communities have a common goal, then your legislators can work together,” Rotundo said. “When we are working together and voting, we can move your agenda forward. That’s what we’re waiting to do.”

Dignitaries got more restless as the noise in the arena rose, and the meeting broke up about 15 minutes before game time. Lewiston offered seats to those who wanted to stick around for the whole game. Better than half did, according to Phil Nadeau, assistant Lewiston city administrator.

Bangor City Manager Ed Barrett, faced with a two-hour drive home, watched the first five minutes of the game before leaving. But Barrett set the stage for a similar event in a year, saying he hoped work on a new racino at the Bangor Raceway would break ground this year.

“Hopefully, at this time next year, you could all come up to Bangor,” Barrett said.