AUBURN – The Sewerage District trustees authorized a sewer extension on Lufkin Street Tuesday.

The 250-foot extension will serve four lots, said Auburn Sewerage District Superintendent Norm Lamie. Lufkin Street is a short residential street off Manley Road near Poliquin Avenue.

The total cost of the project is expected to be about $12,000 because the Auburn Highway Department is planning to reconstruct the roadway, which would save the district the cost of restoring the road. Lamie said there is a possibility that the city could do the entire project, including the sewer extension. The district’s maintenance crew is currently short-staffed.

Another proposed sewer extension on Oak Hill Road, near Lake Auburn, was discussed. No action was taken. The issue is expected to resurface in July.

The 560-foot sewer extension would cost an estimated $25,000, according to Lamie.

“The plus side of this is it’s adjacent to Lake Auburn. Any time we can take people off a septic system near Lake Auburn is positive,” he said.

In other business, the board approved a contract with Longchamps & Sons Inc. of Lisbon for several combined sewer overflow elimination projects this year. The board accepted a $363,008 bid by Longchamps in May.

The elimination of Combined Sewer Overflows is to put Auburn into compliance with an unfunded government mandate to comply with provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. It calls for the implementation of a sewer separation plan to prevent wastewater from mixing with storm water. The cost to Auburn is $18.4 million over a 14-year period. About 120 miles of aging sewer mains, some dating to the 1850s, run beneath Auburn’s streets. Lewiston is doing similar projects.

Until 1974 all wastewater from both cities went directly into the Androscoggin River. That changed when the treatment plant in Lewiston came on line 29 years ago.