Lewiston City Council Meeting – March 3, 2026: Waste Collection, Coliseum Guarantee, Moratoriums, and Public Safety
Lewiston City Council Meeting – March 3, 2026
The meeting began at 6:00 PM with a workshop on solid waste collection, followed by an executive session, and then the regular council meeting. Key actions included final passage of a mobile home park rent moratorium, approval of a $1.4 million financial guarantee for the Coliseum, establishment of a public safety committee, and adoption of a permanent immigration enforcement ordinance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Shooting Fund Distribution (Item 7): Multiple survivors and community members (e.g., Keith Tremblay, Jennifer Zanka, Destiny Johnson, Lisa Jones) criticized the Maine Community Foundation for distributing only $4.7 million of $6.6 million raised to victims, with $1.9 million going to nonprofits. They demanded transparency and accountability. Others (e.g., Ephraim Saeit Ase) urged unity and called for more state support. Veterans and residents spoke about long-term trauma and mental health needs.
- Mobile Home Park Rent Moratorium (Item 1): Residents (e.g., John Geary, Jean Carroll, James Malkett) supported the moratorium, citing rent increases of $50–$138, poor maintenance, and fixed incomes. Opponents (e.g., Julie Ann Smith of Manufactured Housing Association, Adam Crans of park operators) argued it would harm small local owners, delay repairs, and discourage investment. One resident noted that homeowners in parks pay property taxes and lot rent, unlike apartment renters.
- Coliseum Financial Guarantee (Item 6): Youth hockey supporters (e.g., Gil Rogers, Todd Hines, Megan Hearn) shared emotional stories about the building’s impact on children’s mental health and community. Others (e.g., Matthew Egrin) expressed concern about the lack of a business plan. A veteran (Brandon Pelletier) supported the guarantee, saying the current owner did not care about the community.
- Immigration Enforcement Ordinance (Item 3): Speakers (e.g., Craig Saddlemyer, Zoe Lidstrom, Martin Chartrand) supported changing “authorized” to “required” to protect constitutional rights and city resources. One speaker raised concerns about Flock cameras, but the mayor ruled it off-topic.
Discussion Items
- Solid Waste Collection Workshop: The workshop was not a voting item. Public Works and Casella Waste presented the “cart-to-curb” program, which will replace manual collection with automated side-load trucks for most of the city. About 27,000 carts (64‑gallon and 94‑gallon) will be distributed to single-family homes, duplexes, and some multi-unit buildings. The rollout is planned for July–August 2026. Challenges include 100 problematic streets, changes to the solid waste ordinance, and the need for public education. Councilors discussed cart size, cost, and enforcement of new rules.
- Post-Shooting Needs Assessment (Item 7): Councillor Longchamps proposed a resolution to assess unmet needs of victims and survivors. The city attorney’s opinion recommended partnering with a third party. The Maine Resiliency Center will present at the March 17 meeting. Councilors agreed to hear from the Center before deciding on a specific path.
- Mobile Home Park Rent Moratorium (Item 1): Councillor Chitam noted that the moratorium allows 180 days to craft a permanent ordinance. Councillor Nagin suggested sending the work to the housing committee. The moratorium applies only to lot rent increases, not maintenance. Councillor Martell supported rapid action.
- Coliseum Financial Guarantee (Item 6): Milltown Sports and Entertainment requested a $1.4 million city guarantee to secure a $4.9 million purchase of the Coliseum. The financing includes a $3.5 million loan from TM Investments and a seller-held note. Director Blay explained that the guarantee would be backed by a lien on the property and personal guarantees. Councilors debated the lack of a business plan, the risk of default, and the need for more details. An amendment was proposed (and passed 4‑3) to require final council approval of the agreement. The main motion then passed 7‑0, subject to that condition.
- Public Safety Committee (Item 2): The council adopted an ordinance establishing a permanent public safety committee, effective April 2, 2026. The committee will replace the current ad hoc committee. Councillor Chitam moved to set the effective date as April 2, which passed 7‑0.
- Immigration Enforcement Ordinance (Item 3): The council debated whether city employees should be “authorized” or “required” to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Councillor Harriman moved to change “authorized” to “required” in three places, arguing that “authorized” is too vague. The amendment passed 5‑2, and the main motion passed 5‑2, making the permanent ordinance consistent with the emergency ordinance.
- 59 Park Street TIF (Item 4): Peter Lavoy proposed converting a vacant building into 12 studio apartments. The project will increase assessed value from $227,000 to $1.3 million. The city will provide a 20‑year TIF returning 65% of the incremental tax revenue ($12,000/year) to the developer. The council voted 7‑0 to approve the TIF district and development program.
- Lowell Street Omnibus TIF Amendment (Item 5): Due to a publication error, a second public hearing was held for the Lowell Street TIF amendment. No changes were made. The council voted 7‑0 to adopt the order.
Key Outcomes
- Mobile Home Park Rent Moratorium: Passed 6‑1 on final reading. The moratorium halts rent increases for 180 days, effective immediately. The matter will be referred to the housing committee to develop a permanent ordinance.
- Coliseum Financial Guarantee: Approved 7‑0, with the condition that the final guarantee agreement must come back to the council for approval. The city will guarantee up to $1.4 million, subject to underwriting by TM Investments.
- Public Safety Committee: Established as a standing committee, effective April 2, 2026. The ordinance passed 7‑0.
- Immigration Enforcement Ordinance: Passed 5‑2 on first reading, with the words “authorized” changed to “required.” The public hearing will continue to the next meeting (March 17) for second reading and final passage.
- 59 Park Street TIF: Approved 7‑0, authorizing a 20‑year TIF with 65% of incremental revenue to the developer.
- Lowell Street Omnibus TIF Amendment: Approved 7‑0, with no changes to the original amendment.
- Next Steps: The city will host a workshop on March 17 with the Maine Resiliency Center to discuss needs of shooting survivors. The budget presentation is scheduled for the next meeting. Councillor Nagin raised several items for future discussion, including expanding the rental registry, business licensing in residential areas, and removing duplicate utility poles.
Meeting Transcript
Hello, good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming to our uh six PM uh Tuesday workshop here. We're uh joined by uh Louis and Public Works. If you can all introduce yourselves and kick us off. Good evening. Uh thanks for being here. Um Kevin Ganya, director of Lewis and Public Works. And I'm Egan Bates, Deputy for Maintenance and Operations Public Works. And I'm Nee Flourington, I'm a division manager for Casella Waste. So we're here tonight to give you an update on solid waste collection in the city. It's been a number of years that we've been working on this. Uh we're at a point where we thought it was appropriate to bring you up to speed, let you know what's going on in the area, but more specifically with Lewiston. And I'll turn it over to Megan for a short presentation. Then our plan is to open it up so we can hear from you all about what's going on and you get your thoughts. Hi, so good evening again. Um yes, we're back here to talk about cart to curb. Um that's manual and automated side load collection of waste and recycling material. So we started this discussion back in um fall of 2022 as part of the new contract with Casella. Um the city opted with a two-year extension con up, which was part of the contract at that time. And during that period, we learned about automated waste and automated collection, excuse me, of waste, and how that was going to be the new industry standard. So we came before council in December of 22 to talk about how this was the industry standard. Um there was no choice in the situation that this was the way that things were gonna go. Um so the um after that we went out to bid um in fall of 24, and we started the new contract with Gasella um in uh July of 25. So we have um a hybrid collection for the city of Lewiston, so that involves some areas of the city that will still be the manual rear load, and um then other areas of the city, the majority of the city will be the automated collection. So on this map, you'll see a legend that will show uh three areas in yellow, green, and blue. Um so on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, there'll essentially be three collection trucks out. There'll be one automated, and there'll be one manual um truck that will be collecting recyclable, and one manual truck that will be collecting um regular waste material. And then on Thursday and Friday, you're gonna have automated throughout the rest of the city. I'm gonna bring this map over just a little bit to show you the um what will be the hybrid location, and this is um this is going to be I'm sorry, not the hybrid location, but the uh rear manual waste collection. So this is where you have your multi-unit apartment buildings, and you have um on-street parking on one or both sides of the street. So it makes it really difficult to get an automated truck in there. So um I can see if I can make this a little larger. But I can essentially tell you the areas that we'll be looking at. And if I can't, then we'll just talk it out. Okay, here we go. So this yellow area, um striped area is the Monday route, and it is like the summer uh spring, winter whipple area, and then the green area is um the like Howard Um Howe um area. I think there's Shawmet in that area too, and then the blue area is the largest um manual collection area, which goes around the Kennedy Park area, and then you've got um all the way out Lincoln Street. Um so the program itself is called car to curve, and that um is because everyone that participates in this program will get the carts. So we have the two carts as you walk in here into the council, you'll see two-size carts. You'll see a 64 gallon, and you'll see a 94 gallon. Um the uh so people that are participating will be the residential, um, just a single family residentials, your duplexes, your three-unit owner-occupied, and then those multi-unit apartment buildings that pay to be in the program. So the apartment buildings will have the 94 gallon, the larger containers. They'll have um one waste uh container for every unit, and then one recycle uh container for every three units, and then the um residentials will get one 64 gallon um cart for uh waste and one 64 gallon for recycle. Um the communication uh to get the the word out to the the residents is gonna be really extensive. Um there's gonna be a lot of changes and um some people most of us really don't like change, right? So we're gonna just really try very hard to work with our our uh residents and property owners to get the word out. So we have um a brochure that will be included with the carts. So when the carts go out and when they get distributed, with them will be some directions. The brochure will include information such as on the cart spacing, the placement of it, that the lid of the container will need to be down once the waste is in there and recycled the lid will need to be down. The waste will be need to be in bags.
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