An Act to Update the Charter of the Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0640
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: CRAVEN, ROTUNDO, CLOUTIER, LAJOIE, LEE, STOVER

Legislative Document
No. 640
H.P. 417
House of Representatives, February 14, 2023
An Act to Update the Charter of the Lewiston-Auburn Water 
Pollution Control Authority
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CRAVEN of Lewiston.
Cosponsored by Senator ROTUNDO of Androscoggin and
Representatives: CLOUTIER of Lewiston, LAJOIE of Lewiston, LEE of Auburn, STOVER of 
Boothbay.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §1 is amended to read:
Sec. 1.  Incorporation and purposes.  There is hereby created a nonprofit body 
corporate and politic to be known as The Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control 
Authority, hereinafter called "the authority"." The purposes of the authority shall be are to 
plan, acquire facilities for, construct, operate, maintain and improve a sewage treatment 
plant or plants and other facilities necessarily incident thereto, and to receive and treat and 
dispose of the waste waters wastewaters discharged by the sewage systems of the City of 
Lewiston and the Auburn Sewerage District. The authority shall have has all such powers, 
rights, privileges and immunities as may be necessary for the accomplishment of the 
aforesaid purposes, whether or not such powers are hereinafter specifically given.
Sec. 2.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §10 is amended to read:
Sec. 10.  Apportionment of capital costs. The board of the authority shall 
determine the proportionate shares of the initial construction and organizational costs, for 
which borrowings are authorized under section 8, to be borne by the City of Lewiston and 
by the Auburn Sewerage District. Such determination shall be based on the estimates of 
reputable engineers as to the annual volume of sewage and other waterborne wastes which 
will be piped to the authority's sewage treatment facilities for processing from the 
respective sewage systems of the City of Lewiston and the Auburn Sewerage District. Such 
determination shall also take into account estimates of the types of sewage which each 
sewage system will produce, the relative expense of treating the same, and such other 
factors as the board may deem necessary or appropriate. As soon as the board has reached 
its determination, notice thereof and of the basis upon which said determination was 
reached shall be given to each party. Within 14 days after the receipt of such notice, either 
party may appeal the determination of the board to the Androscoggin County Superior 
Court in the manner provided by Rule 80B of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and any 
amendments thereto. The court, acting without a jury, may affirm, modify or reverse the 
determination of the board, or make such other order as may be appropriate under the 
circumstances, but in its deliberations the court shall give substantial weight to the findings 
and determination of the board. The court's decision may be appealed as in other civil 
actions.
With respect to the costs of the planning and construction of improvements and 
additions to the sewage treatment plant and related facilities occurring subsequent to the 
completion of the initial sewage treatment facilities, the board of the authority shall issue a 
new determination as to the proportionate shares of the cost to be borne by the City of 
Lewiston and by the Auburn Sewerage District, based upon the estimated benefit which 
that each will receive from the use of said proposed new facility. Such determination shall 
must include consideration of such reliable estimates as to the annual volume of sewage 
and other waterborne wastes produced by the respective sewage systems and of the types 
of sewage which each system is expected to produce and the relative expense of treating 
the same as may be available to the board and such other factors as the board may deem 
considers necessary or appropriate. Notice of such determination shall be given to the 
respective parties and appeal therefrom may be had in the same manner and subject to the 
same conditions as is provided herein with respect to determination of the proportionate 
shares of initial construction costs.
When a determination of the respective proportionate shares of the City of Lewiston 
and the Auburn Sewerage District has been finally made for a particular project, such 
proportionate shares shall may not be changed until all debts incurred to finance the 
particular project in respect of which such determination was made have been paid and 
discharged in full.
Sec. 3.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §11, as amended by P&SL 1969, c. 113, §3, is further 
amended to read:
Sec. 11. Estimating annual expenses of the authority. The authority shall 
annually prepare an itemized budget for its coming fiscal year itemizing expenses of 
operation, maintenance and repair, costs of contemplated capital construction and 
payments of principal and interest on fixed indebtedness and other borrowings. Such 
budget shall must include such other details as to present assets, surplus, expenses, and 
liabilities as the board shall determine determines to be advisable and as the City of 
Lewiston and the Auburn Sewerage District may reasonably require. The board shall 
determine the proportionate share of the estimated expense of operation, maintenance, and 
repair for its coming fiscal year to be allocated to the City of Lewiston and the Auburn 
Sewerage District on the basis of the average inflow of sewage and other waterborne wastes 
metered at the sewage treatment facilities from the respective sewer systems over the 
previous year, together with such information as may be available to the board regarding 
the types of sewage being produced by each sewage system and the relative expense of 
treating the same. The board may also consider, in establishing such proportionate shares, 
any prospective increases or reductions in the volume or type of sewage produced by the 
respective sewage systems which are, in its judgment, reasonably certain to occur during 
the period to be covered by the assessments. In the first year of the sewage treatment plant's 
operation, however, the proportionate shares of operation, maintenance and other expense 
may be determined on the same basis as the proportionate share of initial construction costs 
as provided under section 10.
Sec. 4.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §12, as enacted by P&SL 1967, c. 92, is amended to 
read:
Sec. 12. Annual assessment Assessment of costs expenses. The board of the 
authority shall submit annually to the City of Lewiston and to the Auburn Sewerage District 
an assessment of determine the proportionate share of each, of the costs and expenses of 
the authority for its next fiscal year expense of operation, maintenance and repair to be 
allocated to the City of Lewiston and the Auburn Sewerage District on the basis of the 
average inflow of sewage and other waterborne wastes metered at the sewage treatment 
facilities of the respective sewer systems. Such assessments shall be submitted to each party 
by the authority in time for inclusion in their respective budgets for their ensuing fiscal 
years. The assessments shall be itemized in at least the following 3 categories:
1. Proportionate share of payments of principal and interest which will become due on 
indebtedness incurred to finance initial capital construction and related costs.
2. Proportionate share of payments of principal and interest which will become due on 
indebtedness incurred to finance construction of improvements and additions to the plant 
and facilities of the authority subsequent to completion of the sewage treatment plant.
3. Proportionate shares of estimated expenses of operation, maintenance and repair for 
the ensuing fiscal year.
The City of Lewiston and the Auburn Sewerage District shall include the amount of 
their respective assessments in their budgets for their ensuing fiscal year and shall make 
provision through assessment of taxes or otherwise to obtain sufficient revenues to pay the 
same. Such assessments shall be due and payable to the authority on the first day of July 
next following the receipt of the assessments. In the event of default in the payment of any 
such assessment, the authority shall be entitled to exercise the remedies provided by the 
Maine Revised Statutes of 1964, Title 30, section 5053 and any amendments thereto, in 
collecting the same.
Sec. 5.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §14, 2nd ¶, as amended by P&SL 1993, c. 28, §3, is 
further amended to read:
Reasonable notice of the date of the meeting and of the necessity of electing a new 
member of the board of the authority, who may be an incumbent, must be given to the 
mayor of Lewiston by the secretary or clerk of the authority.
Sec. 6.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §14, 3rd ¶, as amended by P&SL 1993, c. 28, §3, is 
further amended to read:
At the initial meeting for organization of the authority, or as soon after the initial 
meeting as practicable, the 6 members of the board shall elect a 7th member who must be 
a resident of Auburn or Lewiston but may not hold any public municipal office or be a 
member of any municipal board or committee. If the 6 members are unable to agree upon 
the naming of a 7th member of the board, any Justice of the Superior Court or Supreme 
Judicial Court shall, on petition of any 4 of the members, select the 7th member of the 
board. The 7th member of the board serves for a 3-year term and until the member's 
successor is appointed, and may be elected to serve an additional 3-year term terms of 
office. When a vacancy occurs in the position of the 7th member of the board, a replacement 
must be elected by the remaining members of the board to serve for the remainder of the 
term in the same manner as initial elections are held. The members of the board serve 
without compensation, but are reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in the 
performance of their duties, on approval of the board.
Sec. 7.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §15, as repealed and replaced by P&SL 1993, c. 28, §4, 
is amended to read:
Sec. 15.  Election of officers.  The board shall appoint and determine the 
compensation of a superintendent general manager, who is the administrative officer. The 
board has the power to remove the superintendent general manager at the board's pleasure. 
The superintendent general manager must be an individual meeting the requirements for 
the operator in charge of a wastewater treatment plant under the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 32, chapter 62, except that an uncertified person or unregistered professional engineer 
who is nevertheless eligible for certification or registration as a professional engineer may 
be appointed as acting superintendent general manager and serve for a period of up to one 
year. In the board's discretion, the board may reappoint the acting superintendent general 
manager for additional one-year terms.
The board may appoint, and may at the board's pleasure remove, a treasurer and clerk 
who are not members of the board, and both officers offices, if the board determines it 
advisable, may be held by the same person. The treasurer shall furnish the board with a 
bond payable to the authority issued by a surety company authorized to transact business 
in the State and satisfactory to the board as surety, in such sum as the board may prescribe 
and conditioned on the faithful performance of the treasurer's duties. The duties of the 
treasurer and clerk are those usually appertaining to those offices, respectively, and in 
addition such duties as may from time to time be prescribed by the board. The 
compensation of the treasurer and of the clerk is determined by the board. The 
superintendent general manager, with the approval of the board, shall from time to time 
appoint or employ such engineers and such experts, agents, officers, clerks and other 
employees as the superintendent general manager determines necessary, and shall 
determine their duties. The salaries or compensation of all persons appointed or employed 
under this section, together with other expenses, are paid by the authority and are 
considered a part of the expense of operation of the authority.
Sec. 8.  P&SL 1967, c. 92, §16, 3rd ¶, as amended by P&SL 1969, c. 113, §8, is 
further amended to read:
The authority shall make an annual report of its activities for the preceding year and 
shall submit a copy thereof to the mayor of the City of Lewiston, and the President of the 
Auburn Sewerage District trustees and the Maine Water and Air Environmental 
Improvement Commission.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the charter of the Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control 
Authority to reflect position changes, remove obsolete language, clarify language regarding 
board members and make other changes to reflect the current operations of the authority.