Council approves appointments, police-car donation and affordable-housing TIF reports

The Auburn City Council took several procedural and consent votes during its April 7 meeting.

Appointments: The council appointed Cliff Grama and Jonathan Labonte to the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Corporation and authorized Jonathan Labonte to vote shares held by Auburn shareholders for the corporation; the motion passed by show of hands with seven members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative.

Approval of minutes: The council approved minutes from a March meeting; two members abstained because they were absent from that prior meeting, and the clerk recorded two abstentions. (The transcript records the abstentions as for absence at the prior meeting.)

Police vehicle donation: The council approved an order authorizing donation of an Auburn Police Department vehicle (net book/approximate value cited by staff at roughly $6,000) to the Lewiston Regional Technical Center law-enforcement program. The motion was moved by Councilor Platt and seconded by Councilor Walker; the vote was seven in favor, none opposed.

Affordable-housing TIF reports: The council approved annual reports and authorized the city manager to sign the submissions to the Maine State Housing Authority for three tax-increment financing (TIF) affordable housing districts — Webster School (TIF #16), 4707 Minot Avenue (TIF #2014707) and 248 Hampshire Street (TIF #2248). The motion passed by show of hands with seven in favor and none opposed.

Each vote was taken by roll/show-of-hands as recorded during the meeting, and councilors moved on to other agenda items following the approvals.