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Parks director outlines prioritized facility repairs: chiller, fire station work, pool and community center upgrades
Summary
Justin Glenn, Parks and Recreation director, presented a prioritized list of facility projects including city hall chiller replacement, fire station HVAC and construction work, a police station feasibility study, and repairs at Orchard's Pool; he recommended shifting budgeted staff dollars to contracted services and increasing preventative maintenance funding.
Justin Glenn, director of Parks and Recreation, presented a prioritized list of facility projects and maintenance actions to Lewiston’s council, emphasizing a mix of urgent repairs and strategic investments. Glenn said City Hall is operating below full cooling capacity because several chillers are offline and recommended using the general fund facility improvement account (about $380,000) to address the chiller replacements.
On fire stations, Glenn said earlier work had addressed surface remediation and design; the next phase requires minor construction and HVAC changes to reach a more compliant standard, based on prior impact assessments. He also recommended a site‑specific police station feasibility study to evaluate a vacant regional property for capacity and resilience concerns (flood risk and basement infrastructure), noting the study is intended to determine whether the location can accommodate necessary functions rather than to design a new build.
Glenn described community center modernization as a revenue‑forward project: the center sees about 1,500 users monthly and increasing reservations and programming. He estimated a modernization investment could be as small as $200,000 with a five‑to‑eight year payback from increased rentals and program revenues; AV improvements and a new roof/floor were identified as priorities.
On aquatics, Glenn said Orchard's Pool showed significant long‑term water loss that has been substantially mitigated after recent repairs but still requires continued monitoring; he emphasized not installing a new pool floor until roof repairs are complete. He credited in‑house staff training and targeted repairs for recent improvements.
Glenn noted the facilities division effectively operates with roughly 1.5 full‑time equivalent staff for more than 20 buildings; he proposed converting one vacancy into $100,000 for contracted services and raising preventative maintenance funding by $55,000 to improve response times and reduce deferred maintenance. He also described a partnership approach for capital projects, including a completed pickleball shelter funded through park reservation revenues and collaboration with the local Pickleball Association.
Gordon and Glenn discussed funding options during the session. Glenn suggested a possible 1% levy to help operational maintenance; Gordon provided fund balance context and noted council options include reallocating property tax dollars, reinstating a road‑and‑bridge tax, or using reserves in targeted years.
The council did not vote on funding decisions at the session. Glenn said he will return with additional cost estimates and supporting information as council and the mayor refine the 2027 budget.
