AUBURN, Maine — The City of Auburn is moving forward in its effort to protect the quality of Lake Auburn.
Both Auburn and Lewiston rely on the lake for drinking water. This change has sparked controversy between the leaders of the two cities and even legal action.
During an Auburn City Council meeting Tuesday night, councilors voted to advance two ordinances. The city's mayor said the ordinances will complete the mission of protecting Lake Auburn.
"The first resolution is going to ban residential construction, as well as, heavily polluting or potentially polluting agricultural activities," Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said. "Including, raising of animals and livestock.”
The area impacted by this ban would be 73 percent of the land in Lake Auburn's watershed, according to an email sent to NEWS CENTER Maine by Eric Cousens, Auburn's director of planning and permitting.
“The second [resolution] will be instructing the planning board to ensure that we don’t build any new septic systems, private septic systems, within 300 feet of the lake itself,” Mayor Levesque added.
The city is moving forward with the ordinances despite a civil lawsuit from the City of Lewiston against the Auburn Water District.
At issue is 148 acres in Auburn including a gravel pit and landfill. Rezoning the land would remove that parcel from the watershed, allowing for more development, which Lewiston doesn't want.
During Tuesday's meeting, a member of the public spoke out about not wanting to pay for the legal battle between Lewiston and the Auburn Water District.
“If you are a customer of the Auburn Water District, which I am, we are paying the legal fees for the suit against us," Auburn resident Bruce Rioux said. “If the City of Auburn is bringing this lawsuit upon themselves, then the taxpayers should pay for it."
Mayor Levesque said the recommendations passed on Tuesday will head to the city’s planning board for review.
"They’re going to make sure that everything has been covered and put their final seal of approval on it," Levesque explained. "We’ll see it back here in a couple of months for the final public readings and final votes."