AUBURN - The city will pay a Portland, Maine-based company to take away the sludge from the waste water treatment plant while engineers assess damages to the incinerator. And according to city officials, it is possible the incinerator will not go back on line again.

The Auburn City Council voted 4-0 approving a resolution to pay New England Organics $48.50 per wet ton over a 90-day period to haul away the biosolids. The incinerator, which usually burns fuel made from the sludge, has lost bricks on one of its hearths and must be shut down for estimates and repairs.

The 90-day contract will likely cost approximately $160,000. But City Manager Mark Palesh said rough estimates indicate repairs to the incinerator could cost the city $1.2 million. And the facility is already costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a year - more than $400,000 in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

“We're planning for a longer term,” Palesh said of shutting down the incinerator.

Councilor William Graney said during the meeting that the decision to shut down the incinerator “makes all the sense in the world.” He's wanted to see it turned off for years because of the financial burden it puts on the city, he said.

Mayor Michael Quill agreed.

“At the time it was a good deal for the city, but times have changed,” Quill said.

Gilda Brower was absent from the meeting.

Eventually, city officials plan to replace the incinerator with a anaerobic digester that would turn the sludge material into energy-producing natural gas and compost. The city is still seeking funds for that project, which is estimated to cost between $6 million and $9 million.

In other news:

* This city will hire a Jordan-based company to help clean up local properties that aren't complying with city codes. A Systems Property Services will earn $23 per hour to remove trash, grass and snow from neglected lots that are not up to city code.

This year's budget includes a program that hires a private company to clean up the troublesome properties and then bills homeowners for the work done. The city implemented the program last year on a part-time basis, and officials said it was better than paying public works crews to clean up when they had the time.

According to the property maintenance ordinance of the city code, landscaping is expected to be “well-maintained so that lawns, hedges, bushes and trees shall be kept trimmed and free from becoming overgrown and unsightly where exposed to public view and where the same may constitute a blighting factor thereby depreciating adjoining property.”

The minimum standard for weeds or grass is an average height of six inches, and any accumulation of dead weeds, grass or brush between May and October is prohibited. Also prohibited are hedges, shrubs or trees growing on public sidewalks or lines of sights for public roads.

Property owners are notified by the city of their violations before action is taken. If they do not fix the problem in due time, the city does it and bills the owner.

* The city will pay a consulting firm no more than $19,500 to help with the installation of an underground distribution line as part of a natural gas generator project at the landfill. The council approved the resolution 4-0 to authorized the contract with Consulting Engineers Group Inc.

* The city will sell 2.2 acres of land on Hockeborne Avenue to Dickman Farms, which owns property adjacent to the lot, for $28,400. According to the resolution passed 4-0 by the council, the land was assessed for the same amount.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.