Trash, cigarette butts again clogging fountain in downtown Lewiston

LEWISTON — For the second time in a month, the Lewiston Public Works Department has had to shut down the fountain in Dufresne Plaza after trash and cigarette butts clogged the pump.

Mary Ann Brenchick, the city’s director of public works, said litter in the fountain remains an issue. Cigarettes have been especially problematic because they are small and get into the pump, she said.

After the fountain’s pump broke last year, it took months for the new one to arrive. The fountain sat idle with trash, cigarette butts and more accumulating in its stagnant water. This June, it was cleaned and the new pump was activated.

For about a week, the water flowed over the “Path of Perseverance” mural, which celebrates the women’s suffrage movement. Yet, trash began to accumulate in the fountain, including socks, plastic cups and chips wrappers. Soon, the fountain was turned off again.

Trash continues to clog the pumps of the fountain at Dufresne Plaza, photographed Monday, in downtown Lewiston. The city’s Public Works Department has turned off the water to the fountain for the second time this month. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

One man told Public Works Department staff members he thought he was helping clean up the area by tossing litter into the fountain, Brenchick said.

“We’re not sure how to prevent it,” she said. “We’re trying to figure it out.”

Cleaning the fountain is more difficult than it may seem, she said. After the electrical crew turns it off, a different team then cleans the fountain using a water vacuum. That team is often busy using the vacuums to clean sewer lines and drainage basins, she said.

Then, the electrical team must come by again to turn it back on.

Brenchick said litter in the fountain was not a problem last year or the year before. Another fountain in Raymond Park, at the corner of Main and Lincoln streets, has stayed clear, she said.

After some electrical parts are fixed, the Raymond Park fountain is expected to begin running again soon, she said. The city completed work on the concrete last week.

Brenchick said she believes the problem with the Dufresne Plaza fountain is connected to the increasing number of homeless people in downtown Lewiston.

“(We) certainly want to keep it running (because) it looks beautiful,” she said.

The best option may be to install a screen above the water, she said. Cleaning trash from the screen, which she envisions could be placed a few inches above the water level, could make it much easier to keep the pumps clean.

She also questioned whether adding more cigarette cans near the fountain would help. There are few cans in the area but none in the plaza because city ordinances prohibit smoking on Lisbon Street and in Dufresne Plaza, she said. The ban does not extend to Park Street.

“Just please, put your cigarette butts in the trash can, not the water,” Brenchick said.