Recent road projects include freshly poured concrete sidewalks on the Irving Street side of Partners Bank in Springvale. Photo: Zendelle Bouchard
By Zendelle Bouchard
The following items were discussed or acted upon at the City Council’s Oct. 21 meeting.
Land Bank Update: Councilor Nate Hitchcock reported that the Land Bank is moving along with several projects. A mobile home and other buildings at 642 New Dam Rd., which were declared dangerous back in 2019, have been demolished. The home at 26 Gerrish Dr. required a biohazard cleanup due to the number of discarded syringes on site. The city will be taking a commercial property on Main Street through the blighted building process that was put in place last year. The Land Bank has also been notified that several landlords in town have not renewed their buildings’ rental property licenses, so the city is notifying tenants and encouraging them to contact their landlords.
Fire Station Construction: City Manager Steve Buck told the Council that plans for the construction of the headquarters station are 100 percent complete, and the process of soliciting bids to build it is well underway, with bids due by Nov. 20. The first half of the financing has been secured.
Roadwork Update: Buck also updated the Council on progress on several road construction projects. The base course has been laid for paving on Airport Road. Gatehouse Road will be completed in the spring. Bougie Lane is near completion. Sidewalks on Irving, Butler and Merrill have been poured, and work on sidewalks for George and Harris is ongoing, with the wear course of paving scheduled for the first week of November. Paving on Circle Drive is in progress. Yeaton Hill will also be paved in early November. Witham Street is awaiting paving and a new traffic light as well.
Estes Road: The Council voted to formally recognize Estes Road as a private way, which means the Public Works Department will no longer maintain it. The Council discussed this issue at a previous meeting but after pushback from abutters who insisted the road was city-owned, they decided to do more research regarding ownership before making a final decision. Public Works Director Matt Hill said after spending $6,000 for attorneys to look into it, no record could be found that the city ever accepted it as a public road.
Comp Plan Outsourcing: The Council voted to authorize a contract with the Portland firm of Berry Dunn to complete the update of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan update, which is several years overdue, was originally supposed to be completed in-house, but after Planner Erin Moriarty resigned in July, there wasn’t sufficient city staff to finish the project. Planning Director Jamie Cole said Berry Dunn has done many other comprehensive plans for Maine municipalities with “everyone a quality product.”
FEMA Funds Reassigned: Over $150,000 received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for expenses related to the April 2024 storm will be reassigned to offset capital improvements in the fiscal year 2027 budget for the fire, parks and public works departments. That storm knocked down many trees and power lines in town, and work to clear the debris took months (refresh your memory here.) City Manager Buck said normally when reimbursements such as this are received after the fiscal year in which the expenses were incurred has closed, the funds are designated as unanticipated revenue; by reallocating them to capital improvements that are already planned, they will go to offset next year’s budget instead, providing some tax relief.
Gold in the Gravel: The Council voted to create a special revenue account for the Public Works Department so that excess crushed gravel reclaimed when roads are reconstructed can be sold, with the funds set aside to help pay for future projects. Public Works Director Matt Hill said in the past, when they have run out of room to store the gravel, they let contractors take it, meaning potential revenue is lost. He noted that for the city to avoid paying taxes on the sale, the gravel must be used for public use on public roads and cannot be sold for private development projects.
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