[0:02] - It's, it's a need that I believe the municipality

[0:07] has a, a duty to explore.

[0:10] - Okay, bill. Yeah.

[0:12] And I, you know, I don't have much add to add to

[0:14] that other than that, you know, this is

[0:16] something that, right.

[0:17] We know this comp plan is coming to us. Right.

[0:20] And this is one of the key goals as it has been,

[0:22] is Bridget, you have spoke.

[0:24] It has been, and Steve will attest to, has been for years.

[0:27] So, you know, let's, let's take another swing at it.

[0:32] - Good. So it's four minutes of seven.

[0:34] We'll take a break till seven

[0:36] and we'll come back with the regular council meeting.

[4:59] - My head on a morning - Anymore.

[5:03] I'm the way I am. Good evening everybody,

[5:06] and welcome to the Monday, September 28th

[5:09] Town council meeting.

[5:11] We started off with a workshop on workforce housing at six

[5:15] o'clock and we'll call the meeting to order.

[5:19] First item on the agenda is the approval

[5:22] of minutes from September 14th.

[5:26] - I'll give you a motion to approve the minutes.

[5:28] - Motion by Jeff. A second. Second Andrew.

[5:31] All those in favor, counselor Filson is not here.

[5:36] She's home with sick kids and we wish her

[5:40] and the, the kids the best.

[5:42] Indeed. All right.

[5:46] The next item is the business organization highlight.

[5:49] Every week we try to highlight a Cumberland business,

[5:53] have 'em come in and explain what they do, who they are,

[5:56] what you know, where they are.

[5:58] And I'll turn this over to Councilor Magoon to introduce

[6:02] this week's presenter.

[6:04] - So we have Matt Altman from Main Street Auto here

[6:09] to like counselor e said, you know, give a little idea about

[6:12] who they're, who they're from, you know, all that.

[6:15] So I'll turn over to you.

[6:16] - Hello. Can you hear me? Excellent.

[6:20] Thank you for having me. My name is Matt Alami.

[6:23] I own and operate Main Street Auto, right here in Cumberland

[6:27] with my wife Kylie,

[6:29] and three other employees.

[6:33] We've been in business for six and a half years now.

[6:38] We have the location where we sell

[6:40] and detail vehicles at the corner of Wind Road

[6:44] and Route nine at 1 74 Main Street.

[6:48] And recently this year we were able to

[6:51] purchase 2 96 Main Street,

[6:53] which is the brick garage right across from the cemetery

[6:57] and high school from CN Brown.

[7:00] That's where we service all the vehicles.

[7:04] Yeah, it, it's, it's a, a great small community business.

[7:08] We've had wonderful support from the town of Cumberland

[7:12] and surrounding towns, north Yarmouth.

[7:15] My wife and I live right here in Cumberland

[7:18] and our lead mechanic is Alex Jennings who went to Greeley

[7:23] and lives in North Yarmouth.

[7:25] And we have Bruce, who's a Subaru mechanic

[7:27] and he lives in Yarmouth.

[7:29] And Tyler is our detailer

[7:31] and sort of jack of all trades from Gray.

[7:34] And the five of us, we work Monday

[7:37] through Friday taking care of people's vehicle needs

[7:40] and we love it.

[7:42] And you know, we've been blessed

[7:43] to do business in this community.

[7:44] So thank you all.

[7:46] I'll open it up to any questions anyone may have.

[7:51] - Plenty. - All inspections I assume.

[7:55] - State inspection stickers. Yep. Yes.

[7:57] Yes, we do five of those a day in the morning.

[8:00] - I'll ask you a quick question only 'cause Well Bob

[8:02] and I, Jeff grew up here.

[8:04] Yep. Do you still have the old PJ Brown air hose?

[8:08] - No, no, no. Long gone. Alright,

[8:13] - So we were for those, the Brown family ran that

[8:17] for a long, long time.

[8:18] And I can only gather

[8:19] what you found out back at the, the shop. We,

[8:22] - We actually have a tree that's about this big around

[8:25] that's grown up through the center of a tire.

[8:27] Out in the back of that property is kind of,

[8:29] somebody wheeled that down the hill probably 40 years ago.

[8:32] And there's a tree growing up through it.

[8:35] - We offline. - Well thank you all for having me.

[8:38] Appreciate your time. Thank

[8:39] - You.

[8:40] Thank you Matt. Thank you for coming. Good as you.

[8:49] Matt.

[8:53] - Oh, Bob. - Sure. Sorry Matt.

[8:56] Matt, tech support we're speaking

[8:58] before we go to the manager's report.

[9:00] Thank, thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr.

[9:03] Bob story is here this evening to provide a quick update

[9:05] to the council on a recent installation of a monument

[9:09] at I got it.

[9:10] Yep. Thank you. I, and so I talked to Bob this morning

[9:15] and he wanted to come and just talk about

[9:16] some work that was done recently.

[9:18] And so I'll let him kick off my manager's

[9:20] component if that's good, Mr. Chair.

[9:22] - Thanks Matt. I'll try

[9:24] to be under three minutes this summer.

[9:27] I was contacted by Counselor Alack

[9:31] and he was down at Stiles Way, had the brush facility

[9:34] and he told me about an,

[9:36] a monument out in the, out in the weeds.

[9:39] And it was a veteran's monument. Here it is here.

[9:44] And took me two trips

[9:46] to find the damn thing when I went down looking, so I agreed

[9:50] with, with Jeff it should have a home somewhere.

[9:55] So recently I, I had, I had Chris Stilley

[10:00] put in a mon a foundation at, at

[10:05] and put a foundation in at the cemetery across from the gas

[10:08] station to set this monument on.

[10:11] And in addition, I had him put a pad in for a,

[10:15] for a bench.

[10:17] And I've rebuilt a bench that was at MOS side

[10:19] and got that in place as well.

[10:21] Put a few flowers beside this.

[10:23] It looks pretty nice and I, I never knew

[10:27] where this thing came from

[10:28] and I'll turn to Bob Vale in a minute

[10:31] and he'll tell me where it came from and,

[10:35] and so it's a nice little sitting area I've created right

[10:39] across from the gas station.

[10:40] Got a, see where the heck we are here.

[10:51] Come back. Okay. Sitting at the bench.

[10:54] This is looking towards the congregational church.

[10:57] You can see it's a pretty secluded little area.

[11:03] This is looking to the Greeley monument

[11:06] and this is

[11:09] the sitting area we created.

[11:11] I I re-built a bench set the monument

[11:15] and it's, I think it's a nice little area to go

[11:19] and sit down, take a break.

[11:22] And I had noticed at first,

[11:25] but this monument was donated

[11:27] by the Cumberland North Amout Lions.

[11:30] Do you have any memory of it, Bob?

[11:32] - I I've been a member for over 40 years and I, I don't,

[11:36] - Yeah, okay.

[11:37] I I presume it came from the front

[11:40] of Moss side when we put the big, the big

[11:45] Veterans Memorial in, but I really don't know.

[11:49] So, but there it is.

[11:51] Like I say, it's, this is

[11:54] right directly across the gas station, the, the road

[11:57] that goes in and view to the church Again.

[12:02] That's, that's what it is.

[12:04] And nice little area if you're out walking, need a place

[12:06] to sit that jump into Any,

[12:11] any comments, Jeff, on

[12:14] - This?

[12:15] I think it looks awesome and thank you for doing it,

[12:18] but the credit actually goes to Jesse Lamar.

[12:22] Vincent 'cause he just pointed it out to me

[12:24] and I just made a phone call, so I didn't really do much.

[12:27] I'm,

[12:31] - Yeah, Danny Borough brought it up to us.

[12:34] So we, I had a few people involved here.

[12:36] I had Danny had Chris Stilly and we, we got it done.

[12:42] And like I say,

[12:43] it looks better here than it did in the weeds down at,

[12:47] down at the brush dump.

[12:49] - It's important stuff. Bob. Thank you.

[12:50] - Yeah. Okay. Thank

[12:53] - You.Thank you very much

[12:57] Mr.

[12:57] Manager. Jeff

[12:59] - Oh, go ahead.

[13:01] - Before you run out of the room there, Bob.

[13:04] The importance of a community

[13:06] or the reflection of a community isn't always in

[13:08] how shiny the firetrucks are

[13:11] or how much paint is spread on a building,

[13:13] but on the upkeep of its cemeteries.

[13:15] And you know, if you,

[13:17] if you lived in a community long enough that you know that

[13:20] a quick walk through a a cemetery,

[13:23] you're gonna find familiar names

[13:25] and you're gonna find the people that served on committees

[13:28] and, you know, were, were part of a, a fabric of a community

[13:32] and it's, it's just as re just as important

[13:36] to me is the upkeep of a cemetery.

[13:39] It is as our public buildings.

[13:41] And I noticed just the other day that there a couple

[13:43] of headstones were being set back up.

[13:45] So the, the work that goes on in our cemeteries is,

[13:50] is laudable. Thank you.

[13:52] - Yeah. We, we probably straightened at least 20,

[13:56] straightened out 20 straightened our repaired 20 stones

[14:00] crossing the gas station that in that cemetery this year.

[14:03] And so it's an ongoing thing.

[14:05] We repair stones every year due

[14:08] to frustration every year we, we, we pick at it

[14:12] and thanks to the council

[14:16] and now Matt and Bill Shane

[14:19] before him, as I've talked before,

[14:22] before Bill Shane, the cemeteries were not well funded.

[14:26] And thanks to all of you, we have ample funding now we,

[14:30] something comes up like this.

[14:32] I don't have to defer, defer for five years

[14:34] before I can can do it.

[14:36] I can jump right on it. Okay. Thank you.

[14:39] Thank you Officer. Mr. Manager.

[14:42] - Thank you Mr. Chairman. I've got some updates here from

[14:44] manager's report this evening.

[14:46] First one is of I think a high interest to a lot of folks

[14:51] last Octo or CMP line project update.

[14:54] Last October, CMP held an open house

[14:56] to provide information about its planned power line project.

[15:00] At that session, they committed

[15:02] to keeping the community informed

[15:03] throughout the review process.

[15:05] On Thursday, November 12th, they'll have another opportunity

[15:09] at 6:00 PM in this chamber.

[15:11] CMP will host another open house

[15:13] to share their updated project information

[15:17] and gather community feedback.

[15:19] We'll have additional feed, sorry, additional event details

[15:22] and in our future communications.

[15:24] But please keep an eye on our website

[15:26] and they'll also have to be doing their outreach to by,

[15:29] by ordinance to folks who will

[15:31] but it directly as well within 500 feet.

[15:33] But until that, put

[15:35] that date on your calendar if you would please.

[15:38] Solar field expansion update Council

[15:40] Vail will be interested in this.

[15:42] C mahar engineers were on site last week

[15:44] to lay out the solar array.

[15:47] Increased activities expected to begin this week,

[15:50] primarily involving equipment and material deliveries.

[15:53] The main racking delivery is scheduled for October 5th

[15:57] and will include three flatbed trucks and mobilization.

[16:00] Details are being finalized as subcontractors,

[16:03] but most truck and personnel activities expected

[16:06] to begin October 5th and increase throughout that week.

[16:09] So we should see a lot more happening.

[16:11] So thought you'd find that part good.

[16:14] Councilman Hallick Also

[16:15] regarding the question on the welcome to Cumberland Signs,

[16:18] they are getting a number

[16:20] of their materials delivered this week

[16:21] and we should start anticipating installation

[16:25] with Dan Byrne, his team this week as well.

[16:27] So thought you'd be happy to to hear that. Thank you.

[16:30] We have a very exciting day here tomorrow at Town hall.

[16:34] We have the fourth grade class will be coming to visit us.

[16:38] They're coming, they're coming

[16:39] for a local government learning experience.

[16:42] Students are gonna participate in a simulated election,

[16:45] hear a brief presentation from available department heads

[16:48] and meet North Yarmouth, town manager,

[16:50] Brit Barton and myself.

[16:52] The visit will also include a tour of town hall

[16:54] and if available and weather permitting

[16:57] and an opportunity to view a fire truck and ambulance

[16:59] and a police cruiser.

[17:01] So we're gonna start recruiting early for those departments.

[17:05] Another quick reminder

[17:07] because we wanna make sure everybody keeps

[17:08] us on their radar as well.

[17:10] Upcoming special trash and

[17:12] recycling events are about to happen.

[17:14] The confidential shredding event will be October 3rd,

[17:16] which is this coming weekend,

[17:18] universal waste event October 10th.

[17:21] And then the oversized drop off event will be October 17th.

[17:25] We'll have staffing there for folks if they need help in

[17:28] moving things that are larger.

[17:29] So we're always happy to help and our team is good to go.

[17:31] When it comes to that. All events will be held at the Drown

[17:34] Road facility, public Works garage at 23 Drown Road from

[17:38] 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

[17:42] Looking forward to the Cumberland Fair this week

[17:44] and hoping that the weather cooperates.

[17:48] We'll knock on wood on that.

[17:49] But the livestock auction is on Wednesday.

[17:52] I plan to attend that afternoon for the, for that

[17:56] livestock auction in support of the food bank.

[17:58] The event provides an opportunity to support these talented

[18:01] and hardworking young farmers,

[18:03] the four H and the food pantry.

[18:05] And I also wanna take a moment to extend my thanks

[18:08] to former counselor Ron Kopp and for his guidance

[18:10] and tutelage at last year's event where he showed me how

[18:13] to become a, a livestock purchaser.

[18:15] And it's pretty cool to see if you get a chance.

[18:18] Those kids are amazing. Regional collaboration

[18:21] event tomorrow night.

[18:22] The regional collaboration event will be held at

[18:25] the Falmouth Elementary School from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

[18:29] The agenda includes updates on current initiatives ranging

[18:32] from administration to public safety.

[18:35] Participating in communities are gonna be Cumberland North,

[18:38] Yarmouth, Falmouth, Freeport, and Yarmouth.

[18:40] So Councilor Vail's been instrumental in pulling

[18:42] that together and looking forward

[18:44] to a good turnout tomorrow evening.

[18:45] So that should be fun. Staff recognition.

[18:49] Last Thursday, Cumberland's own tax assessor Clinton Sweat

[18:54] received the Assessor of the Year award from the main

[18:58] Association of Assessing Officers.

[19:00] I attended the event along with Bill Longley,

[19:02] our code officer Christina s Silverman, that admin assistant

[19:06] for the department and Whitney Hankin.

[19:08] The recognition reflects very well on Clinton

[19:10] and on Cumberland's Assessing office

[19:12] and we're proud to congratulate him on this achievement.

[19:15] Now we can say that we truly have an award-winning codes

[19:18] and assessing office with Bill

[19:19] and Clinton both being named their prospective assessor

[19:23] and code officer of the year over the past couple of years.

[19:24] So it's pretty great for them. And a nice, nice honor

[19:27] for folks dedicated to town of Cumberland Council.

[19:30] Had received a number of emails over the past couple

[19:33] of weeks regarding the, regarding the playground

[19:35] or that's planned for Twin Brook.

[19:39] And I thought I'd tried to,

[19:40] we got a few people here this evening,

[19:41] so it might be helpful to provide some additional

[19:44] info relating to that.

[19:48] Twinbrook is Cumberland's primary recreation hub

[19:50] and to host thousands of families annually,

[19:53] more than 500 soccer players

[19:55] and their families used the facility recently on

[19:59] Labor Day weekend underscoring the demand

[20:01] for recreation amenities at the site.

[20:04] Funding for the playground project was approved back in the

[20:07] fiscal year 24 25 budget.

[20:10] And the Parks and Recreation advisory Board

[20:13] formed a playground subcommittee.

[20:14] Now they've had two of those.

[20:16] One, one, they didn't come

[20:19] to a final consensus on it couldn't come to agreement

[20:22] so they, they put a pin in it based on recommendation from

[20:25] council liaison at the time

[20:27] and then came back at it last year.

[20:31] They created a new subcommittee

[20:33] that included the recreation director Pete Bingham,

[20:36] three advisory board members.

[20:38] And that group also included a certified playground

[20:41] inspector and a local municipal facilities director

[20:43] with experience overseeing multiple

[20:45] playgrounds installations.

[20:48] They did unanimously recommend a final design

[20:50] to the parks advisory committee at board in May

[20:53] and then those brought to the council

[20:54] for a presentation back in June.

[20:56] If you recall, the playground that they chose has been,

[21:00] has been, is manufactured by landscape structures,

[21:03] which is a nationally accredited manufacturer.

[21:06] The approximately 2,900 square foot design serves children's

[21:10] one and a half through 12 years old

[21:12] with distinct age appropriate elements.

[21:15] It focused a lot on accessible play

[21:19] for ground level components

[21:20] and sensory elements including textured panels,

[21:22] musical instruments

[21:23] and support play for children of variabilities.

[21:27] There's safety surfacing in there. There's poured in place.

[21:30] Rubber will be providing the firm stable slip resistant

[21:33] surface for children to walk on as other people to walk on

[21:36] and use or, or that matter if they have, if they are

[21:41] mobility impaired to use their wheelchair on

[21:44] and allows grade level entry without access to limited,

[21:48] limited to ramps or supports longer seasonal use

[21:51] and reduces maintenance material consideration

[21:54] that selected poured rubber is also PFAS free.

[21:58] There was some concern that was raised earlier on in email

[22:00] and I think there's some confusion on that,

[22:02] but it's been confirmed that the rubber

[22:04] that the argon used does not contain PFAS.

[22:07] The con the committee preferred

[22:09] that over engineered wood fiber

[22:11] because they had some concerns about potential PFAS with

[22:14] that or formaldehyde content

[22:16] and then containment requirements as in spilling outside

[22:19] of the contained area for their playground.

[22:22] And then needing ramp access to gain traction into the,

[22:25] into the facility as well as ongoing maintenance.

[22:29] And then site compatibility.

[22:31] The, the committee was, I thought they tried

[22:33] to be sensitive relating to that

[22:34] and chose earth tone color palette looking for it

[22:38] to be blending better into the Twin Brook park setting.

[22:42] So the final cost of the playground with the structure

[22:46] and the port surface was 196,000.

[22:48] It was fully funded in the 24 25 budget

[22:51] and purchasing was completed in July to secure pricing

[22:54] after the industry wide increases

[22:56] during the planning process had already reduced the amount

[22:59] by 20% just due to life in general since,

[23:03] since the COVID pandemic unfortunately.

[23:06] But I think the playground structure's been delivered.

[23:09] Installation is currently anticipated in the spring

[23:11] and staff looks forward to opening this new place space

[23:14] for Cumberland Families.

[23:16] So we do have all, all this.

[23:18] They provide us to the council as well as you've,

[23:21] I sent you all copies

[23:22] and it's available on our website, the site plan for that

[23:25] that was submitted to the town

[23:26] and shows the, the plans that were there.

[23:28] The one thing it does need to have will be a couple

[23:31] of benches will need to be installed,

[23:33] which weren't on the plan as well as some plantings

[23:36] that were also gonna have to be reviewed and installed.

[23:38] But I think they were holding off on making those decisions

[23:40] until they get to the point

[23:41] that they'll see what's gonna fit and what

[23:44] and how that's gonna cite before then.

[23:47] So that's all I have this evening.

[23:49] Mr. Mr. Chairman. Thank you

[23:51] - Mr.

[23:52] Manager. The next item is

[23:55] public discussion.

[23:57] Public discussion is for comments on the on items

[24:00] that are not on the agenda.

[24:03] Comments are limited to five minutes per person.

[24:06] Rebuttal comments will be limited to two minutes.

[24:09] Public discussion topics may be brought up again under new

[24:13] business for further council discussion.

[24:16] Is there anybody from the public who would like to

[24:18] go on up on item?

[24:20] Just if you would just introduce yourself and Sure, sure.

[24:25] - Hi, I'm Annie Witty, you guys can hear me. Hi Matt.

[24:29] This is in regards to an email.

[24:32] I'm taking this opportunity to talk

[24:34] to you all guys about the playground.

[24:37] I sent an email to the council too

[24:40] and I haven't heard from you.

[24:41] So this is sort of coming off of a little bit of

[24:45] what Matt's talking about in the email.

[24:48] I spoke of the twin Brooks playground

[24:50] as voted on June 28th, 2026

[24:53] with the rubber formed flooring making a rectangle

[24:55] format for expansion.

[24:57] After that vote there was only casual suggestions of benches

[25:03] planting or any dog issues actually weren't talked about.

[25:07] They were not talked about.

[25:09] The original playground committee, which was formed in 2023,

[25:14] had discussed all aspects of this very cool project.

[25:17] We're really excited about it.

[25:19] Spring 2025, we were at, we were in long,

[25:24] long discussions about ideas

[25:26] and we with Bill Shane thought that the company view shed

[25:30] of Yarmouth would create renderings, comparing our options

[25:34] and considering different elements

[25:37] to be part of this playground.

[25:39] At that time, the original committee was dissolved.

[25:42] Now I'm wondering that might be the pin.

[25:45] The pin was put in it.

[25:46] Another playground subcommittee was created without

[25:50] informing any of the original guys parks

[25:52] and recs took on the project.

[25:54] This happens, I'm not, you know,

[25:56] I understand these are big, weighty projects.

[25:58] It was extremely difficult though

[26:00] to get any information about the playground at that point.

[26:03] I'm confused how the transparency

[26:06] of this project got so shifted.

[26:08] I do understand that the vote happened possibly

[26:11] because the scale of the playground is 2,900 square feet.

[26:16] Therefore, a different set of requirements are needed.

[26:19] The equipment is here and it's slated to be built.

[26:21] Thanks Matt, for all this info.

[26:22] Now I still would like the council to consider the project

[26:26] and create a more cohesive plan.

[26:27] It's no secret that the beauty

[26:29] of Twin Brooks lies in the pastoral nature.

[26:32] While we need certain necessary manmade additions,

[26:35] the best elements of twin books are natural.

[26:38] In the past we tucked a maintenance building behind a berm.

[26:41] We added a barn instead of of a Quonset hut for shelter.

[26:44] And we chose split rail fencing instead of guardrails.

[26:49] And all the abutters have respected that vision.

[26:52] We should strive to maintain the feeling

[26:53] of this played planned playground.

[26:56] A playground is a great idea,

[26:57] but as we go forward, it's important

[26:59] to maintain Twin Brooks unique identity as in, in all,

[27:03] in all its projects.

[27:05] Thanks and thanks Matt for that information.

[27:08] I mean, I've seen other reports,

[27:11] but I just think this is a really

[27:13] important issue for the town.

[27:15] - Thank you man. Yeah, anybody else?

[27:18] - Come on up. Sarah.

[27:23] - Good evening. My name is Sarah Russell.

[27:25] I live on Tuttle Road and I also

[27:28] wanna comment on the playground.

[27:29] Matt, I appreciate the information that you brought tonight.

[27:32] I really regret the fact

[27:33] that this is probably the first time

[27:34] that anyone in this room is hearing about the playground,

[27:37] little too late for public input.

[27:39] And that's what I wanna talk to you about today is the lack

[27:42] of public input through this process.

[27:44] And I think it's a big oversight.

[27:47] As I wrote, I wrote up my comments.

[27:49] I have to use this open public comment period

[27:53] to talk about the playground

[27:54] because the playground was never in over two

[27:56] and a half years of planning submitted on a

[27:59] town council agenda.

[28:00] It was tucked inside a master plan,

[28:03] but it was never mentioned the play.

[28:04] The word playground was never mentioned in any agenda,

[28:07] making it near impossible for anyone to even know

[28:10] that it was in development, let alone the opportunity

[28:13] to ask questions or be involved.

[28:16] The process of the playground development was

[28:18] pretty messy from the start.

[28:19] And it ended in a process that offered no public outreach

[28:22] that silenced the voices of those few of us

[28:25] who asked questions along the way.

[28:27] And the end pro end product is

[28:29] what we will see this spring plastic components on top

[28:31] of poured rubber sitting in the view shed

[28:35] of the Twin Brook landscape.

[28:37] At the very first meeting of our playground committee,

[28:39] which I was on with Annie

[28:41] and a handful of other people, we were shown catalogs

[28:44] and asked to pick out play components, four swings

[28:46] or three, do we want a mid-size or tall?

[28:49] And we said, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's slow down.

[28:51] Can we talk about the materials that we wanna use,

[28:53] the design that we wanna think about, possible plantings,

[28:57] location, the dog policy accessibility.

[29:02] None of that was willing to be addressed.

[29:05] We requested doing surveys to ask residents their thoughts.

[29:08] We suggested a community meeting to brainstorm play ideas.

[29:11] We found a play expert to come to talk to the town for free

[29:15] about what makes a play space engaging and fun.

[29:19] We were really excited

[29:20] to take on this project and do this right.

[29:23] That was June, 2024.

[29:25] Our committee never heard from Parks and Rec again.

[29:27] We were silently dismissed

[29:29] and apparently a new committee was formed.

[29:32] The original catalog oriented playground breezed

[29:35] through the application process

[29:37] by keeping the playground off of any town meeting agenda

[29:41] by being just under the max dimension of 3000 square feet,

[29:46] which would've required public input.

[29:48] The playground happens to be 2,990 square feet.

[29:52] And by to, by deciding not to notify Abutters,

[29:56] as we will hear later tonight, abutters deserve to be heard.

[30:01] So where was the oversight?

[30:03] How is a committee formed, voted on and approved

[30:06] and then banned with no accountability?

[30:08] This is what I don't understand.

[30:10] How is this happening in our town? How are we pouring?

[30:14] I would, I'm calling it PFAS rubber into our beautiful twin

[30:17] book Landscape Playground Places Only test

[30:21] for 12 PFAS materials.

[30:22] There are over thousands of PFAS materials out there.

[30:25] They only test for 12. We have no guarantee that

[30:27] that poured rubber is not gonna have PFAS in it.

[30:30] Plus the rubber poured rubber, it gets up

[30:32] to 50 degrees hotter than grass in the summertime.

[30:35] Do we have any budget for trees and shade?

[30:38] How have we not made a plan regarding dogs and kids?

[30:41] How did families with young children get cut

[30:43] out of the this process?

[30:45] How were families with disabled children not solicited

[30:48] for input to make sure that there are components

[30:49] upon which their kids can play?

[30:52] So I stand here deeply disappointed my,

[30:56] a playground was budgeted, a committee was formed,

[30:58] the committee was silenced.

[31:00] No effort was made to include the public.

[31:03] $190,000 was spent on materials

[31:07] before the application was even approved

[31:10] or abutters notified.

[31:13] I would like to think that the town would take a hard look

[31:15] at how this process played out.

[31:17] Robust committee involvement is essential

[31:20] to town participation and dialogue.

[31:23] I would also like to think that the town will consider some

[31:25] changes to the current design landscaping plan.

[31:30] A robust dog policy, a look at the engineered wood fiber

[31:34] and assurance that there are play components for all kids

[31:37] to play a playground is a good thing at Twin Brook.

[31:40] I'm not against that, but,

[31:41] and a playground built with input from play experts,

[31:44] design experts, young parents

[31:46] and community members could have been really great.

[31:49] Thank you. Thank

[31:50] - You Sarah.

[31:51] Anybody else?

[31:58] - Jesse Lamar. Vincent Range Road.

[32:01] So I normally don't come out to these things

[32:03] because I'm normally putting my kids to bed,

[32:05] but I dragged them out with me and they were

[32:06] playing some video games in the back.

[32:08] But I'll assure you, I watch most

[32:10] of these while I'm putting my kids to bed.

[32:12] So if you're wondering who one

[32:13] of the like eight people watching live

[32:15] on YouTube is, it's me.

[32:19] So I can't stay and comment on on things later on.

[32:21] But I wanted to come 'cause I think it's important

[32:23] after watching a lot of these, you guys get a lot of flack

[32:26] and a lot of people come up here

[32:27] because they're upset about something.

[32:30] You know, they've got an ax to grind

[32:31] or they have a real concern

[32:33] and you guys have the tough task of threading the needle

[32:36] and doing what's right for the majority of people in town.

[32:39] You know, trying to weigh all the interests.

[32:42] And I thought it was important to reflect that

[32:45] after watching most of your meetings.

[32:47] I'm really proud of the work you do.

[32:50] I think it's really incredible the way you listen

[32:52] to all residents from a variety of viewpoints.

[32:56] You take the time to make sure you're coming

[32:58] to the right decision or

[32:59] what you think is the right decision.

[33:00] You can't always get it right.

[33:01] And so I don't always agree with what you guys are doing,

[33:05] but I'm proud of what you are doing

[33:06] and I'm proud to be a resident of Cumberland.

[33:10] You know, I live on Range Road, people often drive too fast

[33:13] and once in a while there's a police officer there to try

[33:16] and slow people down in front of my house.

[33:19] The pavement was, has been breaking up for a number

[33:22] of years since I moved in.

[33:23] I've never come to complain about it to you guys.

[33:26] But the other day they repaved a section

[33:28] of Range Road in front of my house

[33:29] because somebody was paying attention enough

[33:32] to fix it without me complaining.

[33:34] You know, my kids most days walk

[33:37] to the library after school.

[33:38] It is one of the most inviting, inclusive, positive,

[33:42] safe places kids could go to.

[33:45] And that exists because of you guys.

[33:47] My kids play soccer at Twin Brook where I go for walks, one

[33:50] of the sort of best athletic facilities

[33:54] probably in the entire state.

[33:55] And that exists and main is maintained because of you guys.

[34:00] You know, I live close to the RHS forest.

[34:02] You know those trails are maintained by the l you know com,

[34:06] you know Lands and Conservation Commission,

[34:08] which I'm on the trails committee, you guys support the work

[34:11] that we do so that volunteers in this town can keep our

[34:14] trails looking nice, keep our forests healthy, try

[34:16] and fight back the invasives.

[34:18] So yeah, I just don't hear enough people talking about the

[34:21] good work you guys are doing.

[34:23] It's not easy, you don't always get it right.

[34:24] People are always gonna be upset about something on one side

[34:27] or the other, but I really respect

[34:29] and appreciate that you guys take the time to do your best.

[34:33] And I think most of the time you do

[34:34] and you know, with a number of people

[34:36] who wanna live in Cumberland, I think that's a testament

[34:39] to the incredible work that you and people who have come

[34:42] before you on this town council have done.

[34:43] So just wanted to express my gratitude.

[34:46] I think it's important because negativity can often drown

[34:49] out the great work that people are doing in this world.

[34:52] So thank you.

[34:54] I'm gonna take my kids to bed and thank you Jesse.

[34:56] - Yeah, - Keep up the good work.

[34:58] - Thanks. Thanks - Jesse. I was waiting for the,

[35:00] but the whole time and no but came, I was like, oh wow,

[35:05] - Anybody else in the public would like

[35:07] to come up on an item that's not on the agenda.

[35:10] Chris,

[35:17] - Hi Chris Yale, 2 44 Griller Road.

[35:20] I came to speak and there's way too many people here

[35:23] tonight try to talk.

[35:27] And something I was gonna talk about is on the

[35:29] agenda, which I did not know.

[35:33] I first, I wanted to thank the counselors back,

[35:36] as this gentleman said, I was one of the people

[35:38] that watched these town council meetings

[35:39] because as I guess we have no life, so

[35:42] watch council meetings.

[35:44] I guess it was a month, couple month, month

[35:46] and a half ago where the gentleman

[35:48] with the trail committee was here asking for $12,600

[35:52] and you guys kinda stopped, well what's in writing?

[35:56] Whatever. We're just not handing over this money without

[35:58] anything here.

[36:01] But now it looks like it's on the agenda.

[36:03] So maybe they have plans or something like that.

[36:05] I don't know. I haven't kept up enough with it.

[36:07] So I mean this trail's coming whether we like it or not.

[36:11] I hear it's not really our town property,

[36:14] but eventually it, it is gonna happen.

[36:18] So I've also, you,

[36:21] you were very concerned about the abutters along this

[36:24] and you asked about a fence and will they put a fence up

[36:28] and they talked about that and everything.

[36:29] And I have friends in the fencing business, mainline fence,

[36:33] you know, a fence to fence.

[36:35] That six foot slat fence is $70 a foot,

[36:38] that's $1.1 million for the length of it.

[36:41] So I hope that is appropriated if you said we want

[36:44] a fence on our section.

[36:46] - Chris, do you have anything for that's not on the agenda?

[36:50] - Yeah, I was gonna then move on to Greeley Road.

[36:55] The, the Greeley road's gonna be rebuilt and you

[36:58] and you talk about, that's on the agenda here about riding

[37:02] the bikes to this space, everything like that.

[37:04] I hope you're really considering a sidewalk when

[37:07] you rebuild this road.

[37:09] You asked me would I like a sidewalk in front of my house.

[37:12] Yes, I would love a sidewalk.

[37:13] People drive way too fast down Grilly Road.

[37:16] Even as rough as it is Matt, you made the point

[37:20] of people complaining about how rough it is.

[37:22] As soon as we pave it, they complain about how fast they go.

[37:24] So to catch 22, I think putting a sidewalk

[37:29] down this road and completing the loop to Twin Brooks,

[37:34] as we talked about 5,000 people,

[37:36] was it at Twin Brooks this past weekend

[37:39] or whatever it was for that,

[37:40] that soccer tournament would be wonderful for it.

[37:43] It would really, I think, calm people down on that road and

[37:46] and give it more of a town feel.

[37:50] Okay. So I really hope you really consider that

[37:53] and consider that expense.

[37:55] I know it's expensive. I also looked at a brand new sidewalk

[37:59] go across in across from the sidewalk at Maple.

[38:02] I Wilson go, alright,

[38:03] we just put a sidewalk across from the sidewalk,

[38:06] which was a lot of money.

[38:07] It's pretty, I see a neighbor here that probably loves it,

[38:10] that he can walk from Willow Lane to Windman Road.

[38:13] So that's really nice. So I would think it'd be fiscally

[38:18] responsible for you guys to really look at that.

[38:21] Okay, we're gonna rebuild this,

[38:22] we're gonna probably widen the road, put a bike lane in,

[38:25] we'd really like a sidewalk.

[38:26] And I really think if you ask the people along

[38:28] that residence and along there that they would like it to.

[38:32] So speaking of fiscally responsible, my next item here

[38:36] that's not on the agenda that Mr.

[38:38] Alack had me sign something.

[38:41] My other question too to you is why are we subsidizing North

[38:44] Yarmouth with our tax dollars?

[38:46] It's your job, your job to fdu be Fiducially responsible

[38:51] to spend Cumberland Tax dollars.

[38:53] But I guess with the school budget,

[38:55] north Yarmouth is a little shy of their fair share.

[38:59] So I'm just curious how far, if that's moving forward,

[39:03] if anything's happening with that, Jeff,

[39:06] if it went forward not with that petition or anything.

[39:09] So I just curious about that.

[39:12] I mean, Yarmouth, when this, you know, go back to,

[39:15] you said this was signed in 1966, this agreement was signed.

[39:20] I looked it up. Gas was 32 cents.

[39:24] Also, I also looked up and it was on the internet

[39:27] because it's AI in it, so must be right.

[39:29] North Yarmouth had 1200 residents.

[39:32] Cumberland had 6,000, now they have 4,400 residents.

[39:36] Cumberland has just shy of 9,000 I guess.

[39:40] So a 70% growth in North Yarmouth

[39:43] with 30% growth in, in Cumberland.

[39:45] So why are we using Cumberland Tax dollars

[39:49] to subsidize our neighbors?

[39:51] I wanna be good neighbors, but my neighbor's not asking me

[39:55] to spend 4% just to pay his taxes.

[39:59] So that's all I got. So

[40:00] - Thank you Chris. Thank

[40:01] - You. Make a

[40:02] - Comment on that.

[40:03] - Let's, let's go, right. - Okay.

[40:04] I just wanna know what it force signed. Go ahead.

[40:07] Just so the public knows the petition that Mr.

[40:10] Yale signed was one

[40:12] to basically revisit the cost sharing

[40:14] agreement with the school district.

[40:15] So if anyone's wondering what I got him to sign,

[40:18] that's, that's what it was.

[40:20] I did try to get him to sign over his

[40:21] bank account but he wouldn't do it.

[40:23] So

[40:24] - Anybody else have comment that for an item

[40:27] that is not on the agenda?

[40:31] See now we'll go right to the agenda.

[40:33] Alright, legislation

[40:38] and policy item 26 dash 1 0 4 to hold a public hearing

[40:43] to consider an act on the adoption

[40:46] of the main municipal association.

[40:49] Modeled general assistant appends A through H for the period

[40:54] of October 1st, 26th through September 30th, 27. Matt?

[40:59] - Thank you Mr. Chairman. This is an annual occurrence as

[41:04] most counselors will remember.

[41:05] So about this time every year the legislature comes forward

[41:08] with their, or actually main, main municipal comes forward

[41:11] with their recommended GA ordinance that each town

[41:16] that they sent to each town for annual review and approval.

[41:20] And tonight I actually, we have in-house a our GA expert

[41:24] and our, our person who provides our GA forest,

[41:28] Paige Kibaki, who's here.

[41:30] And if you'd like to come up,

[41:32] you could talk about it briefly.

[41:34] I know there's also a question about heating assistance

[41:38] as well that 'cause it's all,

[41:40] it's all contained within this ordinance.

[41:42] There's heating assistance, what the rental side of it,

[41:44] what the utilities side of it is all,

[41:47] it's all spelled out within the ordinance.

[41:49] The town also has a fund for heating assistance as well.

[41:53] And there's locally a wood bank as well.

[41:55] Talking with Helene, our finance director this afternoon,

[41:58] the heating assistance fund has about $278,000 in it.

[42:02] So it's in, it's, it's healthy, but oil's expensive

[42:07] and gas is expensive

[42:10] and everything's expensive when it comes to heating a home.

[42:12] And we got a lot and we've got a long heating system,

[42:15] heating season ahead of us.

[42:17] So I thought that might be good for the council to know.

[42:20] But I'll let our,

[42:22] our in-house expert also provide some info for the council as well.

[42:25] So thanks Paige.

[42:27] - Thanks Matt. Yeah, so

[42:32] what you have in front of you for the appendices is,

[42:35] like Matt said, updated every year.

[42:37] These are appendices that MMA comes out with.

[42:40] They collaborate with the Department of Health

[42:43] and Human Services to calculate those every year.

[42:46] They're based on some HUD numbers, some USDA numbers

[42:49] from the federal government

[42:51] and they come out October 1st every year.

[42:53] And those do go into effect whether they're adopted or not.

[42:57] The state requires, the state requires us

[43:00] to use those numbers as administrators.

[43:03] And so updating them in the town ordinance is really more

[43:06] of a formality than anything.

[43:07] But you do have some latitude in the adoption.

[43:12] A lot of towns, not a lot of towns,

[43:14] but a handful of towns in the state do choose

[43:16] to not adopt Appendix C, which is the housing maximums.

[43:22] And instead we use the overall, in those cases,

[43:25] the overall household maximum when determining housing.

[43:30] Yeah, happy to answer any

[43:31] questions that you might have about those.

[43:35] - Any, any questions from the council

[43:37] before we turn it over to the public?

[43:42] See none, thank you very much.

[43:46] - Yeah, of course. - A anybody from this public hearing?

[43:49] Anybody from the public? Like we heard on the first item,

[43:55] seeing none, send it back to the council.

[43:57] What's your favor on this thing?

[44:03] - I can provide you with a motion.

[44:04] - Go ahead Jeff. - I move

[44:06] to adopt the main municipal association's model

[44:08] for general assistance appendix A through H for the period

[44:12] of October 1st, 2026 through September 30th, 2027.

[44:16] Second

[44:18] - A motion.

[44:19] And second. All those in favor

[44:20] - About discussion on the motion?

[44:23] - We did? - No, we didn't.

[44:26] We made a motion to second discussion on the motion,

[44:28] please. Okay,

[44:30] - Go ahead Bob.

[44:32] - I won't say that I read the whole ordinance

[44:34] 'cause it was exhausting.

[44:36] That's okay. And I can say

[44:37] that I didn't read the whole thing last year either.

[44:40] But what I struck me was the complexity of it

[44:43] and the, the severability, I guess of, of people that

[44:49] could easily get cut off.

[44:51] And it's, it's, it's astonishing to me at some level that,

[44:59] you know, we want every dollar to be accounted for when we,

[45:02] when we, when we give aid to people.

[45:04] But at some level you wanna say to yourself, you know, let,

[45:09] let's not be so strict.

[45:11] Let's, let's let's meet people's needs.

[45:13] And I think you know, it, it's,

[45:18] it's, it is sobering to read through this

[45:20] and to understand that there are

[45:22] so many people in this state that, that are of need.

[45:25] And we are a wealthy community.

[45:27] We are a wealthy country

[45:29] and we, we, we struggle to meet the needs of people

[45:32] who are struggling worse than we are.

[45:35] Anyways, thank you for your what you do.

[45:39] - Thank you Bob. Anything else from the council?

[45:43] We have a motion, a second. Change things.

[45:45] All those in favor? Unanimous

[45:50] Item 26 dash 1 0 5 to hold a public hearing

[45:54] to consider an act on a special amusement license renewal

[45:58] for wander at Longwoods Preserve Mr. Manager.

[46:02] - Thank you Mr. Chairman. On the council agenda this

[46:05] evening, you have that request from,

[46:08] or the annual special amusement license renewal

[46:10] for wander at Longwoods Preserve.

[46:12] Remember this from last year, this is an annual occurrence.

[46:15] There have been no items that staff has identified

[46:18] and brought it forward this evening

[46:20] with the recommendation for approval.

[46:24] And this is if they want to have live,

[46:26] live music performed there, that they that

[46:30] as they've, as they've lined it out.

[46:32] - Is there any questions from the council for the manager?

[46:36] - I have a question. Go ahead.

[46:40] The highlighted portion in this memo

[46:45] realigning the special amusement permit expiration

[46:47] with the existing liquor license.

[46:51] Yes. Didn't we already do that last time?

[46:56] Maybe

[46:58] - That was, that was what the request was

[47:02] and I think, I don't think it got all the way,

[47:06] I don't think it made it all the way through.

[47:07] So that's what we're looking at as well

[47:09] to get this in alignment with that.

[47:10] So next spring you should see that when they do come back

[47:12] for their liquor license renewal.

[47:14] - So the liquor license will be aligned with,

[47:17] - With the special - Amusement.

[47:18] This one. Okay. So we don't actually have

[47:20] to have any language in the motion about dealing with that.

[47:23] It'll just pop up Yeah, a little early. We should be good.

[47:25] Okay, cool.

[47:29] - This is a public hearing.

[47:30] Anybody from the public like to be heard on this

[47:34] or asked a question?

[47:37] Seeing none. Trying to back over the, the council.

[47:42] Any comments from the council?

[47:46] Any motion?

[47:49] - I'll do it. All right.

[47:53] I mo I move to approve the special amusement license renewal

[47:57] for wander at Longwoods Preserve for the period

[47:59] of November 1st, 2026 through June 9th, 2027.

[48:03] - We have a motion. A second? - I'll second

[48:06] - Motion a second.

[48:07] Any other comments from the council, from the

[48:09] - Peanut gallery?

[48:12] - No. All those in favor thank you.

[48:20] Item 26 dash 1 0 6 to consider an act on reorganizing

[48:25] the Cumberland North YA joint standing committee

[48:28] into two separate groups.

[48:30] Number one is a Knights Pawn committee

[48:34] and number two, a joint standing committee consisting

[48:37] of the Cumberland Town Council

[48:39] and the North AMH select board to meet approximately two

[48:42] to three times annually to discuss collaboration,

[48:46] joint projects, mutual concerns,

[48:49] and other matters of shared interest.

[48:53] Bob, I'm going to turn this over to Bob

[48:56] and I have been meeting with the manager

[48:58] and assistant manager, excuse me, town chair

[49:01] and a sit vice chair of the Northam Select board.

[49:05] And we, we went on, we wanna, we've been wanting

[49:08] to head in the right direction, work on projects and,

[49:12] and not just meet for the sake of meetings.

[49:14] So Bob,

[49:17] - I I think the, the first piece

[49:18] to address is the Knight's Pond breakout of,

[49:22] of the people on that.

[49:24] And I think it's good that that is separated out.

[49:26] There's enough things that go on over the course of a year,

[49:31] maintenance of trails, expenditures of funds, that that's

[49:36] specific topic should be addressed by people

[49:37] that perhaps have a little more background than the council

[49:41] or the select board of North Yarmouth.

[49:42] So I think taking that piece away makes perfectly sense.

[49:47] So over the last few months, as Mike said, we've met

[49:51] with the leadership of North Yarmouth, the chair chair

[49:54] and vice chair of the select board.

[49:57] And we've kind of challenged each other on

[50:00] what is a working relationship look like and,

[50:04] and how, how important is it?

[50:06] And I think over the last couple of years we,

[50:11] we've seen a a, a falling away of,

[50:14] of dialogue, if you will.

[50:16] And you know, at some point we've, we've had members

[50:21] and myself included have just said,

[50:22] don't put me on that committee anymore.

[50:24] 'cause I I just, it's, it's not working for me.

[50:29] And I think that, so there's a recognition that

[50:34] we had to be engaged and,

[50:36] and if you don't know your neighbors, not

[50:39] to pick on the folks down in Washington,

[50:41] but when you pick on your neighbor to the north of us

[50:43] and you don't have a good relationship, you know,

[50:46] good things don't happen anymore.

[50:48] So it it's, it's incumbent upon not only the council,

[50:53] but the select board to sit down

[50:56] and have real constructive talks about

[50:58] how the two communities work together.

[51:00] How we share our funds and,

[51:03] and including in that is,

[51:04] is our relationship with the schools.

[51:06] And nothing could be more important than, you know,

[51:10] 70% of our tax dollars.

[51:13] And how

[51:18] how that is shared is, is of not most importance.

[51:20] But I think really the thing that, that Mike

[51:23] and I came away with is that

[51:25] the folks in North Yarmouth have a desire as much as we do

[51:29] to work together and have a amicable relationship.

[51:33] So I I think that the, this realignment is, is important

[51:36] and it's, it's step forward for us to show that we are,

[51:40] we're gonna make the effort to be good neighbors.

[51:44] - And having been on that committee for about 10 years,

[51:47] this is the first time I've seen real motivation on,

[51:51] on their part to, to come, come to the table, talk about

[51:55] what can we do jointly and save money for the tax pay.

[51:59] So it's a good thing.

[52:01] Any questions from the Council of Bob

[52:03] before I send it out to Go ahead Andrew.

[52:07] - So Bob on the Knights Pond is the thought that

[52:11] that will be made up of citizens of Cumberland would be on

[52:15] that committee, not not being just, you know, made up of Oh,

[52:20] citizens of Cumberland North, I should say,

[52:22] and not just members of the town council

[52:24] and the select board for I Pond specifically? Yes.

[52:28] - Land conservation, the land trust, somebody, those type

[52:31] of people that better understand those things.

[52:37] - All this is public hearing.

[52:39] Anybody from the public wanna be heard on this bill?

[52:43] - CCI. - Gotcha.

[52:50] - Bill Young Hedgerow Cumberland,

[52:51] north Army Taxpayers Group.

[52:53] We are just giggly

[52:55] that you guys are finally getting together

[52:57] and doing something good and we are a hundred

[52:59] percent behind you on this. So I'll say that. Thank you.

[53:01] - Thank you Bill.

[53:10] - John Jensenius, chair

[53:12] of the Recreational Trails subcommittee

[53:14] and Vice chair lens and Conservation.

[53:16] I know in some of the emails that are in your packet,

[53:19] it talks about involving North yarm,

[53:22] north Yarmouth parks

[53:24] and the Recreational Trails subcommittee.

[53:26] I think it's important to recognize

[53:28] that it's more than just trails.

[53:30] It's important to have the Lands

[53:32] and Conservation Commission very involved in this as well.

[53:36] And the other point that I wanna make is,

[53:38] I think it's important to identify funding for projects so

[53:42] that when we get to a point where we have something

[53:44] that we'd like to do, that we have either have the funding

[53:49] or have a path to get the funding.

[53:51] - Thank you John. Thank you for all you've, you do for us.

[53:58] Anybody else in the public want? Have you heard on this?

[54:01] Bring it back to the council.

[54:06] - I think it's a great idea. I maybe quarterly makes more

[54:10] sense than two to three times a year,

[54:11] but I mean, I'll take it.

[54:17] I like that it would be the entire, the entirety

[54:21] of both bodies and not onesie, twosies here and there.

[54:25] 'cause in my past experience, a lot of

[54:28] what happens at the JFC stays there

[54:30] and that we don't really hear about what happened

[54:32] or, you know, I randomly show up to talk about something

[54:35] and now that there's like a power imbalance

[54:37] and now you have more too many people

[54:39] and we don't have enough people.

[54:40] So both bodies there, everybody understanding

[54:43] what is going on, everyone able to collaborate.

[54:46] I like that a lot better than the way it's been.

[54:49] And also we did just vote both towns

[54:53] and the school board, I think unanimously on creating

[54:56] that additional kind of like mini tricom committee where,

[55:00] you know, two individuals from each body will meet more

[55:03] often, probably maybe monthly.

[55:05] So new stuff happening, glad to see it.

[55:10] And that's all, that's a good idea.

[55:15] - Anything else from the council? Seeing none,

[55:19] I'll entertain a motion.

[55:20] - I can give you one. - Go ahead.

[55:24] - Alrighty. On 26 dash 1 0 6, I moved

[55:27] to reorganize the Cumberland North Yarmouth joint Standing

[55:29] Committee into two separate groups, a Knight Spawn Committee

[55:32] and a joint standing committee consisting

[55:34] of the Cumberland Town Council

[55:36] and North Yarmouth Select Board to meet approximately two

[55:39] to three times annually to discuss collaboration,

[55:41] joint projects, mutual concerns,

[55:43] and other matters of shared interest.

[55:45] - Is there a second? - I give it a second.

[55:49] - Motion is second. Any further discussion from the council?

[55:54] All those in favor?

[55:57] - Thank you. - Item 26

[56:02] dash 1 0 7 to consider

[56:05] and act on appropriating local matching funds

[56:09] to support the preliminary design

[56:12] and engineering of the Casco Bay

[56:15] Trail. Matthew,

[56:20] - Mr.

[56:21] Chairman, as, as this one was tabled at the last time it was

[56:24] on the counsel will need to make a motion

[56:26] to take it off the table this evening as well.

[56:29] Correct.

[56:30] - So there is, this has been tabled.

[56:36] Is there a motion to remove it from the table prior

[56:40] to discussing it? Yes,

[56:43] - I would make that motion.

[56:45] - Go ahead Bob. - I move to take from the table the matter

[56:47] of appropriating local matching funds

[56:49] to support the preliminary design

[56:51] and engineering of the Casco Bay Trail.

[56:53] - Is there a second? A second. Take my bill.

[56:56] All those in favor?

[57:00] All right, it's

[57:04] - All yours.

[57:05] Well, Mr. Chairman th Thank you sir.

[57:09] As, as many who are in this room this evening.

[57:11] Recall we had, I had, well the item was on the agenda

[57:16] back in August

[57:17] and then in September, earlier in September,

[57:20] there was another workshop that was attended by Dakota.

[57:25] Gosh, Hewlett.

[57:27] Hewlett, sorry, from, from MDOT

[57:29] and it was well attended as well.

[57:31] And I thought Dakota did a great job answering a lot

[57:34] of questions and addressing a lot of the issues

[57:36] and concerns that were brought up as well as,

[57:39] I think quite frankly, brought something

[57:41] that hadn't happened to this point,

[57:44] at least the full exposure that it had.

[57:46] And Dakota was there and spent as much time, almost as,

[57:48] as was needed that evening.

[57:50] But a lot of what you have on this evening is

[57:53] as the secondary

[57:54] or the follow-up to that, that was referenced at the end of

[57:58] that last meeting that this would come back to the council.

[58:01] So this is part of a,

[58:06] A local match that's been asked for by the state

[58:08] or the main DOT.

[58:09] They've currently allocated about $600,000

[58:12] to do the planning and design work

[58:14] or engineering for this project.

[58:17] And it's, it's preliminary design

[58:21] and then it's reached out to four different towns.

[58:24] It would be the town of Cumberland, north, Yarmouth,

[58:27] Yarmouth, and Falmouth.

[58:29] Actually, I think the, actually I think Portland's involved,

[58:31] north Yarmouth isn't involved at that aspect yet.

[58:34] 'cause they're, they're above, they're

[58:35] above the section that's being considered.

[58:36] So apologize for that. But there's a 10% match.

[58:40] So if there's 600,000 that the state has to kick in as part

[58:43] of the federal requirement, they, they require

[58:46] that there's a 10% match that the towns

[58:48] who are involved with this put in.

[58:50] Dakota did address one question

[58:52] that was brought up at that meeting.

[58:53] There's another section, I think it's the mountain division

[58:55] segment that's over like the brown, brown field section,

[59:00] brown field of, of the state.

[59:01] And they, they're not requiring that that match up there.

[59:07] He explained the reasoning why the state felt

[59:10] that they didn't have that.

[59:11] And it was, it basically came down to ability to, to spend,

[59:15] quite frankly, and they're in a different economic situation

[59:18] than the towns that are down

[59:19] here that they'd asked that for.

[59:20] And that was, was, that was why the DOT took that approach.

[59:25] Now the, while construction funding for the project has not

[59:28] yet been identified

[59:29] or committed, the town does know

[59:32] that there are additional future phases

[59:34] that may also require a future match That's to be determined

[59:38] through the whole preliminary design work.

[59:42] So ultimately what what this does is well, is looking

[59:46] to do the preliminary design work for the Ca Bay Trail,

[59:48] which is a, a multi community off road shared use pathway

[59:52] that will ultimately connect the communities

[59:54] between the greater Portland region beginning in Portland

[59:58] where, or where the, you know,

[1:00:00] the retired Trestle bridge is off the eastern prom

[1:00:04] connecting all the way through, up to, up into Yarmouth.

[1:00:07] So it does run through that on a, on a rail bed

[1:00:10] that quite frankly the state owns and,

[1:00:13] and it has not their,

[1:00:17] their approach from the RU act, which is this rail

[1:00:20] use authority commission.

[1:00:22] I believe there's a lot of, when you do these types

[1:00:24] of things, there's a lot of na a lot

[1:00:26] of acronyms as you can observe.

[1:00:28] But they had a recommendation that came from

[1:00:30] that committee was trail until rail.

[1:00:34] So what they're looking now at is that the trail,

[1:00:37] the trail component of it.

[1:00:40] So what they're looking to do is have the town commit up

[1:00:43] to $12,000 as their portion of this.

[1:00:46] That was going to be, actually there was four towns

[1:00:49] that were, that were in it.

[1:00:50] It was originally gonna be $15,000.

[1:00:52] But there's also

[1:00:57] Bill, you could tell me that ca Caco Bay Trail,

[1:01:00] thank the Caco Bay Trail Group also donated $12,000 to this.

[1:01:04] And sorry, I'm just trying to keep all the,

[1:01:07] all the players on the chess board accurate here.

[1:01:09] But they c they also committed $12,000

[1:01:11] to offset the local match from

[1:01:14] through volunteer efforts and their cash.

[1:01:17] So ultimately this would be the playing

[1:01:21] and design work where a lot of the issues

[1:01:22] that have been discussed will get the opportunity to be,

[1:01:26] to be looked at further.

[1:01:28] It does get the town involved in the conversation.

[1:01:33] There may be some difference of opinion regarding that,

[1:01:35] but quite frankly, if we're not involved with the planning

[1:01:38] and design work, it's awful hard to represent the interests

[1:01:40] of the town and others who may

[1:01:42] or may not be in favor or opposed to it.

[1:01:44] But it does get us into the room.

[1:01:46] But it does not commit the town

[1:01:48] to any future financial obligations beyond anything

[1:01:53] that could have to be separately

[1:01:54] and subsequently approved by the town.

[1:01:56] So it doesn't, you're free 12 grand.

[1:01:58] You're not buying the atten the potential

[1:02:00] for hundreds of thousands in the future.

[1:02:03] That question is yet to be answered.

[1:02:04] But if you don't do the preliminary design work,

[1:02:06] you're gonna have a hard time finding out

[1:02:08] how much you're actually gonna have to spend

[1:02:11] or what the cost of the project's gonna be.

[1:02:14] So that's, that's the step that they're at now.

[1:02:16] And I think, let's see,

[1:02:20] right now the participating municipalities have proposed

[1:02:23] sharing the required local match equally.

[1:02:25] And I've got over that and I think

[1:02:27] I've said about enough, Mr. Chairman. So

[1:02:29] - That's good. Thanks

[1:02:30] - Matt.

[1:02:31] Sorry it was a long-winded way

[1:02:31] to get there, but that's where we're at. Anybody

[1:02:33] - From the council have any questions of Matt

[1:02:35] before I turn it over to the public?

[1:02:38] - I have one question and I should have looked at the packet

[1:02:41] better and asked you this.

[1:02:44] Not right now, but I was

[1:02:48] anticipating seeing a more official document, like

[1:02:52] with some warehouses and stuff that we would agree to.

[1:02:55] I just see the memo and then like the flash vote,

[1:02:59] are we going to be doing something more official,

[1:03:01] like since it's,

[1:03:02] - Well there's a - Finances or,

[1:03:04] - Yeah, no, thank, thank you for the question.

[1:03:06] S Morgan? I think there is

[1:03:09] and there's, there's a couple

[1:03:10] different instruments that are out there.

[1:03:12] Okay. There's one, there's like a,

[1:03:15] I wanna say a local advisory group that would be,

[1:03:17] that's being formed between the different towns

[1:03:19] to look at this on the go forward for different,

[1:03:22] like thinking out like how are you gonna maintain it?

[1:03:25] Rules that you're gonna have different areas

[1:03:27] of collaboration between the towns to make sure that they,

[1:03:30] they can find some consensus.

[1:03:32] That's one area that's there.

[1:03:34] Ultimately this part here is, I mean the state just needs

[1:03:36] to know if the town's gonna commit the $12,000

[1:03:39] and then there's other areas that you could look at

[1:03:41] for collaboration with other towns when it comes

[1:03:43] to the management of that.

[1:03:44] And that's kind of a longer term

[1:03:47] item where it comes to this. Okay.

[1:03:49] - I just meant as far as us agreeing to give them some cash,

[1:03:53] whether or not we need that in a more formal sort of

[1:03:57] agreement or

[1:03:58] - Document.

[1:03:59] I, I haven't had anything really provided from the state.

[1:04:01] Okay. That that's it.

[1:04:02] But ultimately it's, it's, it's, it's similar to when we,

[1:04:06] like when we just did route 100 work with that, that was,

[1:04:11] that was an MPI project, whereas we just, you know,

[1:04:15] our local share was like 50% of that.

[1:04:19] So we got like a $1.4 million project for 700 grand

[1:04:22] and that's just how some of those are set up. Okay.

[1:04:25] - So as long as it's good then. Yeah. Seems legit.

[1:04:30] - Anybody have any more questions of Matt? Go ahead.

[1:04:34] - We are doing a, a study

[1:04:36] or engineering work for the reconstruction of Greeley Road

[1:04:40] and there is cost associated with that.

[1:04:45] This is a little different.

[1:04:47] Would it be appropriate if the council moves forward

[1:04:50] with a endorsement tonight to make that subject to a review

[1:04:55] of a document of some sort?

[1:04:58] Or was it It would be

[1:05:02] Green Road's a little different.

[1:05:04] It's a town, it's, we're the only entity involved with it,

[1:05:08] but whereas this is multiple entities,

[1:05:10] would it be appropriate for us to say

[1:05:13] our endorsement is subject to the review of something?

[1:05:22] - Well, - May, may I jump in on that?

[1:05:25] - I, I would love it if you would Councilor Foley.

[1:05:28] - I, I'd say I, I, I get where you're going, Bob.

[1:05:31] I think for the amount of money.

[1:05:32] That's quite a bit of a, that's a,

[1:05:34] I understand we want accountability,

[1:05:37] but I do think that's a, an administrative burden, right?

[1:05:39] That I think we can trust the town staff to look at

[1:05:42] that agreement and figure it out.

[1:05:45] If we did that for Route 100 for substantially more cash, I,

[1:05:50] I think, I think we can work through this one.

[1:05:52] I think that was the answer. I was, and trust the

[1:05:54] town manager to do that.

[1:05:56] - I think that was the answer I was looking for.

[1:05:58] - Thank you Councilor Fett.

[1:06:00] - Any more questions from the council?

[1:06:03] Alright, this is a public hearing we would ask you come up.

[1:06:08] There's a lot of people in the room.

[1:06:09] Just keep that in mind when you make any comments, you have

[1:06:11] to, you're allowed up to five minutes.

[1:06:13] We want to hear from you, but just keep in mind there's a

[1:06:15] pile of people behind you.

[1:06:17] So anyway, somebody step up. Come on up. Phil.

[1:06:23] - Yeah, - Patty.

[1:06:27] I'm Phil Gleason, longtime Cumberland resident

[1:06:30] and I'm also affiliated

[1:06:33] with the Casco Bay Trail Alliance group, which is sort of

[1:06:37] working to move this trail forward

[1:06:40] with the municipalities involved.

[1:06:43] I think it's important to emphasize that and,

[1:06:45] and I think this has already been said by Matt,

[1:06:47] but it's worth saying again that the only issue

[1:06:51] on the table tonight is writing a check

[1:06:55] for 12 grand to participate in the design

[1:06:58] and planning of the trail,

[1:07:01] assuming the trail ultimately goes forward.

[1:07:03] There will be multiple steps after that,

[1:07:07] but I think it's important

[1:07:11] that the town be involved at an early stage.

[1:07:16] The, you know, the phrase

[1:07:17] that we use is we want a seat at the table.

[1:07:19] It doesn't, writing, writing a check for 12 grand to get

[1:07:23] that seat at the table commits us to nothing further.

[1:07:28] And I think that's often misunderstood,

[1:07:30] although you've probably heard me say that enough so that

[1:07:35] you, you get it at this point, you know

[1:07:38] what happens down the road.

[1:07:40] I, this project is not gonna get built

[1:07:43] and construction will not start

[1:07:45] for at least a couple of years.

[1:07:47] So it's a long way off. I'm 78 years old.

[1:07:50] I hope I get to ride on this trail,

[1:07:52] but I think it's gonna be a close call.

[1:07:55] So I, I don't have anything more to say than that.

[1:07:58] I'm here to answer your questions

[1:08:01] and if any members of the public have questions,

[1:08:03] I'll do my best to respond to those as well.

[1:08:06] - Thank you Phil, and thank you for what you've done

[1:08:08] for the town currently and in the past.

[1:08:11] Anybody else, step up, please introduce

[1:08:16] - Yourself.And,

[1:08:23] Hi, I'm David Brink, also of Cumberland

[1:08:26] and as we, you were speaking

[1:08:28] before, working with your neighbors, your towns

[1:08:30] of North Yarmouth, et cetera, to the schooling

[1:08:35] and also the trails up at the ponds and whatnot.

[1:08:41] Portland is on board with this.

[1:08:43] Fath is on board with this

[1:08:45] and Yarmouth is on board with this

[1:08:48] and it makes total sense to work with our

[1:08:53] neighbors to just get a peek at

[1:08:55] this to see what it's gonna be.

[1:08:57] And if we don't get a peek at this

[1:09:00] and we'll have more opportunity to design this if we

[1:09:04] start now rather than wait later.

[1:09:07] It's, I think it's a very small price to pay for

[1:09:11] what the potential of this can be.

[1:09:13] Thank you. Thank you David. Anybody else? Please?

[1:09:20] - Good evening. I'm Mark Isaacson,

[1:09:22] 30 year resident in Cumberland.

[1:09:25] Urge you to go forward with this.

[1:09:27] Been a long time cyclist since I was a boy

[1:09:32] and I think it's important that Cumberland

[1:09:36] have an opportunity to participate in this design

[1:09:39] and one of my great concerns is the prevalence

[1:09:43] and ever increasing velocity of e-bikes

[1:09:47] and it's important that Cumberland have a voice in

[1:09:51] how this thing gets used and make sure that it's safe

[1:09:54] and that it doesn't turn into a motorcycle trail frankly.

[1:09:59] So I urge you to support this and have a seat at that table.

[1:10:02] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:10:06] - Somebody else?

[1:10:15] - Hi, my name is Lucia Stanoff.

[1:10:17] I'm a resident of Cumberland.

[1:10:18] I've been here about 13 years on Tuttle Road.

[1:10:21] I'm also executive director of the Gear Hub.

[1:10:23] And I just wanted to speak today that opening the door

[1:10:26] to this trail is about more than just recreation,

[1:10:30] it's also about transportation.

[1:10:32] As somebody who has firsthand experience working with people

[1:10:34] who can't afford cars or looking to get around,

[1:10:37] opening the door to this design would also allow us

[1:10:40] to open the door to people in Cumberland

[1:10:42] and other towns who might have difficulty

[1:10:45] navigating the roads by bicycle

[1:10:48] and might want a safer way to get from town to town.

[1:10:52] As a kid, I lived in affordable housing.

[1:10:54] My job was in Falmouth, I lived in Yarmouth

[1:10:57] and I had to drive, I had to figure out a way to get a car.

[1:11:00] It was really hard. A lot of high schoolers on the road.

[1:11:03] Bicycling is a lot safer opportunity for people

[1:11:05] to get from place to place.

[1:11:07] And I think that if we can look at this trail design like

[1:11:11] has already been said about opening the door, I just wanted

[1:11:14] to remind everyone we're opening the door

[1:11:16] to more than just recreation with this trail.

[1:11:18] We're opening the door to cleaner air

[1:11:20] and we're opening the door to transportation

[1:11:23] and reaching those who who need it.

[1:11:25] So thank you for considering it

[1:11:26] and I urge you to vote to open that door.

[1:11:30] - Thank you.

[1:11:39] - Hi, good evening. Brian Allenby

[1:11:41] up on live Up on Main Street.

[1:11:43] Thanks for taking this under consideration.

[1:11:45] I'm here to urge you to vote

[1:11:46] to take part in the planning process as well.

[1:11:49] Two quick points to make.

[1:11:51] Over the past few weeks, David and, and a few other folks

[1:11:54] and I have organized

[1:11:56] and reached out to a number of residents

[1:11:58] and we have over $3,500 in private commitments.

[1:12:01] This is above and

[1:12:02] beyond anything the Casco Bay Association has been doing.

[1:12:05] Folks saying, I'll give 50 bucks, a hundred bucks

[1:12:06] because they believe in this

[1:12:08] and they want this for their town.

[1:12:09] So it's over 30 residents, $3,500.

[1:12:12] I think even with a little more time,

[1:12:13] if we needed it, we could get there.

[1:12:14] So I think it's important to, to understand

[1:12:17] that there are folks in this town that believe it enough

[1:12:19] that even if the town weren't to fund it, they would pay

[1:12:22] for it out of their own pocket, which

[1:12:23] hopefully won't be necessary.

[1:12:26] Second point, this, this has stirred up.

[1:12:29] I it feels a lot like the conversation we had

[1:12:31] around Harris Road not that long ago.

[1:12:33] And so I was looking back through the, the newspapers

[1:12:36] and looking back through some of the coverage

[1:12:37] and there was a quote from a town counselor as,

[1:12:41] as we were going through all those proceedings

[1:12:44] and she said the road connection would help improve

[1:12:46] connectivity and one of the comprehensive plans goals is

[1:12:49] to reduce the town's number of dead end roads.

[1:12:51] She thought, hey, that sounds a lot like this, right?

[1:12:53] We're we're increasing comp connectivity for the town

[1:12:56] and we're really trying to look at the, the town's comp plan

[1:12:58] and and how to, how to factor that in, right?

[1:13:02] And how to make decisions based on those things.

[1:13:04] And you know, I know there, as with Harris Road, there was,

[1:13:08] you know, folks and I see some of the folks in the room here

[1:13:10] who were impacted by that decision.

[1:13:12] And so there, there are always some folks

[1:13:14] who are gonna be more impacted than others,

[1:13:15] but that counselor saw fit to kind of put, put the goods

[1:13:19] of the, the needs of the many ahead

[1:13:21] of the needs of the one, right?

[1:13:22] And so I think it's important to remember

[1:13:24] that in, in this case as well.

[1:13:27] And I am sorry 'cause I don't think Shirley is here,

[1:13:30] but that was Shirley's quote,

[1:13:31] so I thought we could ask her about that too. Thank you.

[1:13:35] - Thank you. Anybody else?

[1:13:40] - Okay.

[1:13:45] - Again, Chrisia Griller Road, as I stated

[1:13:49] before, this trail is gonna happen whether you're,

[1:13:53] it's the seat of the table or not, it isn't a lot of money.

[1:13:56] No money's money though.

[1:13:59] So I'd almost say before this

[1:14:04] and, and and before it to, to be at the seat of the table

[1:14:07] and to say, okay, we do want to have access to it.

[1:14:09] Where is Cumberland's access gonna be and,

[1:14:12] and how do we get to it?

[1:14:15] Lee mentioned e-bikes.

[1:14:17] Well I, I drive for a living,

[1:14:19] I see e-bikes all over the place,

[1:14:21] so this would be a connector for people to run e-bikes

[1:14:27] down the road and be able to pull 'em back and forth.

[1:14:30] It would give them access

[1:14:31] and get them off the road As I drive for a living,

[1:14:35] a a big tri wheeler, it's the bikes are you, you pull up

[1:14:39] and you get scared to make sure you can get around them and

[1:14:42] and give them enough space.

[1:14:44] So this would be a good connector for that.

[1:14:47] So I just wanted to say that. So

[1:14:50] - Thanks Chris.

[1:14:53] Anybody else?

[1:15:00] - Good evening counselors. I'm here.

[1:15:02] David Tulip, my daughter lives at Hillcrest

[1:15:05] Drive with her fiance.

[1:15:07] She's an adaptive rider, drives all

[1:15:10] around Cumberland on a recumbent bike

[1:15:12] and having that dedicated trail would be

[1:15:15] fabulous for her and her fiance. Thank

[1:15:16] - You.

[1:15:17] Thank you.

[1:15:23] - Ah, I'm Jonathan Lab on two 70 Main Street and I've spoken

[1:15:28] before in support of this

[1:15:29] and I'm, I'm here again just to urge you to commit the funds

[1:15:33] and get us involved in this, in this study.

[1:15:35] There's, I understand there's a lot of issues,

[1:15:37] but it's a huge opportunity.

[1:15:38] It's a really exciting opportunity for those of us

[1:15:40] who love the trails and bike and commute by bike.

[1:15:44] And so would love to see us be part of this

[1:15:47] and understand the design

[1:15:50] and figure out how to address some

[1:15:51] of the concerns that are out there.

[1:15:52] But see this as just a huge community building opportunity

[1:15:56] for us and we're excited about it.

[1:15:57] So hope you vote for it. Thank you.

[1:15:59] - Thank you Jonathan.

[1:16:04] - Jonathan Hos from Cumberland.

[1:16:05] I just want to let you know that my wife

[1:16:07] and I have found rail trails in our late sixties

[1:16:10] and absolutely love them.

[1:16:12] We have been to Cape Cod, we've been

[1:16:13] to Montreal, we've been to Vermont.

[1:16:15] And it is a wonderful way of developing community

[1:16:18] for the times that you're on the trail.

[1:16:21] You meet people from all parts of the world,

[1:16:23] you have conversations.

[1:16:25] The economic boost is unbelievable as people stop

[1:16:28] to get lunch somewhere or a cup of coffee.

[1:16:31] And I just think as far as in this day

[1:16:34] and age of, of divisiveness

[1:16:36] and meanness, that this is an opportunity

[1:16:38] to meld communities together.

[1:16:41] - Thank you very much. Anybody

[1:16:45] else please

[1:16:52] - Eli Wilson Range Road.

[1:16:53] I'd like to second what I heard from so many people.

[1:16:56] As somebody who bike commutes,

[1:16:58] I really would appreciate having a designated area

[1:17:02] that isn't next to cars.

[1:17:03] That's fantastic, but even more so what I wanna speak to is

[1:17:07] I've got two young kids

[1:17:09] and it would be great to have a place

[1:17:10] where I felt safe to bring them.

[1:17:12] And I know they will be old enough by the time this is built

[1:17:14] that it might not be for them, but,

[1:17:16] but like it would be nice to have a place

[1:17:18] where you feel comfortable to take kids, to learn to bike.

[1:17:22] That's a long stretch. It's not just going around the,

[1:17:25] you know, the school like parking lots or whatever.

[1:17:30] So for, for that reason, I, I think it's, you know,

[1:17:34] one more, one more reason.

[1:17:35] - Thank you. Please.

[1:17:40] - Hi, my name's Tiffany Townsend. I live on Middle Road.

[1:17:42] I'm in butter to the, the trail rail.

[1:17:44] And first I wanna say that I am

[1:17:48] hugely in support of this.

[1:17:51] I was here a couple of weeks ago

[1:17:52] or months ago when Dakota was here

[1:17:54] and a couple other questions came up

[1:17:58] and one of them is

[1:18:01] that I have heard tonight

[1:18:03] that there will be a seat at the table.

[1:18:05] I have also heard some of my neighbors say that

[1:18:07] that is a lie, that we won't have a seat

[1:18:09] at any sort of table.

[1:18:10] And so I'm hoping that maybe

[1:18:12] that could be addressed in your convers in

[1:18:14] your discussion tonight.

[1:18:15] I don't know what $12,000 gets us other than, you know,

[1:18:20] we're saying that yes, as a community we support this,

[1:18:23] but I'd like to know exactly what a seat at the table means

[1:18:27] if, if that's possible to hear from.

[1:18:33] I also would like to know,

[1:18:34] and I don't expect this to be done tonight,

[1:18:36] but I'm seeing the questions here for the record.

[1:18:40] I'm curious if there are any reliable studies

[1:18:42] that are out there that showing that an abutters property

[1:18:46] to a rail trail either enhances

[1:18:49] or detracts from property values.

[1:18:51] I have not heard anything about that conversation

[1:18:53] and a quick search on my own.

[1:18:56] I have not been able to find anything of that.

[1:18:59] Secondly, my, or my next question is, there's quite a bit

[1:19:03] of noise on 2 95 when I sit in my backyard.

[1:19:06] It's a white noise humming in the background.

[1:19:09] And so I'm hopeful that if we do get a voice in

[1:19:12] what this project looks like, will there be a noise study?

[1:19:15] Because it would be a, a terrible disservice

[1:19:18] to have this project go through all this money be spent

[1:19:22] and two people can't walk along this trail

[1:19:24] and have a conversation

[1:19:25] because the noise from the traffic is so loud,

[1:19:28] probably not an issue with the commuters as their, you know,

[1:19:31] maybe ear budding or something of that nature.

[1:19:33] But for the, the casual family or

[1:19:36] or community member to walk on this trail,

[1:19:39] that could be a significant component.

[1:19:41] Thanks so much for your time.

[1:19:42] - Thank you. Anybody else

[1:19:47] before we bring it back to the council?

[1:19:52] Seeing none, I'll open it up please.

[1:20:03] - Hi, Craig Wener on Labrador Lane in Cumberland.

[1:20:06] The other part that I think is important about the $12,000

[1:20:09] funding to get to be part of the community,

[1:20:12] the planning project is I know that, you know,

[1:20:15] we've talked a lot about re regionalization and cost sharing

[1:20:19] and sort of thoughtful planning with our neighbor partners,

[1:20:22] whether it be through, you know, mass purchasing

[1:20:25] or something like that with the inherent costs

[1:20:28] that will come necessarily for planning this.

[1:20:31] And we're planning for future costs efforts.

[1:20:33] It's actually built, it would be great

[1:20:35] to be part of those discussions.

[1:20:36] So it's a thoughtful process that involves everybody

[1:20:39] because I, I, I personally, without knowing for sure,

[1:20:42] think it's going to end up happening

[1:20:44] 'cause it's happening on property

[1:20:45] that we don't necessarily control.

[1:20:47] But if we're part of the organization

[1:20:49] that actually strategically decides how

[1:20:51] to fund it moving forward, like people are, you know,

[1:20:54] raising funds privately, now there's an opportunity to

[1:20:57] for you all or whoever gets

[1:20:58] designated to be part of that process.

[1:21:00] So again, the focus on regionalization I think is

[1:21:03] where we get cost savings over time. So thank you.

[1:21:06] - Thanks Greg. Anybody else in the

[1:21:11] public please?

[1:21:12] John?

[1:21:20] - John 10 44 Laurel Lane. Speaking for myself this time.

[1:21:26] I just wanted to say,

[1:21:27] I know Tiffany touched upon this talking about people

[1:21:30] walking on the trails,

[1:21:31] but the all we've heard tonight is about bikers.

[1:21:35] I think this is, this is stated as a multi-use trail.

[1:21:39] I myself have run over a hundred miles

[1:21:42] this year on rail trails south of Portland.

[1:21:46] I would appreciate having one closer by that.

[1:21:48] I didn't have to drive so far to,

[1:21:51] but while I'm running I see lots of people, I see bikers,

[1:21:55] I see walkers, I see runners.

[1:21:57] And I think it's important to realize that there are a lot

[1:22:00] of people including bikers that would be using this trail.

[1:22:04] - Thanks Sean. All right,

[1:22:18] - Super - Quick.

[1:22:20] Lala Caruthers from Main Street in Cumberland

[1:22:22] and I coach Nordic skiing

[1:22:24] and with our, we hope it's not a shortened snow season this

[1:22:27] year, but before the season starts it's really nice

[1:22:31] to have a place to go roller skiing or running

[1:22:35] or whatever that doesn't include a parking lot,

[1:22:37] which can be a little bit scary,

[1:22:39] especially at the middle school level.

[1:22:40] So just throwing that out there too. Thank you.

[1:22:43] - Thank you - Bill.

[1:22:59] So

[1:23:01] - I'm all for the planning part of this.

[1:23:04] I think the $12,000 will be well spent.

[1:23:08] What I'm hearing though is that we're going forward

[1:23:11] and I wasn't gonna say anything

[1:23:12] 'cause I'm all for the planning part of it,

[1:23:14] but you know, I also kind of belong to that tax group

[1:23:18] and so I wanna read you a couple of things.

[1:23:21] Not a great public speaker.

[1:23:23] So I wrote it down,

[1:23:24] so I'm gonna throw a blanket on this just for a second.

[1:23:28] So first the school came out with something today,

[1:23:30] so I'll read this first budget preview.

[1:23:33] I've anticipated expenses associated with the shift

[1:23:36] to new grade spans in 27 28.

[1:23:39] It may feel like it's a bit early

[1:23:41] to be talking about the district's budget a year in advance,

[1:23:45] but with the upcoming opening

[1:23:47] of the new Carol F. Small school

[1:23:49] and one campus shift in grade levels, I'm starting

[1:23:51] to bring information to the board while in advance

[1:23:54] of the typical budget season.

[1:23:56] Much of the anticipated budgetary implications in 27 28

[1:24:00] includes staffing increases for the new school, building

[1:24:03] a new state law, shifting special education services

[1:24:06] for three or four year olds to local schools.

[1:24:10] Continuing staffing additions to meet increases

[1:24:13] in student enrollment, debt service on the new building,

[1:24:16] estimated utility costs and expense reductions.

[1:24:20] Woo, after the modular classrooms are

[1:24:22] removed, that came out today.

[1:24:25] All right,

[1:24:31] Now some of you don't read Facebook,

[1:24:34] but I wrote something this past week.

[1:24:39] Voters in the SAD 51 district voted in a school bond

[1:24:43] of 53.5 million,

[1:24:44] which included the new school turf field and maintenance building.

[1:24:48] Soon the board will be locking in the bond rate, likely be

[1:24:52] anywhere between four and 5%.

[1:24:54] It came in at the estimated 4%.

[1:24:56] Were well over 5% on a double a bond right now.

[1:25:02] And this will last for 30 years

[1:25:03] unless they're able to shorten the term

[1:25:05] with larger, more frequent payments.

[1:25:07] We did a new school, we voted on it

[1:25:09] and now we are going to pay for it

[1:25:10] with no help from anyone in government.

[1:25:12] Just the residents of which 60%

[1:25:15] have no children in the school system.

[1:25:18] Recently, my wife and I were in Ellsworth

[1:25:20] on our way home from Upta camp

[1:25:23] and stopped in to see an exhibit of 12 main mighty girls

[1:25:27] who had great influence.

[1:25:28] The exhibit was called 12 Main Women Portraits

[1:25:31] of Change sponsored by the Francis Perkins Center.

[1:25:34] One of them was Sherry Mitchell, she's a lawyer,

[1:25:37] an indigenous and human rights advocate.

[1:25:39] Each woman had a quote

[1:25:40] and her quote kind of struck me,

[1:25:43] of course it was about the course

[1:25:44] that we are taking in these two towns in regards to

[1:25:47] how taxes are putting a major bur

[1:25:48] major burden on many folks.

[1:25:51] Her quote, please listen carefully, I had

[1:25:54] to read it a number of times, rights

[1:25:57] and responsibilities cannot be separated.

[1:25:59] Every right we stand upon must be balanced by a set

[1:26:03] of corresponding responsibilities.

[1:26:05] We cannot legitimately make a demand

[1:26:08] unless we are willing to take responsibility

[1:26:10] for creating a world where that demand can be met.

[1:26:14] Can that demand be met by the seniors in this town

[1:26:17] and the other people that are struggling?

[1:26:19] We all know, right?

[1:26:21] So as we go forward this year

[1:26:23] and into budget season, we hope that when you go

[1:26:25] to vote on any budget item, you realize how

[1:26:27] that vote will affect the community.

[1:26:29] No doubt these are strange times,

[1:26:31] but it's how we deal with all the needs of our community

[1:26:34] that will make it sustainable for all.

[1:26:37] Education is a right,

[1:26:38] but so is being able to stay in a home you built

[1:26:41] and lived in all these years as you age.

[1:26:43] You shouldn't have to decide between heat and food

[1:26:46] or losing your home for escalating taxes.

[1:26:48] The responsibility of having a great community relies on

[1:26:51] your understanding of the consequences

[1:26:53] of your vote wants versus needs, demands and responsibility.

[1:26:58] Please give that some thought. Thank you.

[1:27:01] - Thank you Bill. Anybody else

[1:27:06] before we close the public hearing portion of this?

[1:27:12] Okay, I'll bring it back to the council, council discussion.

[1:27:17] Go ahead Andrew. I know you are,

[1:27:23] - I wasn't necessarily preparing to to sure

[1:27:26] - You no, you're no - Say anything.

[1:27:30] So I think the a, a few good points have been brought up

[1:27:34] that we don't own the land, the state is gonna do

[1:27:39] what the state wants to do on it

[1:27:41] and if we want to see about access for Cumberland,

[1:27:45] that we need to be involved in that.

[1:27:48] And I think that there are some potential areas

[1:27:52] that people brought up either, you know, was Paul Road

[1:27:57] or the Bridge looking at those access points.

[1:27:59] But a lot of the questions

[1:28:02] that people have can only be answered by doing the work.

[1:28:06] And if it costs the $12,000 to do that work as part

[1:28:10] of the, the larger effort, then I think that's

[1:28:15] a good thing to get those questions answered.

[1:28:17] The answer to those questions might be no, the answer

[1:28:20] to those questions might be yes,

[1:28:22] but the only way to get them is to actually

[1:28:26] spend the money to get the information that we need.

[1:28:29] - Thank you. - I I just got one question right now,

[1:28:34] but we talked about 8,500

[1:28:36] or we talking about 12,000

[1:28:38] probably ought to make that point clear.

[1:28:41] - I think we talked 12,000. - Okay

[1:28:45] - Bill.

[1:28:48] - So probably no secret then for spending the money

[1:28:52] to do this, you know, to, not

[1:28:56] to belabor the point, but this is an engineering study

[1:28:59] and the process of the engineering study is

[1:29:01] to answer the questions.

[1:29:04] You know, I I am truly respectful of the, the,

[1:29:08] the expenditure bill that was, you know it no, great quote

[1:29:12] and you know, I don't like to see us spend money with no,

[1:29:17] you know, clear path forward.

[1:29:20] But I think this is money well spent.

[1:29:23] I think it will answer a lot of the questions

[1:29:25] that folks on the council have had, right?

[1:29:27] They're all good questions.

[1:29:28] Things that we've worked through in the workshops,

[1:29:32] I think there by being at the table here, right?

[1:29:35] We also know that CMP is looking at upgrades along the

[1:29:39] corridor, right?

[1:29:40] This is a way to engage

[1:29:43] and maybe consider, you know, how we do those,

[1:29:46] those CMP upgrades, right?

[1:29:47] That will impact those abutters there

[1:29:50] and maybe incorporate that with some

[1:29:52] of the work on the rail trail, right?

[1:29:53] But if we don't, if we're not participating as part of that,

[1:29:58] we don't necessarily have that voice again, right?

[1:30:03] You know, there's, there's lots of good comments.

[1:30:05] I agree it can be noisy down there,

[1:30:09] but that doesn't seem to stop people from

[1:30:11] using trails like that, right?

[1:30:12] Depending on where you go,

[1:30:13] you people still use those trails regardless, you know,

[1:30:16] they can think of places in DC or,

[1:30:19] or other areas where they're pretty noisy trails

[1:30:21] and people still use 'em every day.

[1:30:23] But it's a great comment, right?

[1:30:25] It's something to be considered again, state owned land,

[1:30:29] right in, in the world of impacts.

[1:30:32] You know, I I do, I I heard the folks down on

[1:30:37] Middle Road, I can, many of those people I've known

[1:30:40] for many years consider some of them friends.

[1:30:43] So I don't take making a decision, you know,

[1:30:46] to support this slightly,

[1:30:48] but will do, do know that the closest residents to the right

[1:30:51] of way is 250 feet.

[1:30:54] So I wish I had a 250 foot backyard, but I do not.

[1:30:58] So, but I do understand their concerns and I

[1:31:01] or have heard their concerns.

[1:31:05] I do think this provides an alternate path

[1:31:09] for folks Trent to recreate.

[1:31:13] I had the opportunity to ride the new section

[1:31:15] of the East Coast Greenway from South Portland down

[1:31:19] to Bedford the other day.

[1:31:21] It's great the new bridge is in there

[1:31:22] and I, it is a great asset for folks walking, biking,

[1:31:28] people walking their kids, walking their dog out there.

[1:31:31] It is just right.

[1:31:32] It's, it's a real component of the communities.

[1:31:37] And what I always find on there is

[1:31:39] that the people on those trails are very respectful

[1:31:42] of Abutters and of others.

[1:31:44] And they, they do, they appreciate the activities there

[1:31:47] and they appreciate the use of the, the, the trail.

[1:31:52] I will say that for in my short time on the council,

[1:31:56] I think the majority of the emails that have come

[1:31:58] through on the short time of my council, on the council

[1:32:01] are for support of this.

[1:32:02] I, it's got to be 20 to one.

[1:32:04] I didn't do the math, but it's, it's at least in

[1:32:07] that neighborhood, I appreciate the fact

[1:32:11] that folks went out

[1:32:13] and kind of put their money where their mouth lay

[1:32:14] and you know, pledge to support this.

[1:32:18] If that's really the issue.

[1:32:20] I, I don't think that's the way we should go,

[1:32:23] but I think it's a show of support.

[1:32:25] And then I'll also go back to the fact that, you know,

[1:32:28] both on the, the flash vote and the comp plan, right?

[1:32:32] This has been something that as everybody has talked about

[1:32:36] and wanted to, or not everybody

[1:32:38] but a large proportion, the majority

[1:32:40] of the folks in town have

[1:32:42] that participated in these surveys supported to me.

[1:32:47] You know, when I see that, I see what comes out,

[1:32:50] what's come out of the comp plan, the flash vote survey

[1:32:53] and the level of support that we've seen from the public.

[1:32:57] I think it's pretty hard as a council

[1:32:59] for us not to approve this.

[1:33:01] But that's my view of the world.

[1:33:03] - Great, thanks Phil. Thanks. - Go ahead

[1:33:06] - Willie me.

[1:33:07] Okay. I'm glad that Phil brought up what this is

[1:33:12] and what it isn't

[1:33:14] and I'll clarify again, this is only

[1:33:17] $12,000 for design study.

[1:33:19] It is not an endorsement

[1:33:21] or signing on of the interlocal agreement.

[1:33:23] It is not agreeing to trail construction

[1:33:27] because some of the emails we did receive

[1:33:30] made it sound like this was an endorsement of the project

[1:33:34] and signaling that we

[1:33:35] were going to be going forward with it.

[1:33:36] And that's not what this is.

[1:33:38] So just making sure that we're all clear on that.

[1:33:41] I think we are at this point. This doesn't

[1:33:46] buy us a seat at the table.

[1:33:48] I know that wording has been passed around.

[1:33:52] I know Dakota cleared that up.

[1:33:54] For us, it does allow us to be involved in the design study

[1:33:59] and for me, the main reason I would want to be involved is

[1:34:02] to ensure that Cumberland residents have access to this

[1:34:05] proposed trail in Cumberland

[1:34:07] or else what really is the benefit if

[1:34:10] there's no access for residents.

[1:34:11] 'cause there certainly isn't going to be an economic boost

[1:34:13] for Cumberland unless you're going to foresight,

[1:34:15] outdoor power and then like take in a

[1:34:17] snowblower with you down the trail.

[1:34:18] There really isn't anything that we'll see from that

[1:34:22] on the economic side of things.

[1:34:24] And it's,

[1:34:29] there's, this is the first step

[1:34:31] and for me, I do support doing the $12,000 initially just

[1:34:36] to ensure that we have access,

[1:34:37] but seat at the table as far as decision making.

[1:34:40] To me that is something that comes later.

[1:34:43] If you agree to the interlocal agreement

[1:34:45] and are a member of that board

[1:34:46] and that decision making body, if you choose

[1:34:48] to join the agreement, which it's not mandatory

[1:34:51] towns can go it alone, but that's kind

[1:34:53] of putting the cart before the horse.

[1:34:55] But just since people are kind

[1:34:57] of pairing these two things together, it is not a done deal.

[1:35:01] The design study is just the first step.

[1:35:02] It's going to be years before anything is ever done on it.

[1:35:07] If it even is. There's a lot of things in flux

[1:35:10] and I don't necessarily trust that

[1:35:14] the government's gonna come give us money

[1:35:16] for this funding may fall through.

[1:35:17] We may be on the hook for over a million dollars a mile

[1:35:21] on the town side of things.

[1:35:23] So first steps first is doing this.

[1:35:26] I think if people wanna donate, feel free to.

[1:35:30] I am not basing my decision on that

[1:35:34] we should approve something

[1:35:36] because we think it's the right thing to do, not

[1:35:39] because the community is helping us fund it,

[1:35:41] in my opinion at least.

[1:35:45] And what else, just

[1:35:51] to restate, I know we're not here yet,

[1:35:53] but at this point I wouldn't vote in favor

[1:35:55] of anything beyond the study.

[1:35:58] It's at a minimum hundreds of thousands

[1:36:00] of dollars in a match for construction, which is untenable

[1:36:04] for me given all the other priorities we have,

[1:36:06] including people without water in town, the need

[1:36:08] of water line ran and improvements and things like that.

[1:36:12] There's just so many other things

[1:36:13] that are more important when I consider putting the needs

[1:36:16] of the many ahead of one.

[1:36:17] This is one of those things where I'm thinking

[1:36:20] of the entire town.

[1:36:24] And then I wanted to read

[1:36:26] what Counselor Filson sent via email since she's not here to

[1:36:31] give her own opinion and is not here to vote.

[1:36:34] However, still wanted to make sure

[1:36:35] that her thoughts were heard.

[1:36:38] So she said, I'm in favor of the initial 12,000 investment

[1:36:42] for the engineering work.

[1:36:43] That said, I have major reservations about

[1:36:45] what happens if federal funding

[1:36:46] for construction doesn't come through.

[1:36:48] I know we won't have that answer for a few years,

[1:36:51] but I think it's worth managing expectations now,

[1:36:53] approving this 12,000 does not mean

[1:36:55] that the town will be writing a check

[1:36:57] for 1.2 million per mile if DOT funding doesn't

[1:37:00] materialize when the time comes.

[1:37:03] - Great, thank you Robert.

[1:37:08] - The rubber meets the road.

[1:37:11] I've lived here for over 60 years.

[1:37:14] I've seen a lot of change.

[1:37:18] All my playgrounds as a child

[1:37:21] are housing developments today, with the exception

[1:37:25] of of Knight's Pond.

[1:37:27] Dick Knight created that little oasis up there,

[1:37:33] but he wouldn't let anybody on the property except when

[1:37:36] the ice was frozen.

[1:37:37] He would allow us to go up

[1:37:38] and play hockey on it in the winter.

[1:37:40] And lots of fun playing hockey up there as a kid.

[1:37:48] We've, we've done a lot

[1:37:49] of things in this community over the years.

[1:37:52] It took us three tries to get a access to the water.

[1:37:58] We didn't get

[1:38:01] to Twin Brooks without some controversy.

[1:38:04] Everything we've done in this town has had the distractors

[1:38:08] and naysayers and, and negativity

[1:38:11] and a lot of it has been well warranted.

[1:38:15] But the, the fact of the matter is we've moved ahead

[1:38:19] and we've, we've created some real places of importance

[1:38:24] for the, for the town.

[1:38:26] I think about the things that I use.

[1:38:28] I I don't have a library card,

[1:38:30] but I support it wholeheartedly.

[1:38:34] I've been to Twin Brooks a couple of times to watch my,

[1:38:38] my kid, my son when he was a a skier

[1:38:41] or running cross country, I do use the town forest to hike

[1:38:46] on Sundays with my dogs.

[1:38:49] So there's a lot of amenities that over the years that,

[1:38:52] you know, I've supported with my tax dollars

[1:38:54] but haven't, haven't used.

[1:38:57] So I, I do support the expenditure of the $12,000.

[1:39:02] But I think what I want to have to show

[1:39:05] to everyone here this evening is perhaps a response to,

[1:39:09] to bill, to bill Young.

[1:39:12] We have a, a duty to spend every dollar

[1:39:17] equally and not frivolously.

[1:39:19] It's all done with responsibility.

[1:39:22] Tomorrow evening is probably the most,

[1:39:25] the biggest opportunity in my lifetime that I've seen.

[1:39:30] We're gonna have five communities, Falmouth, Yarmouth,

[1:39:33] Freeport, north Yarmouth, and Cumberland.

[1:39:36] The elected bodies of the town council's select boards

[1:39:39] and the school boards will sit down

[1:39:41] and talk about collaboration and not on a small scale,

[1:39:46] but on a large scale.

[1:39:48] So the, the idea that we just have money to,

[1:39:53] to spend freely is, is not, is not true,

[1:39:57] but I do think we're going to spend it wisely.

[1:40:00] So I I would hope that you folks would question

[1:40:04] how we spend $12,000 for a study on the rails,

[1:40:07] but also what you would come back next meeting

[1:40:10] and question us on how we sat down

[1:40:12] and discussed collaboration with five other communities

[1:40:15] because those are equally as important.

[1:40:18] Oh, I am gonna vote in favor

[1:40:19] of this this evening, Jeff.

[1:40:26] Yeah, I mean this is, this is a tough one.

[1:40:29] I mean a lot of people have sent voicemails

[1:40:33] and text messages and emails

[1:40:35] and I've met with people that have supported this

[1:40:39] and I've also met with people that weren't in favor of it.

[1:40:43] And I don't want to minimize the concerns of the abutters.

[1:40:50] I mean basically their backyard has been

[1:40:53] unchanged for decades.

[1:40:56] And you know, what I think is important for everyone

[1:40:58] to remember is this is change

[1:41:01] and change is un uncom uncomfortable for people at times.

[1:41:06] So, you know, just imagine all

[1:41:10] of a sudden your backyard becomes industrial zoned

[1:41:13] and somebody wants to build a modern car dealership

[1:41:15] or cement plant in the backyard.

[1:41:18] Probably pretty shocking to hear.

[1:41:20] So be try to be sympathetic of those, the, the abutters

[1:41:23] with this whole process.

[1:41:26] You know, I think there's a potential for this

[1:41:28] to do some really good stuff for the community.

[1:41:33] You know, flash vote, yeah, there was 367 votes

[1:41:36] and 59% of them supported the, the trail

[1:41:42] tonight we're just talking about the engineering

[1:41:44] of the trail, not the construction.

[1:41:46] There's no guarantee in my

[1:41:48] opinion, construction will follow.

[1:41:52] I'll be honest, and I've said it many times in these

[1:41:54] meetings, we really gotta figure out

[1:41:58] where our capital funding is gonna line up

[1:42:00] with stuff like this.

[1:42:02] You know, Lily talked about people about water.

[1:42:05] That's the top priority to me for people.

[1:42:07] West Cumberland talked about Greeley Road, talked about

[1:42:11] aging, rolling stock that the town owns

[1:42:13] and then somehow we gotta fit this in as well.

[1:42:16] And we hear about people's taxes concerns And I think

[1:42:21] that's what's really challenging is we can't show you folks

[1:42:26] the tangibles behind some of those numbers very easily.

[1:42:31] And that's something that I'd like to see us really work on

[1:42:34] so that when we talk about, let's just say we get

[1:42:37] to the point where there is construction funding to discuss

[1:42:40] with this, that when we start talking about say, $600,000,

[1:42:45] you can see where it fits and what the impact's gonna be.

[1:42:50] 'cause right now I think

[1:42:51] that's the most important thing we can have to try

[1:42:53] to make these decisions.

[1:42:55] 'cause otherwise I look at it

[1:42:56] as like I'm shooting from the hip up here right now.

[1:43:02] So I'm a gambling

[1:43:05] person to be honest with you.

[1:43:08] And if I had it my way, I'd play chicken

[1:43:13] with the state and say, you know what?

[1:43:15] You figure it out. But the abutters mean a lot to me

[1:43:20] and I do believe that

[1:43:24] being involved in the engineering part of this project

[1:43:28] is gonna help look out for their interest.

[1:43:31] And I will be honest with you, that's a big part as

[1:43:35] to why I am gonna look to approve in move in this direction.

[1:43:40] But, but you know, if I had it my way,

[1:43:43] I'd just play a game of chicken.

[1:43:45] So you go to Las Vegas,

[1:43:47] you can find me at the crafts tables.

[1:43:49] So that's, that's where I sit.

[1:43:52] - Anybody else? This is tough.

[1:43:56] I've, as long as I've been on the council,

[1:43:59] I've supported every trail proposal in this town.

[1:44:02] Every single one and never regretted a vote.

[1:44:07] We've always worked with our neighbors.

[1:44:12] I'm not there tonight. I can get there,

[1:44:15] I can get there at the Casco Bay Alliance

[1:44:18] and the state works with the Abutters, but they haven't.

[1:44:24] Casco Bay Alliance, trail Alliance

[1:44:26] and the State ignore the Abutters for the last two years.

[1:44:31] And that really hit home.

[1:44:32] 'cause most of these people I grew up with,

[1:44:34] I've known since we were, I was a kid

[1:44:38] and I can't turn my back on 'em.

[1:44:40] When, when we were doing other projects in town looking

[1:44:43] for us land for Salt shed, we listened to our neighbors,

[1:44:48] we listened to every single one

[1:44:50] of our neighbors when they came up and they opposed it.

[1:44:52] And we finally found a spot.

[1:44:54] But I voted against those spots

[1:44:55] because I listened to the neighbors and their concerns.

[1:45:01] If nothing else, my vote tonight is a vote of support

[1:45:05] for the the Abutters.

[1:45:09] But I'm just letting you guys know, I can get there.

[1:45:12] You can get me there as long as we keep listening

[1:45:16] to the abutters and the people's concerns.

[1:45:22] And if, if, if you can, if the state

[1:45:26] and Casco Bay can meet these people at least

[1:45:29] halfway, you can bring me over.

[1:45:32] But for tonight, I'm voting in support of

[1:45:36] the abutters, the majority of the abutters.

[1:45:41] And that's all I got. But I just want to, just a final note.

[1:45:46] We had the, oh, a month

[1:45:48] or so ago we had the workshop on this trail.

[1:45:53] And in my 14 years on the council,

[1:45:55] it's probably the best one.

[1:45:57] It was well attended. It, it was so good.

[1:46:01] The back and forth and the people that were pro portray

[1:46:06] really listened to the people, the Abutters

[1:46:10] and the Abutters were listening to the Pro Trail people.

[1:46:12] And that's, and I made the comment afterwards,

[1:46:15] that's really a great civic le lesson

[1:46:17] and I feel the same way tonight.

[1:46:19] You guys have been great.

[1:46:22] This is this, this is good stuff

[1:46:25] and just makes you a lot more proud to be part of this town.

[1:46:29] So with that,

[1:46:30] do we have anything else from the council on it?

[1:46:35] No. Do we have a motion?

[1:46:38] - I'll give you one. Mr. Chairman, a move

[1:46:41] to appropriate $12,000 to support the preliminary design

[1:46:44] and engineering of the Casco Bay trial.

[1:46:47] - We have a second. - I will second

[1:46:50] - Any more discussion from the council.

[1:46:53] We have a motion and a second.

[1:46:55] All those in favor and wanna post?

[1:46:59] Thank you very much folks.

[1:47:01] Tonight really, really was a good night. Thank you.

[1:47:10] - Everyone wants to leave. I can't understand why

[1:47:12] - We haven't even gotten to new business yet.

[1:47:16] - Thanks. - I'm gonna like talk about this

[1:47:19] - Park.

[1:47:24] Well

[1:47:25] - Done.

[1:47:26] We're not done yet. Do people know that we're not done yet?

[1:47:28] - No, we're not done. We're not done yet.

[1:47:29] All right, if we can, we gonna go into new business?

[1:47:34] - Send me an email. Thank you.

[1:47:44] - New business. We'd start with you last week, Bob,

[1:47:47] we'll start with last meeting Bill.

[1:47:51] - Sure. So new business.

[1:47:55] I think we heard earlier about the, the,

[1:47:58] the concerns about the playground, right?

[1:48:00] - I can't really hear you. Oh, we're gonna have

[1:48:02] to wait till people quiet down

[1:48:08] or exit the room, preferably.

[1:48:11] - Thank you so much. Thanks Retirement.

[1:48:14] You gotta start shaving while you're retired. Thanks.

[1:48:17] - They're not, they don't see my motions.

[1:48:20] - Alright, bill, go ahead. New business. All

[1:48:22] - Right, so new business.

[1:48:24] I, I heard the comments from the folks about the playground

[1:48:29] and I went to Trail Fest the other day

[1:48:31] and Nice spoke with folks about that.

[1:48:34] Had several folks speak with me about that there.

[1:48:36] So I don't know what the best way is to

[1:48:41] kind of hear their concerns.

[1:48:43] I know Mr.

[1:48:44] Manager that, you know, you've direct folks to come in

[1:48:47] and talk with the folks at, you know, Peter Brigham Jr.

[1:48:52] With the folks at Parks

[1:48:53] and Recreation there to, to, you know,

[1:48:55] get their concerns in there.

[1:48:59] But I do, you know, there is, you know,

[1:49:01] Sarah obviously spoke kind of passionately about the

[1:49:06] concern about the process, et cetera.

[1:49:08] So I don't know what the best path is forward to,

[1:49:11] to go forward with this

[1:49:13] and you know, how we listen to their concerns and,

[1:49:18] and, and implement those.

[1:49:20] You know, I know we are down a path already

[1:49:22] and I'm not suggesting that we stop the path,

[1:49:24] but, you know, are there ways to improve it?

[1:49:26] So I think that's something

[1:49:27] that I would encourage the down staff to go forward with

[1:49:31] and see if we can get some input

[1:49:34] and maybe recommendations to move forward.

[1:49:37] 'cause I don't think this one's gonna go away.

[1:49:40] And then I also want to, I I did not do this last meeting,

[1:49:43] but I will, bill came up, bill Young came up

[1:49:46] and spoke about the traffic on, on Hedgerow.

[1:49:50] And I can tell you that when I walk there at night,

[1:49:55] frequently, especially around nine o'clock when

[1:49:59] Rachel closes,

[1:50:00] or it is a very busy area, it's, you know,

[1:50:03] folks running up hedgerow

[1:50:05] and, you know, speed bumps slow folks down.

[1:50:07] But, you know, I I don't know what the other,

[1:50:10] if there's other traffic calming things we can do to try

[1:50:13] to get people to go out Val Halla Road

[1:50:15] and go up, you know, Greeley Road instead.

[1:50:18] So that's that story.

[1:50:20] And then the other one I'd say is, I know this is coming up,

[1:50:23] but I would love to hear more about where we're going on,

[1:50:25] on the design of, of Greeley Road

[1:50:27] as well in the future. Thanks.

[1:50:29] - Thanks Phil. Jeff.

[1:50:32] - All right. $20 for the food pantry

[1:50:36] and despite yesterday's weather, I took some time

[1:50:38] to visit the Cumberland Fair and

[1:50:41] - Brave - Man.

[1:50:42] Just want to thank our fire department

[1:50:43] and our police department for their dedication

[1:50:46] and support in this event.

[1:50:48] They were out in rain gear

[1:50:51] and, you know, not just hiding under a a building

[1:50:54] and they were doing their job

[1:50:56] and representing us very well as a town

[1:50:57] and excellent level of professionalism.

[1:51:00] And I think it's goes without saying

[1:51:03] but you know, it involves people stepping up

[1:51:06] and working additional hours and overtime.

[1:51:08] And I think it's only fair

[1:51:10] that we acknowledge those employees for doing so this week.

[1:51:13] So, you know,

[1:51:19] just had two difficult items that we had to discuss tonight.

[1:51:23] Talked about housing and we talked about this rail trail

[1:51:27] and I know I'm a broken record

[1:51:29] 'cause I've already said it twice tonight,

[1:51:31] but I really feel we owe our citizens

[1:51:35] some tangible items behind our upcoming capital expenses

[1:51:40] and showing them, yeah, when we finance, you know,

[1:51:45] 600,000 is needed.

[1:51:46] What is behind the 600,000?

[1:51:50] So, and I, and here's why I'm really asking for it.

[1:51:54] You know, we talked about the new committee with working

[1:51:57] with the school, it's already Bill

[1:52:00] already hit home about it.

[1:52:01] It's gonna be a challenging year

[1:52:03] of upcoming school expenses.

[1:52:05] We know we're gonna have a challenging year,

[1:52:08] but come budget time,

[1:52:10] we're gonna find some expense that's gonna be critical.

[1:52:12] And if I can go to that committee

[1:52:16] and maybe show what that critical expense is,

[1:52:20] and not just dollars and cents, but what it actually is

[1:52:23] and what it provides to citizens.

[1:52:26] Does it open some eyes? I, I don't know.

[1:52:28] But I look at what's the why behind the money.

[1:52:31] And that's what I'm trying to get to.

[1:52:35] You know, we talk about housing

[1:52:37] and rail trail, where does it all fit in?

[1:52:40] Because there's some expenses we can't just put off.

[1:52:45] I sleep pretty ni well at night

[1:52:46] knowing I have a good ambulance.

[1:52:49] So, you know, I don't wanna put us in a position

[1:52:51] where we're putting stuff off like that with our population.

[1:52:55] We, we need those things.

[1:52:58] So With that all being said,

[1:53:03] I, I'd like to try

[1:53:04] to formally discuss this a little bit more on

[1:53:06] what we can provide our citizens with visibility.

[1:53:11] So I, I don't know what your thoughts are,

[1:53:13] but I think it'd be nice to talk about it, you know,

[1:53:15] sooner rather than later.

[1:53:17] Matt, I don't know if you have any ideas

[1:53:18] or anything you could, you could share

[1:53:19] of us maybe in the next meeting,

[1:53:22] but it, it'd be nice just to put it on this agenda item and,

[1:53:26] and if the six other people on this board say

[1:53:30] it's the wrong way to go, then I'm gonna drop it. No,

[1:53:32] - I'm gonna say that - Neither.

[1:53:34] I'm just trying to give everyone the visibility

[1:53:36] so they can understand where the funding's gonna come from.

[1:53:38] Because at the end of the day, I really don't want

[1:53:42] to tax people outta their homes

[1:53:44] and I don't want to promote one thing

[1:53:47] to cause other people in this town to struggle.

[1:53:50] It's, we talk about sustainability

[1:53:52] and I want to be sustainable

[1:53:54] for everyone and that's my goal.

[1:53:56] So that's just why I'm asking for this.

[1:53:58] 'cause I think the only way we can do it is

[1:54:00] to have the data and the tangibles. Thank you.

[1:54:03] - Thanks Jeff. Lily.

[1:54:07] - All right. Have you heard anything about

[1:54:12] an ETA on when the first meeting of that mini tricom

[1:54:17] committee will meet?

[1:54:20] - As of the, the end of the day today? No. Okay. But just

[1:54:24] - Curious.

[1:54:25] - I, I, I think they were just,

[1:54:28] I think the school chair was,

[1:54:30] I think she was taking point on that. Okay. So

[1:54:32] - Good deal.

[1:54:33] Just figure out check shortly.

[1:54:35] - Like I can reach out to the superintendent

[1:54:37] to see if they have an update.

[1:54:38] I'll see 'em tomorrow. So,

[1:54:40] - Okay.

[1:54:42] Thank you for doing the overview

[1:54:43] of the Twinbrook playground.

[1:54:45] How we got here and clearing up the PFAS thing.

[1:54:49] I understand about PFAS testing.

[1:54:51] It had only tests for a little bit of substances.

[1:54:53] That was my main beef with the turf field.

[1:54:58] There was an email suggesting that if I was

[1:55:01] anti infilled turf field,

[1:55:03] I should also be anti poured rubber surface.

[1:55:05] I don't feel that those are the same thing.

[1:55:08] One is hundreds of tons of crumb rubber that is

[1:55:12] getting inhaled and kicked up

[1:55:14] and washing into the environment poured rubber.

[1:55:17] Especially if it's PAS free by, you know, all intents

[1:55:22] and purposes you can't guarantee it

[1:55:25] is probably the best surface for a DA compatibility.

[1:55:29] And there's poured rubber on the track, I believe,

[1:55:31] or on the school track.

[1:55:35] Yeah, so it's just saying,

[1:55:39] I don't think those are two equal things.

[1:55:42] I was looking at what was available

[1:55:45] regarding the whole parks decision

[1:55:47] and I was able to find that there was an agenda

[1:55:50] and pretty detailed minutes on the town website under the

[1:55:53] parks and rec advisory board for the months

[1:55:57] of February, March, April, and May.

[1:55:59] And then it wasn't a specific agenda item,

[1:56:03] however, it was talked about extensively

[1:56:05] during the manager's report on Monday, June 29th when

[1:56:08] Pete Bingham gave us a slide deck overview of the project

[1:56:13] and where we're at and what they determined

[1:56:16] there was the issue of dogs.

[1:56:18] We have discussed this a little bit

[1:56:19] and I think we had asked the ordinance committee

[1:56:22] to revisit dogs potentially at this playground,

[1:56:26] if not banning them entirely.

[1:56:29] And I think that was going to be looked at along

[1:56:30] with the chicken ordinance.

[1:56:33] Do we have any updates on that?

[1:56:35] Have you guys thought about talking about

[1:56:37] that a little more chair of

[1:56:40] - The audience to I'll come home to roost eventually.

[1:56:42] Exactly. I I have avoided even thinking about that. You

[1:56:46] - Better do it.

[1:56:49] So yeah. Dogs and chickens, yes

[1:56:51] - Please.

[1:56:52] We will, we will get to that. Okay. We will get,

[1:56:54] - Get to that.

[1:56:55] So there's that. I don't want

[1:56:58] to sour the potentially wonderful new era

[1:57:03] of collaboration with North Yarmouth Select board.

[1:57:06] I would ask that perhaps as a show of good faith

[1:57:10] that perhaps maybe our first

[1:57:13] new joint standing committee we could ask them if they would

[1:57:15] like to revisit the cost sharing agreement

[1:57:17] with the school board rather than us having to do a petition

[1:57:19] if we wanna just get to it.

[1:57:22] Perhaps they feel a little bit differently about it now.

[1:57:25] So that's a question. I think the last thing is

[1:57:31] still waiting

[1:57:32] for our last remaining council priorities survey

[1:57:36] to be delivered to me.

[1:57:38] And I will compile that stuff and put it in a readable form.

[1:57:42] I think that we are gonna do a workshop to talk about

[1:57:45] that along with the council work plan,

[1:57:47] which I think would be a really good opportunity

[1:57:49] to talk about Jeff's thing.

[1:57:51] 'cause it kind of goes with that,

[1:57:52] getting all the stuff in a readable form.

[1:57:56] And I don't remember if that was October 13th. Yes.

[1:57:58] Or 26th. October.

[1:57:59] - October 13th. Okay. - Okay.

[1:58:00] So I will have survey results for you guys at

[1:58:05] that time. October 13th.

[1:58:07] - Right? - Just been waiting, waiting on you Bill

[1:58:10] if you wanna submit them. That's it

[1:58:13] - Andrew.

[1:58:16] - I'll try to be short and sweet.

[1:58:18] October 7th at seven o'clock.

[1:58:20] The LCC has its meeting,

[1:58:22] it's monthly meeting here in cons chambers.

[1:58:25] And so that's not next week, but the week after.

[1:58:29] So I think that's it

[1:58:32] - Robert.

[1:58:34] Okay. Tomorrow night go time.

[1:58:37] This is, this is in response to you Jeff.

[1:58:41] I hope you've spent a lot

[1:58:42] of time thinking about tomorrow night

[1:58:44] because I have thought a lot about tomorrow night.

[1:58:49] This is where we have an opportunity to

[1:58:53] show the public what leadership can be.

[1:58:59] Five communities are gonna get together tomorrow.

[1:59:02] Five select boards, count count, town councils

[1:59:06] and school boards.

[1:59:09] The challenge, this comes from the executive director

[1:59:13] of Greater Poland Council of Government.

[1:59:15] The group will focus on the political will

[1:59:18] for substantial collaboration,

[1:59:20] which would likely involve communities giving up some local

[1:59:23] control and or sharing resources.

[1:59:27] This will not be a discussion about smaller efforts

[1:59:29] with small returns, but rather gauges their genuine interest

[1:59:33] and will for difficult collaborative work.

[1:59:39] You know, I've got lots of ideas, you know,

[1:59:41] and I've got lots of ideas how, how we can,

[1:59:44] the schools can collaborate, you know,

[1:59:47] and we had an exercise here a couple weeks ago about cutting

[1:59:50] 5% outta municipal budget.

[1:59:52] You know, what, what does that exercise look like

[1:59:55] and how do we offset that 5% by collaborating

[1:59:59] with other communities?

[2:00:01] I've said this a number of times, I'll say it one more time.

[2:00:05] Hancock Lumber has 800 employees in three different states.

[2:00:09] They have one person who does payroll.

[2:00:14] The opportunity for the schools

[2:00:17] to have a single payroll system, the municipalities

[2:00:20] to have a single payroll system is not rocket science.

[2:00:24] It's, you know, the rest

[2:00:26] of the country operates on a larger scale.

[2:00:27] The entire state of Maine.

[2:00:32] There was an accident on the turnpike the other night.

[2:00:35] Ronnie Copp relayed this story to me.

[2:00:38] This, the accident was in gray.

[2:00:40] Cumberland responded first

[2:00:42] 'cause they could get up the turnpike headed north.

[2:00:44] By the time the whole thing was done,

[2:00:46] there was three communities involved.

[2:00:47] Gray found with and Cumberland with six pieces

[2:00:50] of apparatus on the road.

[2:00:52] You know, so the idea that shared services

[2:00:57] can't be extended beyond the property lines of a community.

[2:01:02] We can't go, we, we can't, can't do that anymore.

[2:01:05] The tax burden that's coming with our next tax bill,

[2:01:08] with the school coming on board with

[2:01:12] the debt load, additional staffing,

[2:01:17] it's imperative that we all sit down tomorrow night

[2:01:19] with a degree of seriousness about what we can do, what we,

[2:01:25] what is the will, the political will of, of

[2:01:29] just not John, not just us, but all of us.

[2:01:33] I think we all have to come tomorrow night with, you know,

[2:01:36] fresh ideas, you know, and we are ready to try something.

[2:01:41] The alternative is more taxes.

[2:01:45] Oh, I'll add one piece of good news.

[2:01:49] This also, this also came from Ronnie Co.

[2:01:52] The, and i, I, I think it's spelled MERE

[2:01:55] but i I, I know I can't pronounce it.

[2:01:58] Mayor, mayor, mayor.

[2:01:59] They had an opening day the other day

[2:02:01] and Ronnie said they were people lined up across the street.

[2:02:04] - Oh, that's great. Safety. Yeah. 25 deep out the door.

[2:02:08] - That's awesome. - At a minimum.

[2:02:11] - I have a question for Bob. Hey Bob.

[2:02:15] On those meetings that you guys were having in Yarmouth,

[2:02:18] like kind of leading up to all of this, did,

[2:02:21] was there a consensus yet on what you guys are thinking of?

[2:02:25] Are we talking about like consolidating fire EMS is

[2:02:29] or is that like that you're talking about large stuff?

[2:02:31] Yeah, like large scale stuff.

[2:02:33] So is that what this anonymous

[2:02:35] vote will be tomorrow is seeing

[2:02:37] what people are actually willing to do?

[2:02:40] - I really don't know. Okay. Christine is a Jan Jen.

[2:02:43] We had a, a couple of meetings

[2:02:45] and out of that meeting was the, the decision

[2:02:48] that we should involve everybody.

[2:02:50] Yeah. And, and the fact that we got the schools to agree

[2:02:53] to come, I think it was, it was substantial

[2:02:56] good news for all of us.

[2:02:57] So I don't, we don't, I don't have any preconceived ideas of

[2:03:01] where tomorrow night is gonna go.

[2:03:04] I'd like to think that I would know

[2:03:06] how it might play out, but

[2:03:08] - If anything, people get to hang out and eat food and meet

[2:03:12] - Each - New people.

[2:03:13] Yeah. Cool.

[2:03:19] - Alright. I had some stuff tonight,

[2:03:22] but I don't think I'll wait.

[2:03:26] Bob, I really enjoyed the discussion earlier.

[2:03:30] Six o'clock on the housing. Thank you Bill.

[2:03:34] Bob, it was very good.

[2:03:36] Just want to repeat

[2:03:38] what I said earlier tonight was a great exercise

[2:03:41] and good civics

[2:03:45] and you know, we'll, we'll, we'll,

[2:03:48] we'll work together as a community.

[2:03:51] So that being said,

[2:03:55] we're gonna go into executive session.

[2:03:57] Do we have, somebody will give us a motion.

[2:04:00] - I'll give you a motion. I moved to recess

[2:04:03] to executive session pursuant to title one MRSA 4 0 5 6 C

[2:04:08] regarding acquisition of real property

[2:04:10] and 4 0 5 6 A regarding a personnel matter.

[2:04:16] - Second.

[2:04:22] - All those in favor? Goodnight folks.

[2:04:26] Thank you. That's, thank

[2:04:27] - You.

Town Council

Transcript