[8:52] Good evening everyone and welcome to the
SO City Council meeting for Monday, July
[8:56] 20th at 6:30 p.m. Before we call the
official meeting to order, we do have
[9:01] two workshop items uh that we will be
addressing. First, the first item is an
[9:05] assessing overview. And with us, we have
Assessor Shawn McCarthy.
[9:16] And with him, Deputy Assessor Kate
Karns.
[9:42] It did. Thank goodness
>> it works.
[9:45] » All right.
>> Hello everyone.
[9:47] » Good evening. [clears throat]
>> So, uh, my deputy assessor Kate Kern is
[9:51] going to start us off here and then I'll
take over in a little bit. So, Kate,
[9:54] » sure. I just want to say good evening,
city council, mayor, administrator
[9:59] Pelleter. We're just here to give you an
update on what's been happening in the
[10:04] assessing department and the values
citywide. Um,
[10:09] so what were the results of the vision,
measure, and list that we completed
[10:13] about six months ago? Um, how do we
update the values? Why did we update the
[10:19] values? And what does that mean for the
future? Those are the big topics. And
[10:25] for the measure and list, we basic
[10:31] up here. Um, for the measure and list,
um, the purpose of that was to
[10:38] go property to property and make sure
that we had good data for each parcel.
[10:42] Um, when people were home, they were
able to talk to them. Um, when they were
[10:47] allowed in, they were able to go in and
verify data that way. They took new
[10:51] photos of every property. when they
weren't able to get in but felt like
[10:56] they needed to, they would send
follow-up letters and go back. Um, so
[11:00] having done this 18month project gave us
a good foundation to go ahead and um
[11:07] have solid a solid data foundation to
start analyzing the sales and the market
[11:13] in SACO. Um, and that's what we've been
doing.
[11:19] » So a statistical update. Um there's a
few pieces of information uh that I want
[11:24] to go over before we get into the the
actual process. Right? So a few terms.
[11:29] Sales ratio. What is a sales ratio? It's
a basically a measure of how close our
[11:32] assessments are to market rate. Right?
Usually expressed as a percentage. If
[11:37] you have a $100,000 property that sells
for 80,000 or that we have assessed at
[11:41] $80,000, we would be at 80% of market
value. Just simple math terms. Um so
[11:46] it's a measure of accuracy. How accurate
are we on our assessments? Um it uh we
[11:52] use the average ratio across the city to
uh determine the amount the state
[11:57] reimbures us for exemptions. If we fall
too low, the state gives us less money
[12:01] and we have to factor homestead
exemptions, veterans exemptions, a bunch
[12:05] of things across the city. So the state
the the law is 70% to 110% is the range
[12:13] you can be in and still be within
compliance of the rules the state sets
[12:17] for us as assessors. If you drop below
91% that's when the factoring of
[12:21] exemptions starts happening. There's
also the quality rating. This is a
[12:26] measure of how far from the average
ratio any given sale is. So if the
[12:31] average ratio is 100% and you have a
sale that comes in at 110% the quality
[12:37] rating for that sale is 10, right? And
so you average that out across the whole
[12:41] sample. That's your quality rating. It's
a measure of how precise we are. Right?
[12:45] Our average could be good, but we could
have a huge cluster of sales at 150 and
[12:48] a huge cluster at 50%. I wouldn't say
we're doing a good job in that scenario,
[12:53] right? So that's what quality rating is
measuring. Um it's used to determine how
[12:57] equitable assessments are. In the case
where there's a big group at 150 and a
[13:00] group at 50, we're not equitable, right?
So that's what this is measuring. And
[13:05] the state requires a quality rating of
less than 20. That's the line for this.
[13:10] So a statistical update, how do we do
it? Um, first we collect and analyze
[13:17] sales. The assessment department gets
every single sale that happens in the
[13:20] city of SACO, assuming you record your
sale at the registry of deeds. Um, and
[13:26] now the a lot of these sales are no
good. They're not what we call qualified
[13:30] sales. If you pass down a piece of of
land to your child, that's not a qualifi
[13:34] qualified sale. If you give 500 square f
feet to your butter so they can put a
[13:38] shed on their property, that's not a
qualified sale. We want arms length
[13:42] transactions between two unrelated
parties. It's exposed to the market.
[13:46] Both parties are trying to get the best
deal for themselves, right? That's what
[13:49] we're looking for. Those are qualified
sales. We had 399 of them in the area,
[13:56] the uh time period we used to calculate
this most recent valuation update. That
[14:00] time period was July 1st of 24 to June
31st of 2025. Right? That's the time
[14:07] frame the state uses to judge us when
they audit us every year. So, it's this
[14:10] the time frame we use. Um, you can push
it out to 18 months if you want, but we
[14:14] didn't need to do that. 399 is more than
enough. Um, so you look at that, you get
[14:19] all of the sales data in, you prune out
the bad ones. Now, we need to determine
[14:23] what adjustments need to be made at all.
Right? If we're at 100%, great. Job's
[14:28] done. We don't need to do anything. Um,
that was not the case when we started
[14:32] looking at the data. So, we look at if
we have a single family home sale, we're
[14:37] going to look at that from a bunch of
different angles. We're going to look at
[14:40] what type of home is it. Is it a
colonial? Is it a Cape Cod? Is it a
[14:43] ranch? We're going to look at the square
footage. We're going to look when was it
[14:46] built? We're going to look the
neighborhood in the city that it it
[14:49] exists within. Right? And when you have
399 sales, you get a good sampling for a
[14:55] majority of the city. Not everywhere,
but for a lot of it. And in some
[14:58] neighborhoods, you'll have a lot of good
data, some less so. Right? So we start
[15:02] looking at it from all those different
angles to try to find out where our weak
[15:04] points are. So we have like a test
database. It's all of our data from the
[15:10] live database that I can go in and just
start making changes and do crazy stuff
[15:14] and it won't affect people's actual
valuations that they pay their taxes on.
[15:18] Right? So essentially we got those
sales, we saw where we were at. I start
[15:22] making changes. We change something,
look and see what it does to the data.
[15:27] analyze the results and then repeat
until we get to a place we're happy
[15:31] with. Right? You may have noticed at no
part in this did I pull comps for a
[15:36] property. At no part in this did I go in
and drill down and start really
[15:41] analyzing the minute details of what
makes this property unique. That is not
[15:46] what this is. That's not what the
assessment department does. We do what's
[15:49] called mass appraisal. And this is how
mass appraisal is performed. It is
[15:54] statistical analysis. when you're at the
level the size of the city of Sako,
[15:57] you've got 400 sales in a year. We're
not quibbling over a single sale
[16:03] necessarily. Now, there are cases where
we might we can get into that a little
[16:06] bit later. Now, this the graph I'm sure
you've seen on the screen is a measure
[16:11] of all the ratios after I made the
update of every single sale in our
[16:16] sample. And you'll notice the red line
is the average. And it might be hard to
[16:20] see cuz it's a little small, but you'll
notice at the left side of the graph,
[16:24] which is the oldest sales, it's about
95ish, maybe a little higher. And then
[16:30] as you go to the right and time goes on
and we go to 2025, it slowly trends down
[16:36] and it ends probably somewhere in the
85%ish range. That is the market
[16:41] changing over the course of the sample.
Um, I'm sure many people have a lot of
[16:46] opinions about what the market in the
city of Sako is doing. I can promise you
[16:50] it is appreciating in general. Does that
mean there are places where that may not
[16:54] may be less true? Absolutely. But in
general, on average, we're appreciating
[17:00] about 5 to 8% a year right now. I'm not
going to try to pretend to understand
[17:06] what might happen 6 months from now, but
that's where we're at today.
[17:10] So once we make those changes, I've
analyzed the results. I feel comfortable
[17:14] with what we've got. We push those d
changes to the live database. We update
[17:18] everyone's real values that they will
pay taxes on. And that's what was on the
[17:23] letter that everyone got, right? That
was the the updated data that we pushed
[17:27] to the live database.
So we made the changes. We went from
[17:34] about 77%
when I started analyzing the data back
[17:39] in February to about 91%.
And the question a lot of people have
[17:45] asked me and I'm sure some of you have
heard as well is well Sean why'd you
[17:50] bother to do anything at all? Right? You
could have just left it. You weren't
[17:53] below the 70%. You could have just
stayed there. And there's a few reasons.
[17:58] First one, factoring to a lower ratio
cost the city money directly, meaning it
[18:02] raises taxes by get us getting less
money from the state. If we were to
[18:08] factor today, if we stayed at 77%, I
calculated this using the tax rate
[18:12] calculation sheet based on our current
budget, we would lose about $277,000
[18:17] in state reimbursement for exemptions.
So, everyone's homestead's going down.
[18:21] And we'd lose about $145,000 in revenue
from personal property. Now, personal
[18:26] property isn't a huge percentage of the
budget, but $145,000 is not pocket
[18:31] change, right? Because we have to factor
personal property to be where whatever
[18:35] real estate is at. So, if we're at 77%,
they're coming down to 77% as well. So,
[18:40] that's a direct loss in revenue. There's
also a shift that occurs as your ratio
[18:46] gets lower. There's sort of a floor that
you can be at and have a home at all,
[18:53] right? And as we get lower and lower, as
our percentages get lower, that we get
[18:58] approach that floor and all the
difference between a higherend property
[19:01] and a lower-end property shrinks. And
now that's fine in theory, but it has
[19:07] very real tax bill implications. So I've
I've got a little chart here. Uh I won't
[19:12] bore you with the details, but you'll
notice at the lower-end property, if we
[19:16] go from 70% to 100% and we have, let's
say, a budget increase, so the mill rate
[19:21] doesn't absorb all of that. we go to
$850, similar to the situation we find
[19:24] ourselves in here today. Their tax bill
is about $450, but the $700,000 property
[19:31] goes from 70 to 100% and their tax bill
goes increases by $1,000. Right? The the
[19:37] less valuable property is shouldering
less of the property tax burden because
[19:43] there is a greater actual difference in
the values between the 300,000 and the
[19:47] 700,000 in this example. Right? It's a
very simple explanation but I hope you
[19:55] understand that you see the theory. Um,
so we've talked a lot of theoreticals.
[20:01] What did we actually do? So we adjusted
building values first. We based it on
[20:07] industry standards. Marshall and Swift
is what we use. That's cost price per
[20:11] square foot for things. How much does it
cost to get a shed? How much does it
[20:14] cost to put a Whirlpool tub in your
bathroom? Right? That's where so we
[20:18] update the the the cost values based on
Marshall and Swift and then land values
[20:24] increase to conform with sale prices. So
what do I mean by this? So if I know
[20:29] that our cost data is good and I have
two 1500 square foot ranches built to
[20:34] the same quality, maybe even built by
the same builder, but one is in one part
[20:39] of the city and one is in another part
of the city and one sold for $200,000
[20:43] more. I don't think that the the uh
difference there is in the building.
[20:49] It's in the land. One of those places is
more desirable to live for one reason or
[20:53] another. And when we have sufficient
sales in certain neighborhoods, when I
[20:57] initially started doing this process, I
changed the sale the cost data first
[21:02] because that's the most straightforward.
And then I started look analyzing the
[21:05] data again and I noticed that some
neighborhoods were maybe at 85% and some
[21:11] maybe were at 65%. These neighborhood
values haven't been changed in more than
[21:16] a decade at this point ultimately and
the city has changed. I'm sure anyone
[21:21] who's been here over that last decade
could tell you that the city looks very
[21:24] different today than it did back in
2016. And so we updated those values so
[21:30] that the ratio of those sales comes
closer to that 91%. We're aiming for
[21:34] par. It's not an exact science, but if
we can get everyone pretty darn close to
[21:38] 91%,
I feel like we've done a good job.
[21:42] So, and this it's worth noting the 91%
as I mentioned is the minimum increase
[21:48] to get 100% value of all of the
exemptions and everything else. So, the
[21:54] reason being the state lets you claim to
be within 10% of whatever your true
[21:58] ratio is. So, if we're at 91, 10% of 91
is nine. We can claim 100, right? But
[22:05] that does mean that if the market
continues to appreciate, we quickly fall
[22:09] below that minimum threshold. So there's
a balancing act to be had here. Do we go
[22:14] all the way to 100%, risk the market
collapsing, risk things changing, and
[22:18] then we have to make further
unforeseen adjustments in the future or
[22:22] do we do the minimum possible adjustment
to give make it the least abrasive for
[22:28] taxpayers
but risk having to do updates again in
[22:32] the future? I don't think any assessor
would tell you that there's a right
[22:35] answer to that question, but we chose to
go to 91%. Um, it's worth noting we went
[22:40] from 77 with a 14 quality rating to 91
with a five quality rating. So, we have
[22:46] improved the quality of the data
overall.
[22:50] So, I threw a lot at you. What has
happened so far? I'm sure you've all
[22:54] heard quite a bit about the fact that
values have changed, right? We sent out
[22:58] letters to every taxpayer with their new
valuations on them, right? uh they
[23:02] didn't land all at once such as the
whims of the USPS, but we sent them out
[23:06] and we made available an online booking
tool so that anyone could go on the
[23:11] city's website and click on a thing and
schedule some time with us. Um we've
[23:15] taken 38 of those meetings and scheduled
124 more of them. Uh I have
[23:19] unfortunately had to pull down the
booking page purely because all of the
[23:23] time slots in it were full and now
people can still call. we'll talk with
[23:28] you on the phone or we'll schedule a
time to squeeze you in somewhere, right?
[23:31] We'll make it work. We want want to meet
with as many people as possible. But the
[23:34] automated system had had fulfilled its
purpose and I think honestly I'm pretty
[23:38] I didn't think we'd get that many to be
entirely honest with you. So, I'm pretty
[23:41] pleased with that. Um, as of right now,
since the the the letters hit, we've
[23:46] taken 235 phone calls and an unknown
number of walk-ins. I wish I'd tracked
[23:50] it, but I have not. It was quite a few,
I'm sure you can imagine.
[23:55] So, what next? talked about it a little
bit. We're going to keep looking at
[23:58] sales, right? We keep getting them. I
analyze them. I look at them on a
[24:02] monthly basis. Our property appraiser
comes in and shows me ones that are
[24:05] especially out of line with our assessed
value. U but come January, February of
[24:11] this coming year, I'm going to be
looking at this again, right? Where are
[24:14] we? Because the state will be looking at
it too. And uh we need to at least have
[24:19] an idea of where we are. If necessary,
the market continues to change. will
[24:25] continue to make adjustments. That
means, I want to be clear, both up and
[24:29] down. If the market collapses underneath
us, I don't think we're foreseeing a
[24:33] 2008 situation. But if it goes down, if
we lose 5% over the next year, I'll
[24:38] happily drop values 5%. Right? I want
our data to be accurate first and
[24:42] foremost. And if that means going down,
then we'll happily go down.
[24:46] This point, I know I threw a lot at you.
Any questions?
[24:51] » Thanks, Sean. Any questions? Councelor
Huitt and Councelor Edwards, when can
[24:57] people expect to see their tax bills in
the mail?
[24:59] » Sure. Um, the plan is to commit early
August. The tax bill will hit early
[25:03] September and then it is due uh October
14th.
[25:13] » Yep. Go ahead, Council Huitt. Will there
still be a discount for the historic
[25:17] district?
>> There is no discount for the historical
[25:20] district that I'm aware of.
Okay.
[25:25] » Yeah. I will say they generally
sell for less than equivalent properties
[25:31] elsewhere because of the burden placed
on them by being in the historical
[25:35] district. But there's there's not a line
item in our um assessment database for
[25:40] historical district. At least not right
now.
[25:45] » Anything else?
>> Councelor Edwards.
[25:48] » Thank you, Mayor. Um hi. So, the several
calls that I received,
[25:54] they were um of course not happy with
knowing that their houses were more, but
[26:00] um the part of the concern was the time
period and I was wondering if for their
[26:09] sakes and and mine frankly um would do
you see in the future having an
[26:15] assessment maybe in five years versus
another decade?
[26:20] Um I would I think my preference would
be that these be smaller and more
[26:25] regular. Um the last big update was in
2023. Um we went up like 35% across the
[26:33] city purely because we were trying to
keep some something close to pace with
[26:36] the COVID market. We've obviously slowed
since then. U but we're still
[26:40] appreciating it. I mean 5 to 8% a year
is is quite a good clip. That's not
[26:45] usual. Um, so yeah, at least until the
market starts changing, if we start
[26:50] seeing a tailing off, uh, we can maybe
slow down updates then, but it would be
[26:55] my personal preference that we make
small updates every year so it's not
[26:59] 20%. Here you go. Right. Right.
>> Thank you,
[27:02] » Council Warren.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, when you talk
[27:06] about a five or 10% assessment per year,
are you talking about pulsing that
[27:11] number of properties? What What are we
talking about with that number? So um
[27:14] when we're when I'm talking about five
to 10% I'm talking about appreciation of
[27:18] the market the values are increasing by
that amount.
[27:22] » Okay. And do we just automatically bake
that in as an incremental increase to
[27:27] the assessment without going back out
and actually physically reassessing
[27:30] which is what we've done this cycle?
>> Right. So this cycle we went we sent out
[27:34] the vision data collectors to ensure our
data was accurate. Um I I don't think
[27:38] it's perfect by any means but it's
certainly better than it was before. We
[27:41] continue to look at any property that
pulls a building permit. Any property if
[27:44] a property sells and we notice that, oh,
that was well above our assessed value.
[27:48] Oh, look, they have a finished basement
we didn't have. We'll update properties
[27:51] that way as well. But we don't go like
set a goal to go out and say see 10% of
[27:56] the city every year. It's not
specifically anyway. We do often just by
[28:00] nature of doing our jobs, following
building permits, all of that stuff. But
[28:04] yeah,
councelor Gail.
[28:08] » Thank you, Mayor. Um, I guess thank you
so much for you and your staff for being
[28:14] so open and uh willing to meet with
folks and talk talk with them. That's
[28:18] super helpful and um I've heard from
some folks that that was a a good
[28:23] conversation. So, thank you.
>> Um I guess just could you go back and
[28:30] explain to me the the quality rating?
Could you go over that one more time?
[28:33] I'm not
>> Absolutely. Let's go back in time real
[28:37] fast. I caught I caught that piece of
it.
[28:39] » Sure. So, we determine our average sales
ratio. Let's say it's 91% for the sake
[28:43] of argument. And then we get a a sale in
that sample sells for 100% of our
[28:50] assessed value. It would have a quality
rating of nine because it is 9% away
[28:55] from the average, right? And so the goal
is that a majority or most of your sales
[29:00] are close to the average. Right? So, if
if we have um a property and it sells
[29:07] for 200% of its assessed value, that's a
quality rating of quick math in my head,
[29:14] 108. Obviously, something is wrong
there, right? That I would look at that
[29:18] and say clearly our data is incorrect.
Like, I know where our our overall
[29:24] valuation is at. if something is at 200%
clearly that the data going into the
[29:28] system is wrong rather than like a
fundamental problem with the way we
[29:32] value a property. Um so on average so
you uh you determine the quality rating
[29:37] for every single individual sale. In our
case it was 400 and then you average
[29:42] that up and the average of your quality
rating is your quality rating for your
[29:46] assessments as a whole. So in our case
after the updates it was 5.6 was what we
[29:51] were at after we made all of the
adjustments. was 14 in change. I don't
[29:56] remember the decimal at before the
adjustments. So, we we brought everyone
[30:00] a little bit closer together.
>> And is there um
[30:06] I guess do you know or do you have a
sense from from other communities and
[30:10] other assessors kind of where that ranks
in southern Maine? I mean, that seems
[30:15] like a pretty accurate
>> Yeah, to be honest, I don't know. Um, I
[30:20] know generally assessors don't like to
be above 10. That's kind of a line like,
[30:24] okay, you need to start making some
adjustments because something's clearly
[30:27] wrong. Um, 20, like I mentioned, is the
statutory line. That's where main
[30:30] revenue comes in and says, okay, you you
need to do something different because
[30:33] clearly whatever you're doing is is
wrong.
[30:36] » Um, but generally they like to stay
under 10. So, I feel like if we're under
[30:39] 10, if we could get below five, I'd love
to see it. But, you know, small
[30:43] victories.
>> Gotcha. Yeah. And I guess just to to
[30:46] echo what councelor Edwards was
mentioning just in terms of the length
[30:49] in between um just in some conversations
it feels like the shorter uh or the more
[30:56] frequent but smaller increases would be
appreciated. Yeah.
[31:01] » This was a big one. So
>> thank you.
[31:05] » Thank you. Anyone else? Council Johnston
one point to your to your question.
[31:11] Since prior to 2021,
we were appreciating like this and then
[31:17] COVID hit and it went like this. And so
we haven't seen these kind of increases
[31:23] in the history of the city until 21. And
that's when the market started taking
[31:28] off. And that's when every year
consistently more and more and more. So
[31:33] it's we've really kept up the best we
possibly could with the data. I mean,
[31:38] you you can't change assessments on a
dime. you need all of the data to look
[31:42] at. So the 2023 increase 24 25 here we
are again. Um and like I said you just
[31:52] prior to 21 it was pretty steady and
then it just went like this. So I think
[31:56] it's impossible to really tell right
now.
[32:01] » Council question.
>> Yes. Go ahead then. Councelor Johnston.
[32:05] » Okay. Um I guess just a a hypothetical.
So in terms of adding additional housing
[32:10] stock
>> Mhm.
[32:11] » Um with the increase in in sales prices
um theoretically then it's that's
[32:22] that's going to only increase the the
values, right? Unless there was some
[32:26] sort of market correction and and the
the new housing stock was going below
[32:34] um
below the market.
[32:37] » Yeah.
>> Today does that make
[32:39] » Yeah. I understand what your question is
I think and let me know if I answer it
[32:43] and it's totally off in left field but
like we generally don't try to draw
[32:46] conclusions from for example Omari Court
um that's a relatively new subdivision
[32:52] that got put in that all the sales sold
at once. So we have good data on Amari
[32:56] court. I tried my I tried to keep Amari
court in Amari court, right? It does
[33:02] tell us something, right? Because
they're valued the same way any other
[33:06] property in the city is valued in
theory, right? We put in we draw the
[33:10] sketch, we put all the same attributes
in. So if Amari Court is selling for
[33:14] well above our assessed value, that does
speak to a problem. But if I make some
[33:21] updates and Amari Court is still
substantially lower than everything
[33:24] else, that speaks to us needing to make
adjustments on Amari Court itself
[33:28] specifically rather than on the city
generally. Yeah,
[33:33] » Council Johnston,
>> thank you. Um, thank you for the
[33:36] presentation. My question though is um
for the administrator
[33:41] I I think most of the questions are all
good have been answered but I think the
[33:46] outstanding question for most residents
remains the mill rate and could you give
[33:51] us an idea of when that would be set and
with valuations increasing is it likely
[33:56] that we will see a reduction in mill
rate
[33:58] » it is and I've spoken to both Sean and
Kate um like they said we're going to uh
[34:02] commit the 1 of August I don't want to
put a number out there now, but I will
[34:07] say yes, it will drop based on what was
presented during the budget. I want them
[34:11] to be able to finish their work with the
meetings with each indiv individual
[34:14] resident because I know part of that is
reviewing the data with the residents as
[34:19] they're coming in to make sure that
their numbers are all accurate. Um, but
[34:23] my plan would be hopefully by I'm going
to be optimistic and say the August 3rd
[34:28] meeting, I might be able to report that
out in my administrator's report.
[34:33] » Thank you.
>> A slight addendum. Our our plan
[34:35] currently is to commit August 3rd. Okay.
So, it might not be done in time for
[34:40] that, but hopefully I'll do my best to
go fast.
[34:44] » Thank you. Anyone else?
[34:49] » Okay, not seeing anyone. Thank you very
much.
[34:59] Okay, next up we have Director Moore
with a workshop on the Smith Do Stockman
[35:04] connector update.
[35:15] Good evening. So, I brought uh one of my
co-workers with me, uh Adam Bliss, the
[35:21] city engineer. So, he's going to get
into some of the technical aspects, but
[35:26] I'm just going to start off by giving an
update of where we're at uh to date.
[35:33] So, kind of going to go through the
background, where where the project
[35:36] started, where we're at. Um we'll we'll
look at the design, uh talk about some
[35:42] options that we have, and then obviously
answer any questions that you you may
[35:46] have. So, first off, the background. So,
it's been a long-standing goal of the
[35:51] city to uh have a back connection to
those parcels on the east side of Route
[35:55] One, similar to what we have across the
street on the west side over by
[35:59] Hannerford and behind McDonald's and
down to Hutchkins. So, in 2021 when the
[36:05] redevelopment of the old Pizza Hut was
done in the Chipotle, Jersey Mike. So
[36:10] that's kind of where, you know, the city
got involved, the planning got involved,
[36:14] and we actually have title to a 50- foot
strip of land that is on the back side
[36:20] of that parcel. And then fast forward to
May of 22, council appropriated uh
[36:26] $75,000 for public works to begin survey
and design of what that connector road
[36:32] could look like. And then um we did
present this at the at the May 15, 2025
[36:39] uh traffic safety committee meeting. So
it has had some some public um outreach
[36:45] at this point.
So this is from the 2019 Route One
[36:51] corridor study. And this is where um
page like south is where like that
[36:59] connector road that we're going to be
talking about opposite you know page
[37:03] north that's over by the Hannerford
that's the back connection behind the uh
[37:08] McDonald's down to the Hutchinson
Street.
[37:14] So to date we have 90% uh plans. Those
plans will allow us to be able to go
[37:20] forward for for permitting if if
construction is uh pushed forward. And
[37:25] then once the permitting is done, we
would uh be able to update those
[37:30] drawings for final drawings that could
be released for construction.
[37:34] Some of the remaining items that we
have, as I said, permitting, uh
[37:39] easements, there's still a few uh
easements or land acquisitions that we'd
[37:42] be looking for. And then the uh the
obvious one is funding.
[37:49] So, we have three options and I'm going
to pass it off to uh to Adam to kind of
[37:54] talk about these. But the three options
that we have is a no build. You know,
[37:58] obviously there's zero dollars involved
in that. We could construct drainage
[38:03] only. That gives us an estimate of about
600,000. And then if we construct the
[38:08] entire roadway, which would be drainage,
and the uh the connector road, that'd be
[38:13] roughly $1.1 million. So, I'm going to
pass it off to Adam and he can kind of
[38:19] talk through some of the some of the
details.
[38:27] Good evening everybody. My name is Adam
Bliss. I happily serve as your city
[38:31] engineer. Um,
so the reason we're here tonight is to
[38:36] receive direction on this project. Um,
this project we believe was
[38:41] conceptualized back in 2004 in a main
street study and then in 2019 it was
[38:47] really studied as part of the route one
saco scarboro uh corridor
[38:54] and um one of the many concepts within
that plan was this Smith Stockman
[39:01] connector. So, for orientation, um we uh
Smith Lane fronts the Chipotle and
[39:09] Jersey Mike's uh restaurants.
Um on the other side, right side of the
[39:15] page is
>> Excuse me, Adam. I'm just going to make
[39:17] sure you speak right into the
microphone.
[39:18] » Apologize for that.
>> Thank you.
[39:20] » Is that better?
>> Yes.
[39:21] » For the recording aspects, too.
>> Thank you. Um, real quickly, Smith Lane
[39:26] abuts the
uh Chipotle Jersey Mike's restaurant and
[39:31] on the right side of the page is uh
Dairy Queen, which is Stockman. So, in
[39:36] between is this Smith Stockman Connector
Road. What I've done is taken um an
[39:43] aerial photo, I've overlaid the design
of the project and I've colored it to
[39:48] illustrate the components of the project
to grasp the scope of work. So this plan
[39:53] is a an illustrative form of the scope
of work. In purple is the connector
[40:00] road. That is the primary reason we are
here. The other um component to it, a
[40:07] pretty significant factor is shaded in
blue are drainage opportunities. I'll
[40:13] say the larger blue uh shape is a storm
water pond and the smaller two are more
[40:20] ancillary storm water options. It's
basically taking overland drainage and
[40:25] putting it into subsurface drainage
pipe. The orange uh shape on the right
[40:31] side is a minor sidewalk extension going
down Smith uh Smith Lane.
[40:38] So again, um roadway, drainage,
sidewalks.
[40:45] Um Travis presented three options.
There's the no build, then there's the
[40:50] full build, which is all of those
components, and then in between is just
[40:54] the drainage part. Um,
both the drainage and the roadway have
[40:59] pros and cons to them, which should be
communicated. Um,
[41:03] there's the obvious traffic. That's the
reason this idea was conceptualized was
[41:08] for access management on Route One. And
making the intersections, the signalized
[41:16] intersections at Route One more
efficient has pros and cons because
[41:21] we're diverting traffic down potentially
private or uh more quieter roads,
[41:28] certainly quieter than than Route One.
And then um so that can be a pro and con
[41:35] depending on you know your how you how
you view it. And then the drainage
[41:38] component has a has a has a pro. It's an
opportunity to capture some drainage
[41:44] that comes from mostly private
properties a little bit from US Route 1.
[41:50] Um capture that treat it detain it and
then slowly release it. But with that
[41:57] with the construction of that pond, we
have to take trees out and that that
[42:04] could that would would mean um less
buffering, less separation for in terms
[42:10] of noise, light um and visual separation
from those businesses that front route
[42:17] one. So again, pros and cons to both of
those components. And I'll take a pause.
[42:24] I think I've, you know, pretty much
illustrated the scope of work. I can
[42:29] certainly go into detail, but I'll take
a pause and let um counselors or mayor
[42:34] ask any questions you may or may have.
>> Thank you. Any questions from
[42:39] counselors? Councelor Anin, then
councelor Hwitt.
[42:42] » Thank you, mayor. Uh, just for my
edification, where did this project come
[42:45] from?
[42:49] » You want to It was when I was on
council, but I'll let Travis [laughter]
[42:54] » Yeah. So, like Adam said, this was
studied in or this was recommended in
[42:58] previous studies. And then in 200
[43:03] um 2022 was when council appropriated
the money to begin the survey and the
[43:09] design of the roadway. So, it's been in
the works or recommended for for several
[43:15] years and then we had the funding to be
able to to move forward with the design.
[43:20] So it was cons council initiated
>> and if I remember correctly when
[43:24] bitterford saco dental was built it was
supposed to have been included at that
[43:30] time correct and it did not get
completed so it carried over.
[43:33] » Yep.
>> How much land has to be purchased?
[43:48] » It's not loading. Maybe um here we go.
Um less than an acre, maybe half an acre
[43:56] roughly.
>> So
[43:58] » a little bit more than half an acre.
>> Quarter of a million dollars.
[44:01] Half a million.
>> Well, I honestly um councelor on and I
[44:04] could not put a dollar value to it. Um I
I really couldn't.
[44:10] But um uh qualitatively I would say
there are there are three land owners,
[44:18] five easements. Three of them of those
easements belong to the ledges. Um
[44:24] that's the housing development. Um and
of the three we already have one of
[44:29] those easements. The other two easements
are from Starbucks, a very small sliver,
[44:34] and then um uh 3,300 square feet from
IHOP. So
[44:42] » just that um traffic safety did review
this in 2025. So that continued after
[44:47] that as well.
>> And just uh just a note that all but
[44:52] IHOP has been engaged in this process
and there's been positive communication
[44:57] with those related to the to the
easements needed.
[45:01] » So those have been done few years ago
now but the conversations have been had.
[45:07] Council Huitt, have the abuing land
holders, they've all been notified then
[45:12] from the conversation. Okay.
[45:17] Council Gail.
>> Uh could you remind me was there going
[45:21] to be sidewalks
included in the connector road or is it
[45:26] was it just curb and drainage?
[45:35] » One second, please.
>> Yeah. Little uh little latency here.
[45:41] » I believe there were sidewalks proposed.
>> Okay. And then um
[45:48] I guess with with this connector road
then it gives us the option for access
[45:53] management on the frontage on route one
too. Correct. if we were to to look at
[45:59] that in the future
um to make things safer at that
[46:04] intersection
on that road.
[46:07] » And yes, Councelor Gail, sidewalks were
included in the project.
[46:12] » Great.
[46:16] » Anyone else at this time?
>> All right, continue.
[46:21] Um
[46:31] so some some of the finer points of this
scope of work that I presented the again
[46:35] the primary component is this connector
road shaded in purple. Um great question
[46:41] on the sidewalks. Yes, it's an
opportunity there. Sidewalk
[46:44] connectivity, neighborhood connections.
um gets pedestrians off the road. Right?
[46:51] So, we're treating this as if it's a
more of a complete street rather than a
[46:56] thoroughfare.
Um in the blue, which I've mentioned
[47:00] already, the the primary the larger blue
shape, is a storm water pond. That's for
[47:07] quality and quantity. um capturing that
runoff before it gets to uh downstream
[47:14] receiving water bodies um and treating
it. The the other drainage components
[47:21] are relatively small. One is modifying
an existing storm water pond um that
[47:27] would be behind Starbucks. And then I
mentioned on Stockman
[47:33] um while we have the opportunity
converting some overland flow and
[47:38] putting it into underground piping which
is more efficient and um easier to
[47:43] maintain.
Um I did mention the purple section
[47:47] which is extending the sidewalk along
Smith Lane. that would connect what is
[47:52] on Smith Lane to this connector road and
further down to um Settler's Way which
[47:58] is just to the uh east of this connector
road and immediately abuing
[48:06] um
[48:10] and
I've mentioned it already buffering
[48:14] that's that's you know that's uh there
there will be a loss of trees and that
[48:19] should not be taken lightly. You take
trees down and then that enters in light
[48:24] and noise and visual. Um there will be a
buffer. We did plan for landscaping. We
[48:30] did um in the design we did land uh plan
for fenced screening but still you are
[48:36] taking down mature trees. So um and I
think lastly um Travis mentioned
[48:43] permitting. We would have to go through
the Army Corps of Engineers permitting
[48:46] and the D uh permitting. Um pretty
straightforward process. It takes time.
[48:53] Um there are new rules with certain
certainly with the Army Corps of
[48:57] Engineers. Um something that should be
known by the counselors is when we get a
[49:02] permit from the Army Army Corps of
Engineers, it's good for one year. The
[49:06] new rules say it's you have an you have
a year to complete that work and if it's
[49:12] not completed, then you either ask for
an extension or you um reapply later
[49:17] down the road. So that should factor in
to your thoughts and the direction you
[49:23] give to uh Travis and and myself tonight
or some other moment um at some other
[49:30] meeting if that's if that's how you want
to handle it too.
[49:36] » Thank you. Any final comments or
questions?
[49:43] I don't know what you're necessarily
looking for this evening, but um just
[49:48] for council, I'd say that I've advocated
for this project for at at least four
[49:54] years, more like seven. Um my initial
involvement with it was in 2017 when we
[50:00] did the update to the 2011 comp plan. Uh
Don Gerard, he's a former planning board
[50:06] member, uh was on that committee with me
and had brought up the 2025 plan. that
[50:12] point, you know, you had a plan that was
12 years old and it made logical sense
[50:16] that we had traffic issues and
pedestrian issues at at that time, you
[50:22] know, in 2005. So, you know, to me, I
understand there's some ramifications
[50:28] for the neighborhoods, but this is the
only real solution we have and it's only
[50:34] going to get worse. We've seen it from
traffic safety. I can tell you that we
[50:38] consistently have, you know, complaints,
but issues with speeding, pedestrian
[50:44] issues along uh the Route One corridor.
It's it's our most traveled corridor.
[50:49] It's only going to get more as we grow.
This seems to me like a reasonable
[50:54] solution. I I will add one U caveat here
though, and it did come up at the
[51:00] traffic safety meeting, which is, you
know, the surrounding neighborhood.
[51:04] I off the top of my head don't remember
all the street names, but to the right,
[51:08] you know, there are some concerns about
cut through traffic there. And I think
[51:13] all of those neighborhoods uh don't have
any sidewalks. So, I think that's
[51:18] something we should also consider as we
potentially move this forward. How do we
[51:24] address some of the issues that those
neighborhoods already have, but or
[51:28] equally have more problems as we re
reroute traffic? Um but otherwise I just
[51:33] say I think we should move this forward.
[51:38] » Council Arnon
>> again thank you mayor I weigh in and
[51:41] just agree with your comment. I think
one of the things we want to recognize
[51:44] is that recently we just did the calming
testing on route one for exactly that
[51:48] reason right we put in the speed bumps.
We put in the pylons to see what we
[51:52] could do to throttle traffic. So I think
this is a good project. I'm just since
[51:55] new to council wanted to make sure I was
understanding where $1.1 million was
[52:00] going to go.
[52:03] Gil
>> and just one other quick question. So
[52:07] the the IHOP is that
uh are they unresponsive or are they um
[52:14] not in favor or causing issues with the
easement
[52:19] because I think we I thought I heard
that we were basically everybody was all
[52:24] the businesses were okay except for
IHOP.
[52:28] » Maybe I misinterpreted that. I believe
it was we just hadn't heard anything
[52:32] from Starbucks.
>> Oh, from Starbucks.
[52:34] » But we had heard had some positive uh
reception from uh
[52:39] » from everyone else, but it was just it's
it's from a lack of
[52:43] communication back, not necessarily that
they are going to cause an issue with
[52:47] with granting the easement.
>> Yeah. Starbucks, we're just having
[52:50] trouble getting to the right person.
>> Sure. Yeah.
[52:52] » But there's been no negative response
from them. We just haven't got a
[52:56] response.
>> Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. I would just I would
[52:59] just add that I think um the vast
majority of these commercial properties
[53:04] will be benefiting from having this back
access. I mean you look at say Dunkin
[53:09] Donuts on any given morning and the
lines out into Main Street, this would
[53:13] give you know an alternative way to
access uh which I think would benefit
[53:18] their business.
[53:21] » Anyone else?
[53:26] » Okay. Uh, city administrator Pilot, this
will come back to council as a new
[53:30] business item or will we just bring it
back?
[53:32] » That's correct. We're gonna I mean, we
the purpose tonight was to workshop
[53:35] this. I think we may have some folks
here tonight that'll speak under public
[53:39] comment uh just so you can hear more
feedback, but this just gives staff the
[53:43] opportunity to answer any questions this
evening and we will come back.
[53:47] » Thank you. All right. Thank you both.
>> Thank you.
[53:58] Okay, that completes the workshop items
and I would like to call the official
[54:02] meeting to order at 7:15. Would like to
make note of all members present this
[54:06] evening with the exception of councelor
Doyle. And with us tonight we do have
[54:10] city administrator Pelleteer. Would you
please join me for the pledge of
[54:13] » allegiance
[54:17] to the flags
[54:23] nationisible?
[54:29] » Thank you everyone. Okay, moving on to
item number four. There is nothing under
[54:33] general this evening. Item five is
committee correspondence to council. Are
[54:38] there any committee members wishing to
share? Councelor Edwards.
[54:45] » Thank you, Mayor.
As we are in summer, many people are in
[54:50] and out on vacations, but I wanted to
remind you of the events coming up that
[54:55] are sponsored in part by SACO Main
Street. Um, so, uh, this Saturday, Music
[55:03] on Maine, July 25th. This one is
supposed to be uh team focused, but
[55:10] certainly a great time for a free event
next to the old Vic and Wits. Um and uh
[55:19] you'll have fun. Also, August 1st coming
up, there's Pride in the Park. It's a
[55:24] totally free event. You can go to the
sakomainstre.org or
[55:29] uh to register if you want to be in the
color run or if you want to volunteer.
[55:36] And speaking about volunteers, they're
always looking for volunteers. And I
[55:40] understand you may not be available this
summer, but when it's time to go back to
[55:48] school and you may find yourself with
some time, feel free to peruse the
[55:53] sakcomainstre.org or web page to take a
look at volunteer opportunities. Thank
[55:59] you.
>> Great. Thank you very much. Anyone else?
[56:04] » Okay, moving on to item number six, that
is public comment this evening and I
[56:09] will start with the signup sheet. As I
call your name, please step forward to
[56:13] the podium. You will have three minutes
to address the council and we ask that
[56:17] you state your name, address for the
record. All righty. First up, we have
[56:21] Sarah Guiles Gardner.
[56:33] Okay.
[56:37] » Good evening.
>> Evening.
[56:40] » I might be falling apart, but I'm here.
Um,
[56:45] my name, Madame May, Good evening,
Madame Mayor and City Council. My name
[56:49] is Sarah Jos Gardner and I live at 17
Pinehaven Street.
[56:54] Got that out of the way. I'm speaking
tonight on behalf of the Blue Haven
[57:00] resident uh committee and many Sco
families who own their homes but not the
[57:06] land beneath them. I want to begin by
thanking Councelor Bill Doyle. He showed
[57:11] up for our community long before he was
elected. He read every email, answered
[57:17] every question, and made sure our
concerns were heard. Um,
[57:22] his dedication meant a great deal to us,
and we wish him the very best in his new
[57:27] role as town manager new roster. We
misses present on this council. Um,
[57:33] councilors, thank you also for your
work on the rent stabilization
[57:39] ordinance. So far, article one uh says
its purpose is to protect vulnerable
[57:44] residents from housing insecurity, and
we appreciate that. We are here because
[57:49] we want to continue working with you to
make sure that the final ordinance truly
[57:54] reflects this goal. Our residents have
participated in every step of the
[57:59] process
because these decisions directly affect
[58:03] our homes and our stability here in
SACO. We are not here to criticize. We
[58:09] are here to collaborate. And uh we
believe a few key changes will make this
[58:14] ordinance strong and fair. Uh we
respectfully ask that you consider um I
[58:21] will list some five things to go over.
The first one uh reduce the 15% vacancy
[58:28] increase and clearly defined lawful
vacancy. High vacancy increases lower
[58:33] resident equity and harm affordability.
affordable housing. Number two, remove
[58:39] debt service and acquisition interest so
residents are not paying the park
[58:43] owner's mortgage. Number three, extend
the rent increase hearing notices from
[58:48] 14 days to 45 with certified mail.
Number four, reserve the right oh,
[58:55] excuse me, reserve at least two rent
stabilization board seats for mobile
[59:00] home park residents. And number five,
cap the rent increases at CPI or 5%
[59:07] whichever is lower and remove the plus
1% language. Councilors, we are asking
[59:12] for stability, transparency, and a fair
process. We want an ordinance that
[59:18] protects both residents and the business
side, one that prevents future crisises
[59:22] and strengthens for years to come. Thank
you for your time and your dedication,
[59:27] your willingness to work with us. Thank
you.
[59:30] » Thank you, Sarah.
[59:36] Okay, next on the list we have Barb
Thomas.
[59:44] Good evening counselors and mayor. I'm
Barb Thomas. I live at Missouri Circle
[59:50] in Taco.
I started this co-op, the Blue Haven
[59:55] Resident Cooperative, with one purpose
in mind, to protect our community, keep
[59:59] it habitable, and ensure that residents
are not pushed out of their homes by
[1:00:03] rental increases. Over the past 9 to 10
months, we have gone through mediation,
[1:00:08] face the possibility of a sale, built a
cooperative, and found ourselves working
[1:00:12] toward an ordinance that can f finally
provide stability. This process has
[1:00:17] taught us that communities need backup
plans and sometimes backup plans for the
[1:00:22] backup plans. Yesterday, with the help
of CDI and their team, we were able to
[1:00:28] bring residents together and share clear
information about what has happened and
[1:00:32] what comes next with our cooperative and
our community. That conversation helped
[1:00:37] the community begin to process
everything we've been through and remind
[1:00:41] us this work matters. Building a strong,
informed, connected community is not
[1:00:46] optional. It's essential.
We also need you as a city council to
[1:00:51] listen to and read the information
residents are sharing with you. What we
[1:00:56] provide is not noise. It is critical
data that directly shapes the next in
[1:01:01] this process. Whether pro cooperative
ultimately purchase the park or the
[1:01:06] ordinance becomes the protections that
residents need. Residents input must be
[1:01:12] a part of your decision-making and not
an afterthought. We do not want to lose
[1:01:17] any more members of our community. We
have already lost one member of our
[1:01:20] committee during this process and we
cannot afford to see that continue. The
[1:01:25] stress, uncertainty, and instability
have real consequences for real people.
[1:01:31] Without your support and without rent
stabilization ordinance, this is not
[1:01:35] one-sided. We risk that is not
one-sided. we risk further harm to the
[1:01:40] very residents this policy is meant to
protect. We need to make sure this
[1:01:44] ordinance moves forward sooner than
rather than later. I also want to
[1:01:48] personally thank Joe Gunn and councelor
Bill Doyle for listening to residents
[1:01:52] and helping them navigate this process.
Their willingness to hear residents
[1:01:56] concerns and engage directly has made a
meaningful difference and we appreciate
[1:02:00] their continued support. And now it is
time for the rest of the city cel
[1:02:05] council to step forward to listen to
residents to meet with this community
[1:02:10] and to understand firsthand why this
ordinance is so very important. You
[1:02:15] cannot fully grasp the urgency of this
situation without hearing directly from
[1:02:19] the people living through it. We are
asking you to show up to engage and to
[1:02:24] take this next step with us.
We have done everything we can to
[1:02:28] organize, educate and prepare. Now, we
need your partnership, your attention,
[1:02:33] and your action. The ordinance is a
crucial step in protecting residents and
[1:02:37] ensuring that this neighborhood remains
stable and rooted in the people who call
[1:02:41] it home. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:02:47] Okay, next up is Kathy Dobbins.
[1:02:53] Thank you, Mayor. Uh Kathy Dobbins, 28
Miss Circle. I'm actually running on
[1:02:57] three hours of sleep. I just got back at
3:00 from camping, so bear with me. Um,
[1:03:01] we've been here, our community has been
consistently asking for one essential
[1:03:05] safeguard, a rent stabilization
ordinance that proves strong,
[1:03:08] enforcable, and future pro protections
for residents. As the Blue Haven
[1:03:13] Cooperative moves forward, we are
looking for backup plan after backup
[1:03:16] plan so that we can protect all
residents. While we recognize the work
[1:03:21] has gone into the current draft, the
carveouts remain unbalanced and leave
[1:03:25] the residents vulnerable to ownership
and park changes. Again, I sent you an
[1:03:30] email with all of our changes and
highlighted exactly what we would like
[1:03:33] to see in there. Um, across Maine,
mobile home parks are being purchased by
[1:03:37] out ofstate corporations that are out of
touch with Maine values. These
[1:03:41] communities strictly are investment
assets to those owners. When these comm
[1:03:46] companies take over, rent increase
sharply. um negligent property
[1:03:51] maintenance is not being done and
residents bear the burden. Communities
[1:03:57] and residents have have a voice in this
process. Uh we know exactly what happens
[1:04:03] when distant ownerships replace local
accountability over the nine 10 months
[1:04:07] that we've been dealing with this. That
is why the carveout matters. Language
[1:04:11] matters. Words matter. As written, they
do not guarantee stability if the park
[1:04:16] is sold to another out ofstate buyer.
They do not ensure protections carried
[1:04:20] forward. They do not protect future
owners from imposing aggressive rent
[1:04:24] increases and undermining the intent of
this ordinance. This is not balance
[1:04:28] policy. This is is is a resident
protection option. And it's not
[1:04:33] acceptable for the community that has
already endured instability over these
[1:04:36] 10 months. We need an ordinance that
protects all residents and all
[1:04:41] populations and demographics.
Regardless who owns the park, whether we
[1:04:46] buy it, another buyer comes in, we need
protection.
[1:04:50] Today, next year, a decade from now, we
don't want to be continually here asking
[1:04:55] for your help. Granted, we like you all,
but I'm tired. I'm exhausted. We have
[1:05:00] put in the miles over the last year with
these corrections. We'll be right back
[1:05:06] here, like I said, fighting these same
battles. Residents are not asking for
[1:05:10] special treatment. We're basically
asking for security and the ability to
[1:05:13] remain in our homes without fear of out
of state investment companies coming in
[1:05:18] to destabilize our over lives overnight.
Your authority and the responsibility to
[1:05:24] correct the ordinance. We're asking to
you to strengthen the language and
[1:05:28] letting us have a voice in that process.
Thank you.
[1:05:31] » Thank you.
[1:05:36] Okay. Next up is Brian Lar Roach.
[1:05:43] Good evening, Madame Mayor, council
members. My name is Brian Larash. I live
[1:05:47] at 19 Reserve Circle over in sunny,
beautiful Blue Haven.
[1:05:51] Uh, before I get into this, I we
actually have a letter that we're going
[1:05:54] to read to Council Doyle. So, it's a
personal letter. Um, so I'm going to
[1:05:58] read through it and make the changes on
the fly. So, if it gets a little hooky,
[1:06:01] I apologize. So, let's give it a shot.
We just want this noted on behalf for
[1:06:05] his record. Uh, dear councelor Doyle, it
is with great sadness and tremendous
[1:06:10] honor that I am here tonight to speak on
behalf of the residents of Blue Haven
[1:06:13] Mobile Home Park to express our deepest
and most sincere gratitude for
[1:06:18] everything that council Doyle has done
for us and our community. When our
[1:06:22] neighbor faced the devastating
resignation of our dear friend,
[1:06:25] councelor Joe Gun, a heavy wave of
uncertainty hit our park. Joe had a
[1:06:31] fierce was a fierce ally and his sudden
departure left many of us completely
[1:06:35] stranded. and if we had entirely lost
our voice on the city council. It was a
[1:06:39] frightening time for our community and
the fear of being forgotten or left
[1:06:43] without presentation was a very very
serious reality. Yet in that exact
[1:06:48] moment of vulnerability, Council Doyle
stepped in to give us a hand. Through
[1:06:52] his time serving our city, he
consistently demonstrated an unwavering
[1:06:56] support for Blue Haven. When we felt
most silenced, he did not simply watch
[1:07:00] from the sidelines. He stepped up. He
listened to our concerns and he
[1:07:04] advocated fiercely for our community,
our well-being, and our security.
[1:07:09] His dedication gave us our voice back
when we needed it most. And we are
[1:07:14] profoundly grateful for the stability
and the peace of mind his efforts have
[1:07:18] helped us secure for our families. And
we know that he will always be there
[1:07:22] anytime we need him in the future. What
sets his service apart is his immense
[1:07:26] professionalism. He brought that into
every interaction.
[1:07:31] He has always approached our community
with respect, transparency, and a
[1:07:35] relentless work ethic. No matter how
complex the issue, Council Doyle
[1:07:39] navigated them with integrity and
competence that earned the deepest
[1:07:42] respect from everyone in our community.
He proved to us that true leadership is
[1:07:47] defined by accountability and action.
Beyond his official duties, we also want
[1:07:52] to acknowledge a genuine friendship that
he extended to us.
[1:07:56] He never treated Blue Haven as a line
item on a council agenda or just a block
[1:08:00] of votes. Instead, he took the time to
know us as people, neighbors, and
[1:08:04] friends. His warmth and his
approachability, his nature, and his
[1:08:09] empathy left a lasting impression in our
hearts.
[1:08:13] We thank you, Councelor Doyle, for your
exceptional service, your steadfast
[1:08:17] defense of our park, and your enduring
friendship. He is a true champion for
[1:08:22] the residents of Blue Haven and we are
incredibly proud proud to have him in
[1:08:26] our corner. We wish him the very best in
his future endeavors. With warmest
[1:08:31] regards the residents of Blue Haven
mobile home park. Uh thank you. I
[1:08:35] appreciate this opportunity to speak
before you. And if I can use these last
[1:08:38] few seconds as our uh our colleagues
have have uh noted that we would love a
[1:08:43] seat at the table during these ordinance
stabilization meetings. Uh if possible,
[1:08:49] we can talk somebody into being on that
committee and I would nominate myself to
[1:08:53] volunteer my services and my time for as
long as it takes to get this thing
[1:08:57] realized and and approved. Thank you so
much for your time. Good night.
[1:09:01] » Thank you.
[1:09:05] » Okay, next up we have Lisa D. Roer.
[1:09:13] Lisa D. Roa, 18 Pine Haven.
I'm here to advocate
[1:09:19] for the importance of this rent
increase.
[1:09:24] The ordinance will provide stabilization
for our community and it will also
[1:09:30] prevent trauma from unjustified rent
increases.
[1:09:35] I feel it is the responsibility of our
town councils to provide this protection
[1:09:41] for our rights.
We have been asking for this to take
[1:09:46] place for some time now.
This will not go away or get better.
[1:09:53] It's only going to get worse.
And our lot rent has doubled since.
[1:10:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:10:07] Okay. Next up, we have Zack Ashley.
[1:10:14] Uh, good evening. Um, today I'm just
standing sorry name and address for the
[1:10:19] record.
>> Okay. Uh, Zachary Ashley. Um, 24th
[1:10:22] Theion Avenue.
>> Thank you.
[1:10:23] » And I just want to thank you for being
responsive to our emails concerning the
[1:10:27] valuations. Um, we've been I've been
communication with my neighbors and all
[1:10:33] of us are with the new valuation hikes.
If there's not a change in mill rate, um
[1:10:39] all of us on our street, Theion Avenue,
are expecting a thousand dollar tax
[1:10:45] increase.
Um
[1:10:48] for many of us, we can weather it, but
for many of my neighbors, this is going
[1:10:52] to push them over the edge financially.
Um and we're a workingass street. I
[1:11:00] don't know if you've ever traveled down
Theion Avenue. Um,
[1:11:05] it's improving, but it's not it's
definitely not Beach A or the
[1:11:11] neighborhoods heading down towards Camp
Dallas. It's very much a working-class
[1:11:15] neighborhood. We and it's a tight
community, but
[1:11:21] um throughout this evaluation process,
we did receive each of my neighbors and
[1:11:27] I did receive letters from the
assessor's office, but we did not
[1:11:31] receive a personal walkthrough
and I was not reached out in regards to
[1:11:38] one.
So,
[1:11:44] I would
like the console just to consider that
[1:11:49] um in regards to this whole process um
because I've done some work in my house,
[1:11:56] but I'm not sure if I've done $93,000
worth of work. So,
[1:12:03] that's all I have.
>> Thank you.
[1:12:10] Okay, that completes the signup list. If
there are any other members of the
[1:12:14] public wishing to speak, please step
forward, state your name and address for
[1:12:17] the record, and you will have three
minutes to address the council.
[1:12:24] » Good evening. Uh Sandra G 52 Camil. Um
this won't take three minutes. I'm just
[1:12:29] I wasn't really planning on speaking
tonight, but I just did want to briefly
[1:12:32] talk about the connector road Smith and
Stockton. Um, I was on the planning
[1:12:36] board in 2004 when this first came up.
Um, I was on the planning board in 2011
[1:12:41] and on the comp plan committee at the
time when it came up again. It's come up
[1:12:45] consistently, I think in 2015. It's been
discussed um for a long time. I believe
[1:12:51] that the Kentucky Fried Chicken, which
was improved probably around 2005, 2006
[1:12:56] or something, was required to provide an
easement, I believe, behind there for
[1:13:01] that connector road. Um, it was a great
idea then. It's a great idea. Now, I
[1:13:06] hope the council moves forward with it.
And I just want to say um there are no
[1:13:11] sidewalks on Stockman where it's going
to connect into. However, there's so
[1:13:15] many cars right now that turn right at
uh the Dairy Queen and then cut off in
[1:13:20] one of those roads to the left in order
to cut out the lights when they're going
[1:13:23] heading down toward the beach. Um so
that's already sort of an issue. I walk
[1:13:27] up that way and bike up that way a lot
and there's already quite a bit of
[1:13:30] traffic there. This will probably add
some to it, but it's already an issue.
[1:13:35] That's all I have to say. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:13:44] » Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of
the council, my former colleagues, and
[1:13:49] my friends. I am Joe Gun, currently at
22 Boonbrook Road, W 2.
[1:13:58] Uh 10 months ago, uh faced with the
unfortunate circumstances that led to my
[1:14:03] uh resignation from the council,
um I called up uh former mayor Bill
[1:14:09] Doyle after I saw the other two uh
candidates, well intentions as they
[1:14:14] were, who offered themselves in the
special election. and other
[1:14:18] circumstances with the issues facing the
citywide. Not to mention in my former
[1:14:23] ward with these wonderful people behind
me at Blue Haven who taught themselves
[1:14:28] the art of politics, persuasion, and
public advocacy in a matter of 10 months
[1:14:34] and doing the hard work that comes with
that. I said to Bill, I said, I know
[1:14:41] that you are getting ready for your next
uh professional chapter trying to be a
[1:14:46] town or city manager somewhere and the
responsibilities and the time that will
[1:14:49] come with that. But your ward uh needs
you right now. And I asked him in
[1:14:55] December when there was no other
candidates willing to poke their heads
[1:14:58] up, please come out of political
retirement and uh do the hard work for
[1:15:03] as long as you can take. And after some
persuasion, he agreed to stand for
[1:15:06] election and the people of my w former
ward returned him to office. And I am
[1:15:13] extremely thankful for his brief return.
And I certainly hope that uh the
[1:15:18] counselors who did not have the
privilege of serving with him during his
[1:15:22] previous stance as mayor as counselor
were able to glean from him uh the
[1:15:26] knowledge and experience that he brought
to the table during his tenure um in
[1:15:32] previous office. and are especially on
the issues of affordability and housing
[1:15:37] that he uh improved the debate and
improved your perspectives that you all
[1:15:42] had to deal with not only with the folks
in my former ward though but citywide as
[1:15:48] this becomes a statewide issue.
And I certainly want to also pay tribute
[1:15:53] to um the recent dedication of the uh of
the of the jetty expansion down in Camp
[1:16:00] Ellis. And they say victory has a
thousand mothers and fathers. And many
[1:16:05] years ago, it was Mayor Doyle who was
pivotal in marshalling the votes
[1:16:11] that got us that that um that jetty. So
while there are many mothers and fathers
[1:16:17] of that, he definitely deserves to be at
the front of that list as finally
[1:16:20] getting that long odyssey done. And I
simply want to simp uh thank him for his
[1:16:26] years of service. And while he is the
Sako's loss, it is New Gloucester's
[1:16:32] gain. He is helping that select board
help a thriving and growing city uh grow
[1:16:38] by leaps and bounds. And I know he's
having the time of his life up there. So
[1:16:42] I wish him all the best as my friend for
over three decades. And I simply want to
[1:16:48] encourage any and everyone behind me in
Ward 3 uh to step up as I did as a
[1:16:54] regular citizen. The city needs you. The
city needs your input and hopefully we
[1:17:00] can have a new qualified member of the
council very soon. And I also look
[1:17:05] forward to your debate on charter
amendments because I think any of them
[1:17:09] will be fruitful and necessary um as it
relates to future uh vacancies on the
[1:17:16] council. Thank you for your time, madame
mayor, members of the council, city
[1:17:19] administrator.
>> Thank you.
[1:17:24] Anyone else wishing to speak?
Yep.
[1:17:29] You can choose who comes up first.
>> I've been up here. Oops. Excuse me. I've
[1:17:35] been up here on this uh what I need to
say. Richard Goslin, Southern Missouri
[1:17:41] Circle at Blue [clears throat] Raven Mo
Home Park.
[1:17:47] I want council to know they would really
appreciate the more returns we've had.
[1:17:55] That help to some extent. But come
December 31st, 2027,
[1:18:04] our rent's going to be $660 a month
versus my 515
[1:18:09] that it had been.
So with that said, the majority of the
[1:18:15] residents in the park are on limited
social security
[1:18:21] and a lot of them I I don't know what
they're going to do. It's tough and
[1:18:27] don't believe that there's any financial
help that the city or organization would
[1:18:33] pay for half their taxes.
So, with that said, and I've said this
[1:18:38] before,
we've got midterm elections coming up
[1:18:45] and [clears throat] there are some
communities,
[1:18:50] but our next door neighbors will larger
beach
[1:18:54] voted in a 5% maximum raise per month
or per year, I'm sorry, at the mobile
[1:19:04] home park. and one of them is steel
loan.
[1:19:09] So hopefully the council does have the
power to put that on the agenda for the
[1:19:16] general public to at least have a choice
to vote for that.
[1:19:22] » Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[1:19:31] » Hi, my name is Pamela Sears. I'm at
eight settlers away. Just wanted to
[1:19:36] thank you all for being here and um just
wanted to talk about the um Stockman
[1:19:44] Smith connector. Um I live right behind
Starbucks and my concern is about the
[1:19:52] wetland area and the runoff that's
coming from the commercial properties
[1:19:58] and Route One. Um, it's been there's
been some significant
[1:20:05] runoff and poor drainage within that
wetland and it's caused a lot of settle
[1:20:10] settlement or erosion in that area and
it's actually affected my driveway. Um,
[1:20:17] and it's also affecting the whole length
of my property. Um, so I'm just asking
[1:20:22] that the council consider um if they're
not interested in a connector to also
[1:20:29] consider the drainage option that's in
there as well. And I sent some photos I
[1:20:33] think as well. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:20:41] Anyone else wishing to speak?
[1:20:46] Okay, not seeing anyone seeking
recognition. Moving on to item seven,
[1:20:50] that is the approval of the minutes for
July 6, 2026. Is there a motion?
[1:20:57] » So moved. Councelor Huitt.
[1:21:01] » Motion made by councelor Hwitt. Any
discussion or comment on the minutes?
[1:21:05] » You want a second?
>> Yes, please.
[1:21:08] » I'll second it.
>> Second by councelor Edwards.
[1:21:14] All right. Now, any discussion or
question on the minutes?
[1:21:18] Hey, roll call vote. Councelor Edwards,
yes. Councelor Parks, yes.
[1:21:22] » Councelor Anin, yes. Councelor Gail,
yes. Councelor Hwitt, yes. Councelor
[1:21:25] Johnston,
>> yes.
[1:21:26] » Motion passes 6.
>> Item eight, consent items. There are two
[1:21:32] and that is item A is the annual report
filing extension and item B is to
[1:21:37] confirm the mayor's appointment to the
shoreline commission of Yana Josephin.
[1:21:41] Is there a motion?
So move.
[1:21:45] » Motion made by councelor Johnston.
Is there a second?
[1:21:49] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Anen.
[1:21:53] » Any item that you wish to have moved?
[1:21:58] » Okay, not seeing anyone. Roll call vote.
Councelor Edwards,
[1:22:01] » yes.
>> Councelor Parks,
[1:22:02] » yes.
>> Councelor Anin, yes.
[1:22:04] » Councelor Gail, yes.
>> Councelor Huitt,
[1:22:06] » yes.
>> Councelor Johnston,
[1:22:07] » yes.
>> Motion passes 6.
[1:22:10] » Okay, moving on to item nine that is
action items. And item A tonight is the
[1:22:15] one reading for the accept acceptance of
councelor Doyle's resignation and that
[1:22:19] is councelor Parks.
>> Thank you madame mayor. Councelor Doyle
[1:22:23] has submitted an email of resignation
and if accepted by council the position
[1:22:28] will be vacated immediately. Be it
ordered that the city council accepts
[1:22:32] the resignation of councelor William
Doyle effective immediately.
[1:22:38] » Motion has been made by councelor Parks.
Is there a second?
[1:22:40] » Second. Second by councelor Edwards.
Any discussion on the item?
[1:22:48] Councelor Hwitt.
>> Just want to thank um councelor Doyle
[1:22:51] for his continued support of the city
and the efforts he made um with all the
[1:22:56] counselors.
>> Thank you, councelor Gail. Yeah, I just
[1:23:00] second that and and um um Councelor
Doyle um uh really helped me and and
[1:23:09] encouraged me to run for school board
many years ago and that got me um really
[1:23:14] involved in the city. So, I thank him
for his commitment to the city and and
[1:23:18] all his hard work and wish him well and
his u his next endeavor here.
[1:23:24] » Thank you. Anyone else?
Council Johnston.
[1:23:28] » Thank you. Um likewise I have served
with Bill or Councelor Doyle through all
[1:23:34] of his service to the community. Um
I thought it was you know noble of him
[1:23:41] to step up and fill the role when
councelor Gun was you know inadvertently
[1:23:45] or uh forced out. So I just would like
to thank him personally for serving ward
[1:23:52] three. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:23:56] Okay. Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards,
>> yes.
[1:24:00] » Councelor Parks,
>> yes.
[1:24:01] » Councelor Arnan,
>> yes.
[1:24:02] » Councelor Gail,
>> yes.
[1:24:03] » Councelor Hwitt,
>> yes.
[1:24:05] » Councelor Johnston,
>> yes.
[1:24:06] » Motion passes 6.
>> Okay, moving on to item B. That is one
[1:24:11] reading of the fee schedule
clarification, and that is Councelor
[1:24:14] Parks.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. It has been
[1:24:17] brought to staff's attention that the
fee schedule adopted on budget night did
[1:24:22] not reflect the correct and current fee
for outside police assignments officer
[1:24:28] with cruiser. The correct fee is $90 per
hour, but the fee schedule adopted in
[1:24:34] May inadvertently reflected $80 per
hour. Because that is a request to
[1:24:40] clarify the correct fee amount. Staff
respectfully asks that this be completed
[1:24:46] through the one reading process.
Be it ordered that the Sco City Council
[1:24:52] approves the fee schedule clarification
to correctly reflect the $90 per hour
[1:24:58] for outside police assignments officer
with cruiser. I move to approve the
[1:25:05] » Thank you. A motion has been made by
councelor Parks. Is there a second? Yes.
[1:25:08] Second.
>> Second by councelor Edwards.
[1:25:11] Comment or discussion on this item.
>> Okay. Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards.
[1:25:17] » Yes.
>> Councelor Parks.
[1:25:18] » Yes.
>> Councelor Anin.
[1:25:20] » Yes.
>> Councelor Gail.
[1:25:21] » Yes.
>> Councelor Huitt.
[1:25:22] » Yes.
>> Councelor Johnston.
[1:25:23] » Yes.
>> Motion passes 6.
[1:25:27] » Okay. Item C is a public hearing for the
proposed ordinance amendment to chapter
[1:25:31] 60, ambulance service to provide for an
annual educational funding allocation
[1:25:36] and an annual ambulance division
equipment reserve fund. And that is
[1:25:40] councelor Parks.
Fire Chief Hamill has requested the
[1:25:45] creation of annual reserves for
educational funding allocation and
[1:25:49] ambulance division equipment, both to be
funded from the ambulance fund. To
[1:25:55] specify that the existing ambulance fund
can be used for these purposes, staff
[1:26:00] has compiled the attached ordinance
amendment for city council's
[1:26:04] consideration.
I move to open the public hearing on the
[1:26:08] proposed ordinance amendment to chapter
60 ambulance service.
[1:26:13] » Thank you. Motion has been made to open
the public hearing. Is there a second?
[1:26:18] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Gail.
[1:26:24] » Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards.
>> Yes.
[1:26:27] » Councelor Parks.
>> Yep.
[1:26:28] » Councelor Anin. Yes.
>> Councelor Gail. Yes.
[1:26:30] » Councelor Hwitt. Yes.
>> Councelor Johnston.
[1:26:32] » Yes.
>> Motion to open the public hearing at
[1:26:34] 7:47. passes 6.
If there are any members of the public
[1:26:39] wishing to speak, please step forward,
state your name and address for the
[1:26:41] record, and you will have three minutes.
[1:26:50] Okay, not seeing any members wishing to
speak. Councelor Parks,
[1:26:54] » I move to close the public hearing and
further move to schedule the second and
[1:26:59] final reading on August 3rd, 2026.
>> Thank you. A motion to close the public
[1:27:04] hearing and move the item to August 3rd.
Has been made by councelor Parks. Is
[1:27:08] there a second?
>> Second.
[1:27:09] » Second by councelor Edwards.
Any discussion from counselors?
[1:27:15] » Okay. Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards.
>> Yes.
[1:27:18] » Councelor Parks.
>> Yes.
[1:27:20] » Councelor Anen,
>> yes.
[1:27:21] » Councelor Gail,
>> yes.
[1:27:22] » Councelor Huitt,
>> yes.
[1:27:23] » Council Johnston,
>> yes.
[1:27:24] » Motion passes 6 to close the public
hearing at 7:48.
[1:27:33] Okay, moving on to item D. That is a
public hearing for the renewal
[1:27:36] application for special entertainment
permit for the Golden Rooster. And that
[1:27:40] is Councelor Johnston.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Chris Rizakos
[1:27:44] doing business as Golden Rooster
Restaurant, 236 Main Street, has applied
[1:27:48] for a renewal of the establishment's
special entertainment permit. The permit
[1:27:52] would be concurrent with the
establishment's liquor license. The
[1:27:55] applicant has paid all applicable permit
fees and the clerk has properly
[1:27:58] advertised the public hearing in
accordance with SACO city code chapter
[1:28:01] 93 entertainment 93-2. The clerk has
also checked with code enforcement, the
[1:28:06] finance department, fire department, and
police department. And there were no
[1:28:10] concerns. I move to open the public
hearing.
[1:28:13] » Thank you. A motion has been made to
open the public hearing by councelor
[1:28:15] Johnston. Is there a second?
>> Second.
[1:28:17] » Second by councelor Gail.
>> Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards.
[1:28:21] » Yes.
>> Councelor Parks.
[1:28:23] » Yes.
>> Councelor Anen, yes. Yes. Councelor
[1:28:24] Gail. Yes. Councelor Hwitt. Yes.
>> Councelor Johnston.
[1:28:27] » Yes.
>> Motion to open the public hearing passes
[1:28:29] 6 at 7:49.
>> If there are any members of the public
[1:28:33] wishing to speak, please step forward,
state your name and address for the
[1:28:36] record, and you will have three minutes.
[1:28:43] Okay. Not seeing anyone seeking
recognition. Councelor Johnston,
[1:28:46] » I move to close the public hearing. It
be ordered that the city council grant
[1:28:50] the renewal application submitted by
Chris Rizakos doing business as Golden
[1:28:54] Rooster Restaurant for a special
entertainment permit to be concurrent
[1:28:56] with the establishment's current liquor
license. I move to approve the order.
[1:29:01] » Motion has been made by councelor
Johnston. Is there a second?
[1:29:03] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Edwards.
[1:29:08] » Any discussion or comment on the item
from councilors?
[1:29:13] » Okay, not seeing anyone. Roll call vote.
Councelor Edwards.
[1:29:16] » Yes.
>> Councelor Parks.
[1:29:17] » Yes. Councelor Anin,
>> yes.
[1:29:19] » Councelor Gail, yes.
>> Councelor Hwitt, yes.
[1:29:20] » Councelor Johnston,
>> yes.
[1:29:22] » Motion to close the public hearing and
approve the order passes at 75060.
[1:29:32] » Okay, moving on to item E that is the
first reading for the Dire Library
[1:29:36] funding request and that is councelor
Hwitt.
[1:29:40] During the fiscal year of 2026
budget process, the city council
[1:29:45] allocated funding for the Dyer Library
for capital improvement projects. As
[1:29:51] part of that discussion, the Dire
Library was asked to present project
[1:29:55] information to the city council and
formally request authorization to use
[1:29:59] these funds. After this first reading,
the final step of the process is to is a
[1:30:05] final reading.
Be it ordered that the SACO city council
[1:30:10] approve the first reading of the Dire
Library funding request in the amount of
[1:30:14] $75,000
and further moves to schedule the final
[1:30:19] reading on August 3rd, 2026. I move to
approve the order. Thank you. A motion
[1:30:24] has been made by councelor Hwitt. Is
there a second?
[1:30:28] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Edwards.
[1:30:33] Any discussion or comment on these
items?
[1:30:36] Councelor Hwitt.
Hello. Um, I'm aware of this project and
[1:30:42] have seen it. Um, as someone who's been
at atteing
[1:30:47] kids being brought in classroom after
classroom into the children's room, it's
[1:30:51] a tight space sometimes. You've got
families with young children. You have
[1:30:55] some um other people. They're trying to
use the same space. And as times are
[1:31:01] getting economically tough for families,
the library is somewhere that people can
[1:31:05] go and enjoy their resources at no
charge. So, I know right now hearing the
[1:31:12] tax valuations, I'm cringing at any asks
in the budget as a counselor. Um, but I
[1:31:18] also want everybody to consider the
benefits that the the library gives us.
[1:31:23] Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Okay. And
I do believe we have Director Smith with
[1:31:28] us and she had a small presentation she
was going to give.
[1:31:34] Good evening. Hello everyone.
[1:31:40] See if my computer works this time.
[1:32:09] Unfortunately, my computer is not
agreeing with the um software for the
[1:32:13] click shore. So, I do apologize that you
won't see it on the screens, but I
[1:32:15] believe you all received my presentation
as part of the packet for this meeting.
[1:32:19] Um so, anyway, uh good evening, Mayor
McFale, and members of city council. Um
[1:32:23] I'm here tonight to present Dire
Libraryies youth services renovation and
[1:32:26] expansion plan. Right now, the youth
services department operates an
[1:32:30] extrained 1,250 square foot space.
Increased family attendance has pushed
[1:32:35] our children's room beyond its
functional limits. Strollers block block
[1:32:39] pathways, tween film Tik Toks next to
babies chewing on board books, and noise
[1:32:43] conflicts compromise both programmatic
quality and public access. Our solution
[1:32:48] is a targeted expansion providing
maximum impact with minimal
[1:32:51] interruption. Designed in partnership
with the architecture firm Woodh Hall,
[1:32:55] we are adding an additional 650 square
feet from an underutilized adjacent
[1:32:59] meeting room. While the final
furnishings are under development, um
[1:33:03] the model in your plan demonstrates how
our we're using age targeted zones to
[1:33:08] best serve our community. There will be
an early childhood area with space for
[1:33:12] dedicated readaloud, creative play, and
stroller parking. Beginning elementary
[1:33:16] readers will have a cozy area for
developing their literacy skills and
[1:33:19] tween will find targeted space for
homework help and maker space.
[1:33:23] Importantly, we'll also proide
comfortable space for parents and
[1:33:26] caregivers to connect and socialize
while supporting early literacy.
[1:33:31] After all a lot of work on this project,
the budget came in much higher than
[1:33:34] anticipated at $113,000.
We are funding it through the anchor
[1:33:38] funding that was set aside in the fiscal
year 26 budget. Um, and we're not
[1:33:42] changing the ask from the city. That's
$75,000 is all that we're looking for.
[1:33:46] We're looking to um we've scoped this
project to fit as well as possible
[1:33:50] within the funds that we had um allowed.
The remaining construction balance will
[1:33:55] be taken from a restricted endowment
that was left very spec narrowly for by
[1:33:59] the Daring family who left the house to
the library um for just this future, you
[1:34:04] know, where an unusual change had to be
made to to make the house into a
[1:34:08] functional space. The other um costs for
furnishing the space will be done by
[1:34:13] targeted fundraising. Um our anticipated
schedule, assuming everything is
[1:34:17] approved and our f funding comes
through, um is to begin all of the early
[1:34:23] steps now with the hope of starting
construction in early 2027 with an
[1:34:28] anticipated completion of late spring
2027.
[1:34:31] Thank you so much for your continued
partnership and I welcome any questions.
[1:34:35] » Thank you. Any questions on the project?
Council Ronin. Thank you, Madam Mayor.
[1:34:39] Um, the first question is to me a little
obvious. We're only three months past
[1:34:44] the budget cycle. Uh, is there a reason
we didn't include this in the 2027
[1:34:49] budget? This seems to be a fairly
extensive renovation, not one that you
[1:34:53] came up with last month. So, I'm really
curious why it wasn't baked in at that
[1:34:57] point in time. Um, and also, it sound
like you answered my previous questions.
[1:35:00] This this budget is a new number, not
one that's recycled from last year. So
[1:35:06] in the um for the fiscal year 26 budget
process I was invited to submit some
[1:35:11] capital projects this was one of them at
that point in time which you know
[1:35:15] January 2025
I 2026 I put in the amount of of $75,000
[1:35:20] kind of as a placeholder um and then it
got designated as sort of a special
[1:35:26] restricted fund for use for this
purpose. Um we have spent the dire
[1:35:30] library association has spent the past
year trying to pull together the details
[1:35:34] for this project to make sure that it's
conceivable. Um needless to say there
[1:35:38] were more zeros to this project when we
first started talking to the architect
[1:35:41] and we've had to scope down really
carefully to ensure that it's something
[1:35:44] that we can manage with the the
allocation given by city council and
[1:35:49] within funds that we have at our
disposal. Um it was not rolled forward
[1:35:53] in the fiscal year 27 budget because
there was a little bit of uncertainty on
[1:35:56] where it actually sat I think in the in
the the big budget um municipal budget.
[1:36:01] Um but I defer to the city administrator
for that.
[1:36:05] » Yeah. Yeah. So um Director Smith is
correct. The library has done everything
[1:36:09] that it was asked to do. council in 2020
for FY26 took that made a motion um to
[1:36:17] put the funds that were set aside in
capital into this special revenue fund
[1:36:22] for this very purpose of her coming back
to council for a presentation and as
[1:36:27] they have projects allow the funds to
flow to them. So um it's not in the 27
[1:36:34] budget. It was in the 26 budget,
>> but allocated in 26 into a fund pool
[1:36:39] that allowed them to pull it forward
when they needed it
[1:36:42] » after coming to council and presenting.
>> Okay.
[1:36:45] » Correct. Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
[1:36:47] » My computer screen is working now. So,
if you want to see just briefly the sort
[1:36:50] of scope of work, we're talking about um
changing the
[1:36:55] taking down the green sections um to
make two rooms kind of merge into one.
[1:37:01] » Any other questions or comments?
Councelor Gil.
[1:37:05] » Um, as a frequent user, uh, I definitely
am in support of the project and see
[1:37:12] definitely see the the benefits and and
value there. Um, I guess there's a
[1:37:18] couple questions on on that on the
budget piece. you mentioned that um you
[1:37:23] had scoped it down but and then uh let's
see on exhibit two I'm not sure what
[1:37:28] slide number it is uh there was a a
table with the costs
[1:37:33] » and you had mentioned that there was a
note uh active collaboration with SACO's
[1:37:38] municipal facilities team is projected
to drive total construction costs below
[1:37:42] the original 113,000 estimate I guess
I'm I just want to
[1:37:48] confirm with the with the schedule that
you have in place and those costs. Um,
[1:37:54] what is the risk for cost overruns? And
if there is a cost overrun, what is
[1:38:00] that? What's the implication to to the
city's budget on that piece?
[1:38:05] » So, there's no um cost. I'm not going to
be asking for more money for this
[1:38:09] project. My understanding is that 75,000
was designed designated for this purpose
[1:38:13] and that's the only amount of money that
I'm asking for at this point in time.
[1:38:17] Um, I hope that we are able to use our
partnership with the city and and
[1:38:22] facilities department to reduce some of
the sort of little things that get that
[1:38:28] come along during part of a construction
project. Um, and to reduce some of the
[1:38:31] costs that can end up being complicated.
Um, but at the end of the day, when if
[1:38:36] and when we run into overages on this
project, um, that is something that we
[1:38:40] will work on our end to cover.
>> Okay. And so, so just to confirm, so it
[1:38:44] sounds like
you've been working with our facilities
[1:38:48] department and and scoping this out and
and coming up with the cost estimates.
[1:38:52] » Yes, they've been they've been um you
know, we've definitely talked with them
[1:38:55] throughout the process to ensure that
we're not overreaching or doing anything
[1:38:59] that their support um would not work
with.
[1:39:02] » Sure.
>> Thank you, Council Ronin.
[1:39:06] » Uh thank you again, Madame Mayor. And
and following on to your question, Will,
[1:39:09] if we are going to be using inkind
services from the city, can we make sure
[1:39:12] that we are accounting for those when we
get done with the final budget act when
[1:39:16] the final budget is totaled so we
understand what the participation of the
[1:39:19] incind services were relative to the
total cost?
[1:39:23] » I am happy to track that, you know, to
the or hopefully I can get tracked on
[1:39:26] the city side since I don't know what
the rates are for everything, but I
[1:39:29] would love to have that number as well.
>> Great. Thank you.
[1:39:33] » Okay. Anyone else?
Okay, thank you very much.
[1:39:40] Okay, not seeing any other questions or
comments. Roll call vote.
[1:39:44] » Councelor Edwards,
>> yes.
[1:39:45] » Councelor Parks,
>> yes.
[1:39:47] » Councelor Anin,
>> yes.
[1:39:48] » Councelor Gail,
>> yes.
[1:39:49] » Councelor Hwitt,
>> yes.
[1:39:50] » Councelor Johnston,
>> yes.
[1:39:51] » Motion passes 6.
[1:39:56] » Okay, that takes care of the action
items for tonight. Moving on to item 10
[1:40:00] under new business. Item A is a call for
letters of interest for the W three
[1:40:04] council vacancy. City administrator.
>> Um so there is going to be a call. Um
[1:40:13] did you want councelor Parks to read the
item commentary?
[1:40:18] » Um we can or we can just do an update
where it is not actually being presented
[1:40:23] and it's under new business.
>> Very well. Um, so tomorrow, um, the city
[1:40:27] clerk will advertise publicly the, uh,
call for interested parties in Ward 3.
[1:40:32] Uh, our charter requires a 21-day
notice. Uh, so August 12th will be the
[1:40:37] deadline for people interested in
running for that seat or being
[1:40:41] appointed, excuse me, for that seat. In
concurrence with that, because uh
[1:40:45] councelor Doyle resigned outside of the
75day window, that position will also be
[1:40:50] advertised for a special election that
will be held at the regular election
[1:40:54] date of November 3. Um so people
interested in being appointed need to
[1:41:00] have their letters in by August the 12th
and a public hearing uh with those
[1:41:05] interested to address council for the
appointment will happen on the August
[1:41:09] 17th uh council meeting night.
Thank you.
[1:41:16] Any questions or comments regarding the
appointment schedule?
[1:41:24] Okay, moving on to item B that is the
proposed charter amendments.
[1:41:29] The administrator,
>> we've received a few um proposed charter
[1:41:32] amendments. Two from councelor Doyle,
two for two from councelor uh Johnson.
[1:41:38] Those have been included in your packet.
Um, we'll continue to work with council
[1:41:43] on making refinements to those charter
amendments. Uh, happy to answer any
[1:41:47] questions this evening if, uh, council
has any.
[1:41:52] » Thank you. On your review of the charter
amendments. Any questions or comments?
[1:41:56] Councelor Gail.
>> Just a technical question on on
[1:41:58] councelor Doyle's. Um, so that will be
continued that will be carried through.
[1:42:05] I keep because the seat is vacant that
that doesn't affect
[1:42:09] » this will come back.
>> These requests will come back to council
[1:42:11] to vote on. So it's up to the council
the remaining council members if you
[1:42:15] wish to move those forward or make
changes to them.
[1:42:18] » Okay. Thanks.
>> Anyone else?
[1:42:24] » And city administrator, what is the
deadline for amendments to be submitted?
[1:42:29] Have we we passed that?
>> We passed that. Okay.
[1:42:31] » So, these are the these are the
amendments that we'll be working with uh
[1:42:34] with the council on. I believe we'll be
coming back on August 3 for first
[1:42:39] reading. Um and then ultimately once uh
council approves proposed charter
[1:42:44] amendments, they get voted on by the
citizens at the November 3rd election.
[1:42:58] and councelor Parks when this comes back
for council vote you are the councilly
[1:43:03] uh resource. Thank you.
[1:43:07] » Okay. Item C is the dire library draft
memorandum of understanding theou city
[1:43:13] administrator.
>> Yep. Um so this is follows through with
[1:43:17] some of the comments made earlier during
uh director Smith's presentation. Uh
[1:43:21] during budget, we determined that it
would be a good idea for both parties to
[1:43:25] codify the relationship that the city
has with Dyer Library for the inind
[1:43:30] services that we um had been providing
and um with the addition of the
[1:43:36] facilities um support. So uh
administration has been working with
[1:43:42] director Smith to propose a draftou. Um
this is under new business. So, we ask
[1:43:49] council to review. Uh, if there are any
suggested changes or questions, we're
[1:43:53] happy to take those into consideration.
Um, we are working with our legal
[1:43:58] counsel to finalize this and it will
come back um at a future time for
[1:44:02] action.
>> Thank you. Any questions or comments
[1:44:07] regarding theou
>> and coun Oh, council Johnston.
[1:44:12] » Thank you. Uh, well, first happy to see
that we're working on anou. Um, I guess
[1:44:18] my only comment for for council or
everyone is given and and I've mentioned
[1:44:24] this the administrator and the mayor
previously, but given that this
[1:44:28] relationship seems to be evolving
specifically more in the area of funding
[1:44:33] and now uh services, city providing
services. Um, I'm just wonder if we
[1:44:41] already have a council liaison. I I
don't think it's unreasonable to give
[1:44:45] that council liaison voting powers
similar to the way BOB is where that's
[1:44:50] also what quasi municipal entity and our
liaison to that board have voting
[1:44:58] rights. U so it's something I mentioned
previously to the mayor. I'm just
[1:45:02] throwing it out there because I think
given the amount of funding and now
[1:45:07] services that we're providing it may be
warranted.
[1:45:12] Thank you. Anyone else?
And councelor Huitt, you are listed as
[1:45:17] the resource and you're okay with that?
Certainly. Thank you.
[1:45:23] » Okay, that completes the new business
items. Moving on to item 11 is the
[1:45:27] administrative update. City
administrator,
[1:45:29] » I do apologize. It is four pages long. I
am going to try to abbreviate it. I just
[1:45:34] want the community to know that uh the
full report is online. Um, and we're
[1:45:39] happy to provide a written report if
anybody wants to stop by city hall.
[1:45:44] [clears throat] Rescheduled community
history project walking tour. Join city
[1:45:48] historian Peter Sconress on Friday, July
31st at 2 p.m. for the 2-hour guided
[1:45:53] experience exploring eight of the newly
installed historic signs throughout
[1:45:57] downtown. Space is limited and
registration is required. Sign up today
[1:46:01] at sakcomain.org/chpalking
tour. RFP for Route 1 north sewer shed
[1:46:08] capacity and infrastructure assessment.
City of SACO seeks proposals from
[1:46:12] qualified engineering consulting firms
to conduct a comprehensive sanitary
[1:46:16] sewer capacity assessment of the Route 1
corridor north of the Milbrook Business
[1:46:20] Park. Proposals will be accepted until
12 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15th,
[1:46:25] 2026.
Remote work through libraries project.
[1:46:29] Dyer Library has successfully completed
its remote work through libraries
[1:46:33] project. Highlighted by an accessible
six to eight person glass meeting room
[1:46:38] on the main floor and paired with
commercialgrade Wi-Fi and wireless
[1:46:41] printing. This modern hub offers SACO's
remote workforce and community groups
[1:46:46] highly functional zero barrier space to
connect and work. Nomination papers were
[1:46:50] made available today, July 20th, at the
city clerk's office for SACO residents
[1:46:55] who wish to seek office in the November
3rd, 2026 election. These elected
[1:47:00] officials seats up this year are mayor,
city counselor for ws 2, 3, and 7,
[1:47:06] school board for wards 2, 4, and six.
All seats are for a three-year term with
[1:47:11] the exception of the ward three
counselor seat, which will be for a
[1:47:14] one-year term to fill out the remainder
of the term due to vacancy.
[1:47:22] 200 registered voters in the city need
to sign nomination papers for mayor. 35
[1:47:27] registered voters in each respective
ward for the city councelor and school
[1:47:30] board members. Nomination papers must be
returned to the city clerk's office 300
[1:47:35] Main Street no later than 12:00 p.m. on
Friday, August 28th, 2026.
[1:47:41] Housing action plan feedback period is
now open. SACO's draft housing action
[1:47:46] plan is available for review and we're
opening a two-week public comment period
[1:47:50] before submitting the plan to city
council for adoption. To review the
[1:47:54] plan, visit our website.org/housing.
[1:47:58] Submit your feedback through the website
form by July 29th.
[1:48:02] Safety improvements on Beach Street and
Ferry Road on the Beach Street and Old
[1:48:07] Orchard Road intersection. Sako Public
Works will be realigning the Beach
[1:48:10] Street crosswalk at the intersection of
Beach Street and Old Orchard Road
[1:48:14] beginning Monday, July 20th. Work is
expected to be completed by July 23.
[1:48:19] While construction is underway, flaggers
will manage alternating one-way traffic
[1:48:23] through the intersection. Ferry Road and
Bay View Road intersection. New stop
[1:48:28] signs will be installed today, Monday,
July 20th. No traffic impacts are
[1:48:32] expected during the sign installation,
though crews will be working in the area
[1:48:37] to complete the project. We ask
residents and visitors to be mindful of
[1:48:40] this new traffic pattern and remind
drivers that they must stop for
[1:48:44] pedestrians in any marked crosswalk
throughout SACO. Saco Fire Department
[1:48:49] launches community connected connect
program. Community Connect gives you the
[1:48:53] opportunity to create a household
profile that can be accessed by SACO
[1:48:56] Fire Department personnel only during an
emergency response. By sharing details
[1:49:01] ahead of time, responders can arrive
better prepared to meet your family's
[1:49:05] specific needs. Participation is
completely voluntary and you decide what
[1:49:09] information you'd like to share. We
encourage all sucker residents to take a
[1:49:13] few moments to create a free community
connect profile. For more information or
[1:49:17] to register, visit communityconnect.io
io info/me.saco
[1:49:24] Jubilee Island music series underway.
Saco parks and recck department hosts
[1:49:28] local musicians for Sunday concerts at
Jubilee Park, a small peaceful landing
[1:49:32] on the Sako River. Bring a blanket or
chair, cross the covered bridge on Water
[1:49:36] Street, and join us. Concerts take place
from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every Sunday
[1:49:41] from July 19 to August 9. The upcoming
lineup includes August 2nd, Maine
[1:49:46] Cats Band and August 9, Jeff Pellerin.
Shows are weather dependent. Check
[1:49:51] suckomain.org/cal
[1:49:54] front slashcal for any cancellation or
rain dates. Harborfest Grand M Marshall
[1:50:01] announced, "We're pleased to share that
Jeda Martell has been named Grand
[1:50:04] Marshall for this summer's Camp Ellis
Harbor Fest. Jedha will be honored
[1:50:08] during a special ceremony at the
festival in recognition of her decades
[1:50:11] of commitment to the Camp Ellis
community. Born in Baford in 1945, Jedha
[1:50:16] moved to Lower Beach Road at age 2 and
has been deeply connected to Camp Ellis
[1:50:20] ever since. Jeda's dedication to the
community has helped keep Harborfest
[1:50:24] alive throughout the decades. After
attending a blessing of the fleet
[1:50:28] ceremony in Portland, she envisioned a
similar local celebration to honor Camp
[1:50:32] Ellis's fishing heritage. Now 81, Jedha
has attended every harbor fest since the
[1:50:38] events revival in 2023 by the city of
Saco volunteers and Save Our Shores Soo
[1:50:43] Bay. We'll meet you at the pier on
August 8th for fireworks and August 9
[1:50:47] for the festival from 10:00 a.m. to 3
p.m. We look forward to seeing you for
[1:50:51] the celebration of our working
waterfronts.
[1:50:56] Parks and Recreational Professional Day
was July 17th and we're proud to
[1:51:00] celebrate the dedicated staff of SOS
Parks and Recreation Department. Thank
[1:51:04] you to the entire parks and recck team
for the outstanding work you do, the
[1:51:07] opportunities you create for our
community. Upcoming council meetings are
[1:51:11] August 3, August 17, and September 14.
The reports.
[1:51:16] Thank you. Any questions or comments for
the city administrator?
[1:51:22] Okay, not seeing any. Moving on to item
12, council discussion and comment. Any
[1:51:26] councilors wishing to share?
Council Edwards.
[1:51:33] I've been thinking about whether I
should make this comment or not, but I
[1:51:37] personally I feel I I want to. Um
I think many SACO residents as well as
[1:51:43] Bford residents were shocked and and
discouraged and saddened by the tragic
[1:51:51] killing of Joanne Sebastian Guerrero. I
know that our city SACO is um
[1:52:01] is it trying to protect our citizens.
Our police
[1:52:07] are not
[1:52:11] actively searching for members of this
community. Um, I would ask that despite
[1:52:19] or despite one's particular
politics, we can all agree that any
[1:52:28] death, whether it's by accident or by
fiat, it's a loss of life from our
[1:52:35] community. I live in the hope that one
day we will be closer to what we say at
[1:52:43] the end of the pledge that we say every
week, every time we're in here, that we
[1:52:48] become closer to being indivisible
with justice and liberty for all.
[1:52:56] » Thank you. Any other questions or
comments?
[1:53:01] Okay, moving on to item 13 that is
executive session.
[1:53:06] Is there a motion? Councelor Parks.
Thank you, Madame Mayor. Be ordered that
[1:53:11] the city council enter into executive
session pursuant to MRSA title 1,
[1:53:17] chapter 13, subchapter 1, subsection
4056E,
[1:53:23] consultation between the municipality
and its attorney concerning the
[1:53:28] council's legal rights and duties
relating to data centers and an
[1:53:33] application by Tower Co. LLC.
>> Thank you. Motion has been made by
[1:53:38] councelor Parks. Is there a second?
Second.
[1:53:40] » Second by councelor Gail. Roll call
vote. Councelor Edwards.
[1:53:44] » Yes.
>> Councelor Parks.
[1:53:45] » Yes.
>> Councelor Anin.
[1:53:47] » Yes.
>> Councelor Gail.
[1:53:48] » Yes.
>> Councelor Huitt.
[1:53:49] » Yes.
>> Councelor Johnston.
[1:53:50] » Yes.
>> Motion to enter into executive session
[1:53:53] passes 6 at 8:15 and we will be in the
city administrator's office.
[2:44:42] All right, everyone. Welcome back. Is
there a motion to exit executive
[2:44:45] session?
>> So moved.
[2:44:49] » Councelor
Onen. Thank you. Second.
[2:44:53] » Second by councelor Edwards.
>> Roll call vote. Councelor Edwards.
[2:44:57] » Yes.
>> Councelor Parks.
[2:44:59] » Yes.
>> Councelor Anin. Yes. Councelor Gail.
[2:45:01] Yes.
>> Councelor Hwitt. Yes.
[2:45:02] » Councelor Johnston.
>> Yes.
[2:45:04] » Motion to exit executive session passes
6 at 9:06.
[2:45:08] » Is there a report?
>> No report, Madame Mayor.
[2:45:11] » Thank you. All right. Moving on to item
15. That is adjournment. Is there a
[2:45:16] motion to adjurnn?
>> So moved.
[2:45:20] » Motion made by councelor Edwards. Is
there a second?
[2:45:22] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Huwitt. Roll call
[2:45:24] vote. Councelor Edwards.
>> Yes.
[2:45:26] » Councelor Parks.
>> Yes.
[2:45:28] » Councelor Anen,
>> yes.
[2:45:29] » Councelor Gail, yes.
>> Councelor Hwitt, yes.
[2:45:31] » Councelor Johnston,
>> yes.
[2:45:32] » Motion to adjourn passes at 9:06. And
thank you everyone and have a great
[2:45:36] night.