Speakers labeled via automated voice-based diarization + AI name-matching against the city's official roster. Automated transcription can still mis-hear a name during fast speech (e.g. a rapid roll-call vote) -- clear near-misses are auto-corrected, but this is not manually verified line-by-line. Treat names as a strong best guess, not an official record.
[0:24] Jonathan Martell: Let me jump, Madam Mayor. Good evening.
[0:28] Mayor Becky Brink: This is a City Council meeting, Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 6 p.m. This meeting will be conducted in person in the Sanford City Council Chambers and via remote video and teleconference pursuant to 1 MRSA Section 403B2D and Section 6 of the Sanford City Council Rules of Procedure. Members of the public may join the meeting by phone by dialing 1-929-205-6099 using the meeting ID 862-3381-9553 and password 790878 or via computer at the link provided. members of the public may also submit comments via the City of Sanford website under government city council contact the council would you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance and in just a moment we're going to have a moment of silence but first I wanted to share that Bob Hardison died last week and I've asked more to read part of his obituary so you would see why this is so very important for us to share just who he was. So please, Maura. Hi. Bob Hardison, who
[2:06] Jonathan Martell: was born in Caribou, Maine, came to Sanford when he and his wife Carolyn opened Atlantic Pump in 1991. He was a very involved community member here in Sanford, including, let me see, he was part of the Sanford Industrial Development Corporation, the Sanford Planning Board, where he served with my dad, which is when I first got to know him, Sanford Springvale Chamber of Commerce, the York County Technical College Board of Directors, the Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council, and he also served as a founding member and continued his Rotary service. He fulfilled his love for sports by serving on the board of Sanford Mainers, and if anybody remembers, he wore the antlers as he went around selling ice cream during the games. And he served on the board of trustees for North Parish Church, which is one of the places I used to see him quite a bit when they, the men would stand there with all the retirees and plan how they were going to do some finished work on the house next door to of the church, so it was kind of amusing for me to watch them pointing and discussing, but that was his retirement fund. He also served for 30 years on the Board of Maine Health and on the Board of Trustees for Goodall Hospital, and he continued to serve on the Cancer Care Center of York County Board of Directors, and then on the Maine Medical Center Board of Directors through 2025. I was able to see him not long before he passed. He happened to move into where my father was. He looked great. It was a bit of a shock to me when he passed away, but I think he was feeling better before that. I met his daughter, and I believe he, I don't know if I met his son, but I met his daughter. Lovely. His wife, Carolyn, still lives there, but he shall be missed. He was a very active, very involved community member in Sanford. And he was also my
[3:47] Mayor Becky Brink: neighbor, so he and his wife and his two children, so I'm glad we could share part of his life. He did an awful lot for our community. He did. He did. Busy guy. And for anybody else who is somebody out there, we can use this moment of silence for that also. So just give us a moment of silence, please. And now for roll call. Our first two councillors have excused absence. The first one is Councillor Plant and Councillor Hitchcock. Somebody who is here is Councillor Trenchmontaine? Here. Councilman Hanselman? Present. Council Martel? Present. Deputy Mayor Herlihy? Present. And I'm Mayor Brink. Also present are City Manager Steve Buck and Executive Administrator Larissa Ricketts. And moving right along to the minutes, and Larissa, was everyone present for these two, or was somebody both? Okay. Okay. Okay, in order to approve the minutes from the regular City Council meeting held on September 15th, 2026, could I have a motion please?
[5:09] Pete Tranchemontagne: Ann? So moved, Madam Mayor. Pete?
[5:11] Mayor Becky Brink: I'll second that. Thank you, all those approve it? And then in order to approve the minutes from the Executive Session of the City Council held on October, on September 15th, 2026,
[5:25] Ayn Hanselmann: could I have a motion please? Pete? I will motion to accept the minutes.
[5:31] Pete Tranchemontagne: Ann? And I would second that, Madam Mayor. All those in favor?
[5:35] Mayor Becky Brink: You will notice if they don't raise their hands fast enough, I call on them anyway. So hopefully they get used to it. Now I am going to do the Mayor's report, and this is going to be a little different because on part of it, to get a big picture of stuff, I am going to be moving from one person to another to explain their role in part of this. And this is probably one of the longer mayor's reports I have ever done, and the reason is there was a lot of questions about what is the mayor's responsibility, what is the counselors responsibility. And so there's about three or four things that I thought okay with all the questions that were asked we probably should have done on this a while ago. So I'm going to start with the mayor's role. Unbeknownst to everybody, I'm not the complete authority. So just to let people know, the mayor shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes. I'm not really a head. Ceremonial purposes. The mayor shall have no regular administrative or executive duties. Our authority is limited. It shall be the duty of the mayor to preside at all meetings of the council, to develop after consultation with the city manager the agenda for the council meetings. After consulting with the councilors, represent the city council in all dealings with the city manager and all statutory and advisory boards, commissions, committees, in person or by delegation. The Mayor shall be considered the seventh member of the City Council until all the powers and duty confer upon the City Council. The Mayor shall vote as a member of the City Council at all meetings of the City Council. So in other words, that makes us a team. I'm no more important than any of the rest of them. And I can't make any decisions without all of us voting on it. You'll notice that we vote on everything that we do, and you'll see on this agenda we vote on everything. I cannot just arbitrarily say this has to be done. So now as I'm a part of the City Council, this is the duties of the City Council that I am a part of. We appoint the City Manager, Planning Board, Zoning Boards of Appeal, Board of Assessment Review, Housing Authority, City Attorney, City auditor and appoint members of other city boards, commissions, and committees that are created by the City Council. By ordinance, create, change, and abolish offices, department agencies, and committees, and other offices, departments, and agencies established by this charter. We have a city charter and everybody here has to go by that city charter. They cannot go beyond it, underneath it, over it or under it. They have to follow it. The City Council, now I'll start with our very important duty, the City Council shall establish a budget. Keep that in mind because I will come back around to the budget. The City Council makes, alters, and repeals ordinances, develops a set of priorities and objectives for the City, perform an annual performance and review of the City Manager. Nobody else, just the City Manager. Provide an annual audit. Now, we don't really do the audit. We hire a company that comes in and does that. Be responsible for negotiating all contracts. Make investigations into the affairs of the City and the conduct of any City departments. Neither the Councilor nor any of its members, including the Mayor, shall direct or request the appointment of any person or the removal from office by the city manager or by any subordinates. So that shows you I can't tell Steve to hire or fire somebody. That's not my job. That's not our job. We're limited. Except for the purpose of inquiry and investigation, the city council and its members shall deal with administrative service solely through the City Manager. We cannot do it ourselves. We go through Steve. And neither the City Council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager, either publicly or privately. The Mayor and the City Council are not the police, nor are we to pretend to be one. We also are not in charge of any departments. It is not our job. When citizens email or express concerns as elected officials, we are to pass it on to the city manager to handle. We do not handle those, as it is his or her job, not ours, to handle these situations. We are required to follow the Charter, the rules and order of business, and the code of conduct. That is our challenge. The second thing I would like to talk about, and actually I might go, yes. I would like to address about the mill and the unhoused population. People think that this is something that we quickly do and can do and can resolve. Let me tell you what's happened in the last five years. I have worked on the homeless task force in this city for that amount of time. This involved multiple agencies that met every week. Under the direction of Diane Small, who's back here, we developed 19 strategies to address the issue of the unhoused population. Our community had several hundred unhoused on the streets at that time. time. After putting strategies in place, we now have under 50. That is better than any city around us. And if you are wondering about that, go to Biddeford after dark and go down their main street and you'll see how many homeless people are on their streets. The city and several citizens had concerns about the mill area and this group of people. As a result of more investigation Steve Buck shared with the City Council plans that we needed to put in place and to address the issues of the unhoused at the mill. First we needed to declare this building abandoned so that we could legally go into the building and remove anyone who is there illegally. If you remember several meetings ago we just did that at our meeting. So keep in mind I use the term, we have to legally do stuff, which is why we had to declare that an abandoned building, which did not make it our property, because we don't want that to be Sanford's property, because that would cost us millions of dollars. So that's what took so long for us to do that process. The police and Chief Small have been in the building several times late at night just to see what was going on. Multiple times the people who are hanging out in the building were asked to leave. And Steve's going to go on in just a minute and so is Maura about some other situations that happened around that. Next Steve asked this, oh, in fact Maura I'm going to ask you to speak in just a minute if you're ready. Steve asked the State Land Bank and the DEP to come in and view the building for assistance with our situation. Last week they came down and met with Steve, Michelle, Maura to do a run-through. We are now waiting for their response. We are hoping the state will take charge of the building. The city does not own this building. So, Maura, could you tell me about that visit because you were on that?
[14:01] Jonathan Martell: Yes. Well, last Tuesday, as you remember after our agenda meeting, I went down to International Woollen with the city manager, the assistant city manager, our Growth Council Director Keith McBride, as well as members of the Federal EPA, the State DEP, the Maine Land Bank, and our own Environmental Consultants, TRC. TRC was in charge of the tour, and we toured International Woolen. I had not been in the building for many years. I have been in there, as I know all the fire department has been in that building here in Sanford. The last time I was in there, one of our local bikers, I like to see him on his bike all the time, which is why I call him that, Jim, was still the caretaker and had been for many years when, without his watchful eye, the building had definitely been deteriorating and I could see that when I went inside. However, with some noted areas of concern, the building is still currently stable, viable, not the greatest, it's a huge risk, as the fire department would say, but it's, except for one little, a couple of spots I saw, it's not in danger of collapsing. The reason for the visit was to see the condition, get information from TRC about the various issues facing any developer and or the various issues that would face the federal state or local government should the building be torn down having last torn the toward the building with a developer I do know that the width of the International Wollen Building is the biggest issue for any developer essentially there is an additional cost to finish due to the added width but there's no added value gained in obtaining more rental value as a result of having to finish more space. So they don't love this wide of a building. So it is a complex redevelopment project. We all know the building has become an attractive nuisance without being under Jim's watchful eye. We have had broken windows, broken wire and pipe stripped from the building, trash chewed about. Despite the city's efforts, the building has also attracted a homeless population looking for a roof over their head. Prior to the visit, approximately 10 to 12 individuals were removed from the building. I do have pictures from the inside of the building. Should any of the councilors be interested in seeing them? You'll see that a lot of it's vacant. Some of it has lots of equipment in it. It's interesting that the water damage is on the lower floors, but you don't see too much evidence on the higher floors. There are things as a building owner I was concerned about, but still the ability to rehab it, I just think it's a very difficult building to rehab. That's what I saw when I was there.
[16:29] Mayor Becky Brink: I'm going back to one other question people have asked about this. Why don't we just take it down? Here is the reason. The boiler building, which is the smaller building on the right side of the mill, it's the one with the big chimney stacks, two of them were there, used to be there and they're now gone, that building is going to cost $5 million to take down. Down, and we know how small that is compared to the mill. By the way, we have a grant to take that down. It was one of the last grants offered for this type of project. And that will begin, we'll start this November and move into April will probably be the time we'll bid it out, and then April will probably be the time we take it down. If that small a building costs that amount of money, can you imagine how much the mill, that big mill would cost, this building would cost probably well over $30 million to remove. The Council does not feel that it is fair to the Sanford taxpayer to want to spend that amount of money on taking down that building. We are still working on reasonable solutions for the unhoused in our community. Steve, I have one more section after that, but I wanted to, so that people can get this whole I tear together. I wanted to go on to your report for the mill part of your report and then back to me.
[17:59] Steve Buck: Can do that? So title this chronically unhoused heritage crossing international woolen mill update. The city continues to address significant public safety property saying is property sanitation and quality of life concerns associated with a relatively small number of chronically unhoused individuals whose activities are having a disproportionate impact on the historic mill district as well as heritage crossing in the surrounding public spaces, businesses, and private properties. The City recognizes the frustration being expressed by residents and businesses and understands the perception that insufficient actions are being taken. Considerable work is occurring, however, through enforcement, cleanup, property remediation, redevelopment planning, and coordination with State, Federal, and private partners. Hang on to the use of the word partners. Partners. Current enforcement actions, the International Woollen Mill remains one of the most significant challenges. The massive vacant complex presents serious structural, environmental, fire and life safety hazards and continues to attract unauthorized entry despite repeated attempts to secure it. Cities expended over $25,000 in the last year trying to secure that complex and can't come close. City Council previously declared the International Willow Mill property abandoned pursuant to state law, providing additional authority to address conditions on the property and enforce criminal trespass. That declaration does not, however, transfer ownership of the property to the City or make the City responsible for ongoing maintenance, security, cleanup, or care of this privately owned complex. Regco owns the complex. It's a corporation that did not go bankrupt. It did not receive protective actions pursuant to bankruptcy. On September 30th, the Sanford Police Department conducted a significant enforcement operation within the International Woollen Mill Complex. They cited approximately 13 individuals for trespass and they could cite them for criminal trespass if found there again. In. They've developed an ongoing response program for unauthorized entry into the complex and will continue to do such enforcement actions. Following that sweep on September 30th, individuals displaced from the International Woolen Mill began camping nearby city property and on sidewalks adjacent to the mill. The city is addressing those conditions through its existing authorities, governing, camping, and applicable laws concerning obstruction of public ways. The cities also will be addressing an unlicensed food operation occurring within the public way that is operating without the required VICTUA's license. These enforcement efforts are not intended simply to move individuals from one location to another. Their larger objective remains breaking the repetitive cycle involving a small number of individuals who repeatedly generate police, fire EMS, property, sanitation, and public safety responses. Meaningful progress will require not only city action but cooperation among service providers, the district attorney's office, the courts, and the broader state judicial and behavioral health systems, so that repeated unlawful conduct has meaningful intervention and accountability. I will hereby note that there are significant deficiencies in both mental health and substance use disorder beds. I want to commend the York County government for constructing with their opera funds a new facility that will be coming online. It was supposed to be online for June. It's now supposed to be online for December. They'll help to significantly address those capacity issues. So again, I applaud their efforts. Cleanup and conditions in the mill yard and Heritage Crossing. Public Works has repeatedly removed trash and debris from the mill yard and surrounding areas. While some of this material is associated with individuals experiencing homelessness, City staff have also documented substantial illegal dumping by other residents who apparently view the mill yard as an informal disposal area. It is therefore inaccurate to attribute all trash and debris in this area to the unhoused population. Look to your neighbors and discuss that those actions with them as well. City will continue targeted cleanup and enforcement activities where appropriate while recognizing the that repeatedly cleaning private property in areas subject to reoccurring illegal dumping is a resource intensive and cannot be substituted for a permanent solution to the international woolen mill complex. Again, as referenced on September 30th, we had a redevelopment partnership taking place. It was after the enforcement sweep. Immediately following that, the city participated in an extensive two-hour tour and assessment of the complex with representatives of EPA Region 1. The representative of EPA Region 1, I asked him how much the entire Region 1 budget is, which he grinned for a moment. I said, because I'm going to need it all. That's the magnitude of what needs to be addressed down there. there. Maine Department of Environmental Protection had at least six individuals there. We had the State of Maine Land Bank Authority. I'm very proud of that. The State of Maine has a Land Bank Authority. That stemmed from our land bank here. Our work here translated to the State. The State of Maine now has a Land Bank Authority. So we met with them because they have the bonding capacity to take this type of a project on, from the acquisition, further rec will close out some of the environmental remediation, and they can break the liability chain of environmental responsibilities there, to put that into the hands of a developer, which we had a developer on hand that day. The land bank will not acquire or do work without a developer being attached to the project. This is what our city does well. We're seeking a public and a public-private partnership with all hands on deck, all resources that are available, because it's going to take that kind of mustering of resources because the scale and environmental complexity exceeds the resources of our city alone. Emphasis. So the purpose of the tour was to allow the participating organizations to evaluate how best we can utilize their resources in a combined effort to address the complex. The inspection confirmed that the International Woollen Mill is an extremely challenging environmental, structural and public safety problem and an attractive nuisance in our downtown. It also helped dispel some of the information currently circulating about the property. When I see the information that's circulating around in the social media realm, much of that is grossly inaccurate. Most importantly, the assessment demonstrated that redevelopment remains an option, environmental remediation remains an option, and selective removal and reuse use of portions of the complex remain options. Complete demolition and removal of the entire complex may ultimately be considered but is also potentially the most difficult alternative. No one wants to finance that. The City's strategy is therefore to continue assembling the federal, state and municipal resources with our public, and public-private partnerships in order to address this mill. The boiler house demolition and remediation that is continues to move forward. The most tangible example of this strategy is the former International Woollen Mill boiler house. The city successfully obtained a $5 million grant from the federal EPA funding to demolish the former boiler house. Those grants are now down to $500,000 per. To remediate environmental contamination, preserve the structural elements that supports Pioneer Ave, including the retaining wall, and ultimately create additional parking and redeveloped space. space. The project will also materially change the western edge of the mill district by moving the most visible portion of the International Woodland Mills blighted property further away from those properties that have been redeveloped. TRC is the city's environmental consultant and is completing the engineering and environmental work for the project. They're putting that out to bid this November for the start of demolition and removal in April of 2027. So the larger response, the recent activity of the International Woollen Mill and Heritage Crossing is part of a much longer city effort involving police, fire EMS, public works, general assistance, code enforcement in our administrative offices, housing and service providers, environmental consultants and outside agencies. Cities undertaken repeated clean up and enforcement activities, work to secure dangerous properties, addressed encampments and impacts on public spaces, developed a coordinated response to of the chronically unhoused population, pursued outside funding, and worked to create long-term redevelopment and remediation strategies. Though the City hears and recognizes the frustration of our residents, businesses, property owners, and those who use Heritage Crossing in the historic district, the impacts occurring there are real and should not be minimized. At the same time, these problems involve homelessness, serious mental illness and substance use disorders, private property ownership, criminal conduct, environmental contamination, dangerous structures, redevelopment economics, and the limitations within the behavioral health and judicial systems. They cannot be resolved through a single enforcement action by the city alone. Complaining about them does not assist the situation. We are aware. So the September 30th enforcement operation will continue. We will continue to have work there at Heritage Crossing. We're moving rapidly forward on the first $5 million boiler house demolition and relocation in there, and we'll continue to muster all resources and partners to be able to address
[28:12] Mayor Becky Brink: The complex. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. I just wanted to point out a few things. Things. If you are wondering what the trash is that we know is not the homeless trash, it is the toilet that is down there. It is the washing machine, the dryer, the refrigerator that somebody carted in and left down there, and many other big items that there is no way a homeless person would have that piece, especially a toilet, just sitting there. There. Also, I know how hard this must be for RANCO, the business that's down there. They are very special to my heart. I really love all the people that work there. They are very special people who do people's hair down there, and for all of us women who love to have our hair done, sometimes these people listen to our problems, and they are amazing at doing that. We're working as fast as we can. We have not forgotten you, and we will keep going. We won't let it stop, and you'll notice that Steve is now getting pushing the state, and hopefully we can get the state to take possession of that building, which if that is gone, then hopefully the population can go elsewhere. I want to just talk a minute about the homeless population. People had heard there was a possibility of a warming center down around there. We are not approving a warming center down around Carl Lamb School. For the people of the PTA and all those groups of parents who've come and are questioning us, how dare we put one down there? We are not. We already learned from putting a warming shelter in Lafayette School in that neighborhood. That neighborhood became peppered with needles all over the place, and we can't do that near a school. Also you have the YMCA there that has a daycare. People take the kids out walking around. There were needles would be everywhere if we allowed that building that's down there to be turned into a warming shelter. That is not an appropriate place near two places that house children. So in all of doesn't take a whole lot of wisdom to realize that would not be a good situation. So we are still looking for stuff, and hopefully we will find something. So if somebody finds the perfect spot, let us know. Also this has been quite the... By the way, if you haven't figured out, I hate the end of September, October until we have voting. How many people hate the commercials that are on right now? They're so depressing and no one's telling us what they're going to do. They're just telling us what the other person is doing wrong. So we'll get through this. Somehow we'll make it to the first part of November when we all go to vote. But I want to straighten out some stuff that was said the other night at candidates night. And the only reason I'm doing that is because it involved the school system. It involved Brett Williams who runs the SPAC. He's the director of that. And it was inferred that nothing is going on there I have season tickets there I go sometimes twice a month to a program that is there are phenomenal programs better than some of the ones I've seen in New York and Boston Brett does an excellent job at keeping that place full and advertising so the person I'm not going to say who made the comment I'm going to say they're uninformed when they say nothing is going on in that center because it's very busy and I felt very bad because Brett works very hard and if you've ever gone to any of the programs there he's dynamic when he introduces stuff I would like to work for him so he is great all right I'm now going to turn this back over to Steve for the last part of his report you
[32:11] Steve Buck: know I had one other topic to cover this evening this is the Industrial Development Standards Task Force they're having their fifth meeting it's coming up next Wednesday at 6 p.m. the Industrial Development Standards Administrator's Task Force will hold that meeting on the 14th, representing an important milestone in the work undertaken during the City's moratorium periods for both biosolids, thermal processing facilities, as well as data centers. Task Force has now progressed from identifying public concerns through review of existing federal, state, and local regulations, to find the regulatory gap analysis, development of conditional use frameworks, and preparation and subsequent planning codes, review of draft ordinances. So I drafted the first draft of the conditional use for both biosolids and data centers. I submitted that to our codes and planning department. They did a thorough review on that from the perspective of the planning board having to implement what they would find for lack of specificity or clarity in the draft ordinances. I then went back and reworked what is now known as draft two for each of those industries. This next meeting is intended to be a decision meeting rather than another general research session. The task force will focus on a limited number of outstanding policy matters for each industry and provide final direction necessary to complete the final ordinance drafts. There are seven outstanding areas for biosolids thermal processing that we'll look at for the committee to give further input on, and there are seven areas for the data centers
[33:45] Lawrence Furbish: as well. Well, given
[33:49] Steve Buck: my view of the social media climate as well as watching the last elected officials' work session in here, the candidates' night, I want to express the concerns around regulate the impact, do not decide by the name of the use. So the committee has worked hard. An important principle underlying this work is that the task force does not need to determine that either industry is inherently good or inherently bad, nor does development of conditional use standards presume a future application will actually be approved. The City's responsibility is to identify the actual impacts associated with the proposed use and determine whether those impacts can be addressed through objective, stringent, and enforceable standards. That is the principle in action that we use for the for the development permitting of all projects in the city. For example, large buildings can present significant risk involving fire, structural integrity, electrical systems, emergency access, and occupant safety. We do not prohibit large buildings simply because those risks exist. Instead, building, fire, electrical, and life safety codes become increasingly stringent as the scale and complexity of the buildings increase, and apparent an applicant then must demonstrate compliance before that building can be occupied. Similarly, I always use the gas station example. A gas station stores large quantities of highly flammable petroleum, creates the potential for spills and groundwater contamination, generates traffic, requires fuel deliveries. Rather than concluding that the existence of those risks inherently requires prohibition of every gas station, environmental regulations, tank standards, fire codes, and local language requirements have adapted to regulate those impacts. So a particular proposal must satisfy those requirements in order to proceed. That is the intent of the conditional use standards that are being developed. The questions are, what is the identified impact? Is it already adequately regulated by the existing federal or state or other regulatory program? If not, is there a legitimate local regulatory gap? Can Samford establish an objective and enforceable standard to address those gaps? And can a particular applicant demonstrate compliance with that standard? No project can be built unless they achieve compliance with those standards. So our next step, we will look at the conditional use drafts that are already in place. The goal is to advance the completed ordinance package to the Planning Board in November and to the City Council in December.
[36:26] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you, Steve. And I believe we have at least two people who are here who are on that committee, if anybody has any questions after, and Alex, you're on that committee, Alex Cleary, and is Dave Parent, Dave Parent is on that, and Maura Herlihy, is there somebody else? Alex from Codes, is he here too tonight? She is. Oh, she, oh, sorry, she's here. Anybody else that I'm missing? So we have a lot of people on that, there's lots more who are on that, so I think we were concerned about the data center and the Ares project and these guys were tasked with not only addressing those issues but any future issues that we could possibly have so I really appreciate their giving a huge amount of time to this process. All right, let's move right along the presentation under communications and presentations. Chief Susie, would you come on up? We've got some fire department promotions and some fire department awards. And you can introduce your team. I see the glasses. I think he's getting older.
[37:43] Steve Buck: It's allergies. Take some Zyrtec. You won't need your glasses.
[37:51] Speaker G (unidentified): Can I have Alex
[37:55] Mayor Becky Brink: Delores come up? Is your mic on? Is that mic on? Wait a second. Here comes Ben. Zooming down here. Here's our hero. And [Speaker G (unidentified): Sue. One second.] and he's got one more thing to now try it that [Speaker G (unidentified): better kind] of do testing how's that sounds louder but your voice doesn't it
[38:54] Speaker G (unidentified): Doesn't like my voice there. That's better. That's good. I'll start out the evening first. Thank you for having us here tonight this evening. I have the privilege of introducing the newest promotion to the Sanford Fire Department leadership staff, as well as recognizing the first four members selected to serve as CAR-8 field support specialists. I'll start off through a competitive process that included review of qualifications, interviews, and testing. The member standing before you has demonstrated the knowledge, experience, professionalism, and the commitment necessary during the leadership specialist position that he's about to take. Effective September 14, 2026, firefighter paramedic Alex Delorge was promoted to the rank of lieutenant with the Sanford Fire Department. Lieutenant Delorge has served with the Sanford Fire Department for the past five years as a firefighter paramedic. With this promotion comes not only a new rank, but a new level of responsibility to lead our firefighters and paramedics, support the mission of the department, and help develop those who will one day follow in his footsteps. So, Alex, who would you like to have in you? Of
[40:19] Mayor Becky Brink: course. Does the mayor get to hold the baby? She's come in. This is your time to stab him if you want to.
[40:56] Speaker G (unidentified): Good. Alex, will you just stay up here with us? So, next, can I have our CARS 8 staff come up? Tonight, also, with the support of the City Manager, the City Council, and the Mayor, I'd like to introduce you to our four new promotions. We're recognizing the important step forward in the delivery of emergency medical services in the City of Sanford. The appointment of our first four EMS field support specialists into the city manager known as CAR-8. The EMS field support specialist is a line-level position with the Sanford Fire Department with one specialist assigned to each shift. These individuals provide direct support and oversight of EMS-related activities in the field while also taking on the responsibility of EMS functions within the station and throughout the whole department. The position requires extensive knowledge in paramedicine, medication procurement and accountability, quality assurance and quality improvement, inventory management, medical liaison responsibilities, and the delivery of continuing medical education. More importantly, these four positions will help us build our CAR 8 program from the ground up. They will establish our expectations, develop practices, mentor our new professionals, and simply shape the future of EMS delivery to the citizens of Sanford. They are not only simply stepping into four new positions, but they are establishing what these new positions will become. So effective November 1st, 2026, firefighter paramedic Ryan Goodrow is promoted to an EMS field support specialist or CAR-8 going on, assigned to Charlie Shift. Ryan has served with the City of Sanford for more than 26 years as a firefighter paramedic. Effective November 1st, Firefighter Paramedic Ed Moffitt is promoted to an EMS Field Support Specialist Car 8 assignment to Bravo Shift, and Ed has served with the City of Sanford for eight years as a Firefighter Paramedic. Firefighter Paramedic Brian Ackley will be promoted to a Car 8 assigned to Delta Shift, and Brian has served with the City of Sanford for more than 12 years. years. An effective November 1st, 2026 firefighter paramedic Justin Barnaby is promoted to an EMS field support specialist car eight assigned to alpha shift and Justin has served with the city of Sanford for the past six years as a firefighter paramedic. And to all of you leadership is not simply a title or rank or position and it's not measured by what is written on your badge or what vehicle you were assigned to. Leadership is determined through your actions. It's having the courage under pressure, showing compassion when people are expecting something in the worst moments of their lives, making difficult decisions when others are looking for you for direction, and maintaining an unwavering commitment to the people you serve and the people you lead. So I'd like to be the first to congratulate you and whoever is going to pin you, if they could come up. And thank you to all the councillors and the city manager for allowing this to move forward and what the next steps will be for our city. Thank you.
[45:22] Mayor Becky Brink: Just give them a few minutes to put all the pins and stuff on.
[45:59] Speaker G (unidentified): So, Firefighter Paramedic Brian Ackley, Firefighter Paramedic Ed Moffitt, Firefighter Paramedic Justin Barnaby, and Firefighter Paramedic Ryan Goodrell. [Mayor Becky Brink: Excellent. Alex,] can you step forward and sue Cody? Please
[46:54] City Clerk: raise your right hand. Do you, do you, Alex Delorge, solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Maine so long as you shall continue a citizen thereof? I do. And do you, Alex Delors, swear that you will faithfully discharge to the best of your abilities the duties incumbent upon you as the a-shift, lieutenant, paramedic, d-shift, I'm sorry, lieutenant paramedic for the City of Sanford Fire Department according to the constitution and laws of this state and will in all respects observe the provisions of the charter and ordinances of the City of Sanford so help you God.
[47:44] Joshua Blake: I still don't
[48:03] Jonathan Martell: get to hold the baby. It's okay, it's okay.
[48:14] Speaker G (unidentified): Next the recipients for the Stork Awards. So once again thank you. These fine people stand before you this evening to recognize a moment that reminds us why we do what we do. A moment that rises above the chaos, urgency and unpredictability that so often define emergency medicine. Tonight we have the privilege of celebrating life in its purest form. The story began in the early evening when our crews were dispatched to a Sanford home for a citizen in active labour. Without hesitation our staff responded, assessed the patient and did everything they could do to make her comfortable and prepare for what was quickly becoming clear. A new baby girl was ready to enter the world and she had chosen our incredible crew to welcome her. A Stork Award is more than recognition of a clinical skill. It's a tribute to compassion, teamwork, calm under pressure and the ability to provide exceptional care during an extraordinary moment. Delivering a baby in the field is a rare event and in the career of an EMS provider. When it happens it leaves a lasting impression, not only to the family involved, but to every member on the crew who shares that experience. Like I told you in the last one, I've only seen this twice, now three times. Tonight I'd like to recognize Advanced EMT Carson Estella, who's not with us, just not here. Firefighter Paramedic Alex Belanger, who's not here this evening, Firefighter EMT Kevin Lambert, Firefighter EMT Joseph Wilber, and Captain Joe Wilber responded to a call that would become part of the family's history forever. What began as an emergency response quickly became a moment where training, teamwork, compassion, and instinct all came together. With professionalism, empathy, and clinical excellence, this crew helped deliver a healthy baby girl and ensure both mother and child were cared for. On many of the calls we respond to, people are experiencing one of the worst moments of their lives. We are called when someone's sick, injured, frightened, or facing uncertainty. Our job is to enter those moments, bring order to the chaos, and provide the best care we possibly can. But every once in a while, we're given something different. We're given the opportunity to be there in the very beginning. On this call, our firefighters and EMS responders provided were not simply emergency responders. They became part of a family story. They were among the first hands to welcome new life into the world, among the faces of the family that would associate with the birth of their daughter. That's something no textbook can teach or protocol can fully prepare anyone for. It takes training, critical skill, but it also takes compassion, confidence, teamwork, and heart. Those qualities represent the very best of the men and women who serve our community every day, and they're the qualities that make me incredibly proud of the staff that we have in Sanford. Tonight, I'm very happy to provide stork awards. Many of these awards serve as a reminder that we never truly know what the next call will bring, or challenge to our training, test of our composure, or ask us to step into someone's life at a moment they will never forget. And sometimes, if we are fortunate, that call gives us the privilege to witness a new life begin. in. So thank you all and a letter we got from the state of Maine. Maine EMS and EMS children's program would like to recognize this high quality patient care and exemplary service during a recent EMS response. We just got this two weeks ago. On January 8th of 2026 the state goes through and checks all these. We just got it two weeks ago. So on January 8th, 2026, at approximately 515, Sanford Fire Department responded to a woman in active labor. During the course of this EMS response, the crew successfully delivered a newborn baby girl, providing continued EMS care while transporting to Maine Health, Maine Medical Center, Biddeford. The care provided represents all the ideals of emergency medical services personnel. In recognition of this, Maine EMS awards historic pin to the following individuals standing before you this evening. Congratulations on the successful delivery and your commitment to improving care of children in the system in the Maine emergency medical system. Signed, Mark A. Minkler, Program Manager, EMS for Children, Maine Emergency Medical Services.
[54:01] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you, I'm done. Well, they got the award here before the baby was walking, at least.
[54:24] Speaker G (unidentified): Maybe. Hold my comments.
[54:29] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you, Chief Susi, for bringing that to us so that we could have some joy with your department. And I'm going to just take a few-minute break for those people who don't want to stay for the rest of the meeting, because I know, especially with the babies, it's a little hard to stay too much longer. So, please, you're more than welcome to leave. Babies are so great. I wonder how many of you can fit in the elevator. Okay, we're going to move on to our next agenda item, which is a presentation from the superintendent of the Sanford Water District regarding fluoridation of the municipal water. And Dave Parent, come on down. And I think you did this presentation about two years ago, too, to enlighten us.
[57:36] Public commenter (water fluoridation presenter): I think I did. I think I did. Yeah, I've talked about fluoride many times, so I've got a deja vu going on there. So, thank you for having me here tonight. I always appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about water, and this is about water. So, I want to start by recognizing Melissa Alapalo, who's a trustee. I also had Keith Levaster here. Oh, there's Keith. Keith, district engineer, and Nick Tumalo, who's our water quality manager. Asked them all to come tonight, and they agreed. agreed. So I'm going to talk about fluoride. I was asked to talk about fluoride. In Sanford, we do fluoridate the public water supply and have done so for many years. Either your dentist or your hygienist is the person to talk to about the benefits of municipal fluoridation. Your doctor would be a good person to talk to about any potential health effects or benefits of fluoridation. I am neither of those people, so I'm not going to talk about that tonight. There's also organizations out there who are opposed to municipal fluoridation. They have concerns about potential health effects and really there's a broader concern about personal choice, about a municipality fluoridating the water and taking away personal choice as to whether or not your family receives fluoride in their water. Not going to talk about that either tonight. There is information out there if you want to look into that and I suggest you do if you're interested in that. And the reason that we fluoridate in Sanford is really a much simpler answer from the district standpoint, and that is because the citizens of Sanford voted to fluoridate in 1972. And as per state law, we need to fluoridate when that happens, and we can't stop doing it unless they vote to discontinue fluoridation. So that's why we add fluoride to the water. Very simple answer. So what do we add? We add a chemical called hydrofluorosilicic acid, and for the chemists in the crowd, that's the chemical formula. And if John Koshin was still with us, he would step up here and explain all those bonds to you. I'm not going to do that, but he would do a very good job at that. So fluorosilicic acid is a water-based solution used by most municipal systems in the United States that do fluoridate. It can be injected under pressure, which is important for us with multiple groundwater supplies. It's an acid, so the pH is very low, between 1 and 2. It's also sometimes called FSA or HFS. Its high purity makes it a great choice for fluoridating. It doesn't take a whole lot of it to get the fluoride that we need into the water. And the target dose for us is 0.7 parts per million, so a little less than one part per million. It's a lot of misinformation about how it's produced, and this information comes straight off the American Water Works Association website. 90% of it is during the process of extracting phosphate from phosphoric ore. Approximately 5% comes from the production of hydrogen fluoride and sodium fluoride, and another 5% comes from the purification of high-quality quartz. [Ayn Hanselmann: Is] it safe? According to the CDC, science and public health organizations have conducted comprehensive reviews, and I'm sorry if I'm reading off my slides, I usually don't do that, but I want to get this right, that offer strong evidence of community water fluoridation safety and effectiveness. And the CDC is who we look to for regulation of public health. It is recommended by the American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Public Health Service, and World Health Organization. So I don't think the Sanford Water District is the authority on whether it's safe or not, but all these organizations say it is safe, so we assume it is. So what's it cost? Well, this is the surprising thing. You'd think it'd be more expensive than it is. It's relatively inexpensive, about $7,500 per year for the chemical itself, $5,000 for testing supplies. We have people going around to the stations every day anyway, so I don't know labor-wise if there's really much more of an expense. So about $12,500 per year. For comparison, our total chemical budget is around $120,000 a year, so this is about 10% of our chemical budget. It's significant money, but it's not a huge expense to us. So can the Sanford Water District just stop adding it? Because as trustees, maybe Melissa would make a motion to stop adding fluoride to the Sanford Water District water. We can't do that. The only way that fluoridation can be curtailed is through a vote of the citizens as per state law. And Sue is here tonight, good. So I'm going to go over this quickly but I just bring Sue up after and she can she can tell you what I said right and what I said wrong. So the two ways that it can be put on the ballot, the easy way is by a majority vote of the City Council. You could put it on the ballot. The other way to do it is a petition as per Sanford's Charter. And there's been several people over the years that have wanted to start this process and just found it too complicated. You have a limited amount of time to gather the signatures. I think it's it's under a thousand but it's maybe 800 signatures or something like that. Sue could give you the exact number. It's not an easy thing to do, especially on a topic that's not all that glamorous. So it's hard for people to get the petition together on this. So here's the interesting thing about fluoridation in the state law. Usually when somebody comes to you with a petition, they'll have the wording of what they want put on the ballot, and it might be a little bit of a discussion what goes on the ballot, but they'll want a certain question on the ballot. You can't do that with fluoridation. This is the only question by state law that you can put on the ballot and it has to read, shall fluoride be added to the public water supply for the intended purpose of reducing tooth decay? The only question you can ask. It's confusing in systems that do fluoridate because people think when they go to the polls that they're voting to take it out. So yes vote means they're going to take it out? It doesn't. A yes vote would be to continue it. So Sanford Water District's position on fluoridation in the entire time I've been there has always been neutral. We add fluoride because the citizens voted to add fluoride. If the citizens vote to curtail fluoridation, we will gladly stop adding it. But until that happens, we cannot. not? And I guess on a personal level, having dealt with this my entire career there, the thing that bothers me just a little is that there hasn't been a vote since 1972. So I'll get the occasional call from a young mother, you know, do you add fluoride? Yes, we add fluoride. I tell her all the same things I've just told you, and she says, well, when was the vote? I say 1972. You know, she says, So I wasn't even alive then. Wait a minute, my mother wasn't even alive then. You know, so it's been generations. And this regulation was set up for the people to decide whether their water would be fluoridated or not. And as the public water system, I guess we would like to see that happen more than once every 56 years. But that's up to you. That's not up to us. We'll keep adding it until there is a vote. If it affirms fluoridation, we keep going. If it says don't do it anymore, then we stop. You know, and people can always vote again. We won't throw the equipment out. We'll keep it going. It's not terrible stuff to add. It is, it's a little bit of an annoyance for the operators. It has to be in a separate room. It's an asset. It's got a strong smell. But we do other things we don't like, so that's okay. We'll keep going with it. So, I think that's it. So, any questions on fluoridation?
[1:07:05] Mayor Becky Brink: Any questions on the presentation? Good. Thank you. Thank you very much.
[1:07:12] Public commenter (water fluoridation presenter): Appreciate it. And thanks for having us here. We appreciate that.
[1:07:16] Mayor Becky Brink: All right. Okay, moving right along. We have the annual presentation from the Housing Authority, the Sanford Land Bank Authority, Pursuant to 30-A MRSA, Sections 4, 47, 21, 5. And please introduce yourself and what is your role? Yes, absolutely.
[1:07:39] Jen Ouellette: My name is Jen Ouellette. I'm the Deputy Director at Sanford Housing Authority. Good evening. I'm here to present the 2026 Senior Report for the Housing Authority. Isn't on my slide, so I'm sorry. and
[1:08:03] Mayor Becky Brink: To let people know this is something that they have to do every year, so and I guess you guys get fired if you don't do it right, you get in trouble, big trouble, all right, so we'll let you do it, okay, they go to the principal's office, okay, I
[1:08:25] Jen Ouellette: think we're in business, so you probably know some of this history already. I've been at the Housing Authority, it'll be seven years, so not anywhere near as long as it's been established. It is a little bit older than I am, but not by much. So since last year's report, you know, we continue to own and operate the five core properties that are identified here. Most people know those properties and locations. We have that, 's 222 units in total. We also operate, administer, and oversee 719 housing choice vouchers. Certainly a decent percentage of those voucher holders are in the Sanford Springvale area, but we do have jurisdiction over nine towns in total. So those are towns that border Sanford and Springvale, for example, Acton, Lebanon, been in North Berwick, and also some development that I'll talk a little bit about in a couple of minutes on my next slide or in the next couple of slides. Housing navigation is something that I'm excited to talk about, just because that's been something that I've been a part of since we started that group, kind of informally, back in February of 2024, and it's made up a number of local organizations who come and, you know, we sit and we talk about individuals who are chronically homeless, individuals who are homeless, individuals who are marginally housed, they are under housed or overcrowded, and all of us together, you know, meet, originally we met on a weekly basis, now we're meeting on a monthly basis. And we do an informal list. I just kind of keep track of it. And we get together and problem solve for those individuals and try and solve their housing crisis. So to date, so it's been, you know, February 24 through August, 263 unique individuals have been housed. So that doesn't mean they were all chronically homeless. Like I said, some are marginally housed or under housed, etc, but nonetheless it's still 263 people home for good, is in movement right now, it's going to be 30 once it's completed, 30 permanent supportive housing units, which is going to be located over on the 7 Mouse and Street property that was formerly or did belong to the York County shelter programs, it's right behind the post office, and there's actually another little property connected to that also, so it's that sole whole area, and so that's Gonna, you know, be demolished and then go into construction, and then that will be housing. First housing, I'll talk a little bit more about that also as we move along. Voucher operations, the thing that I would say about that, you know, it ebbs and flows. Our HCV, our ability to issue vouchers, up until June of this year, we were pretty well frozen on voucher issuance. There really wasn't a lot of movement, but since June, we've started to issue again and are continuing to issue, and people are securing affordable housing, so that's great. We have a full maintenance crew that we switched over in March of this year to doing site-specific property management services, and it's made up now, of teams actually on site at those five properties, Sunset Tower, Village View, East Side Acre, Maples and Mayflower. And so there's a property manager on site every day, maintenance, at least one full-time maintenance person on site every day. I go around, I supervise the property management staff directly, so I'm on site at each project at least once a week, and that has just created a much better, I think, experience all around. I think for, not that it was horrible before, but I think it has lessened some of the things that might have bubbled over into a crisis situation, because people right there were available immediately and can respond to any concerns that people have. Obviously we have a great working relationship with the city and certainly law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel schools etc, so that's been a good thing. Here's just a little graph that demonstrates the 263 people, that's only through August like I said, but it's pretty fantastic, and just to expand on that a tiny bit more. So it's not only, you know, it might be issuance of a voucher. It might be negotiations with a landlord to maybe lower the rent they're wanting. It's generating or coming up with security deposit assistance. Whatever it is somebody needs, and by all of those organizations getting together, we're pretty successful at being able to do that. So the general kind of overview on the Housing Choice Voucher Program, most of the time, the household, A, they have to income qualify. So there is an income cap when the voucher is issued. And if somebody is over it, even by a dollar, they're over income and they would not be eligible. So there's really no wiggle room there. But once somebody is issued a voucher and they secure a rental unit, the landlord is also limited at how much they can receive in rent for the unit. They know that before they enter into any contract and they get to make determination about whether that's acceptable for them or not. And then the Housing Authority pays the monthly what's called the housing assistance payment or the HAP payment. We pay that by direct deposit every month and a landlord can count on that. And then the tenant or household members, they are responsible for paying 30% of their income towards whatever the rent is. One thing that I really appreciated about Sanford Housing Authority, we are a lot different than, and, you know, in seven years, I've rubbed devils with a number of different housing authorities and how different agencies do business, and we are very active with our landlords. And if a landlord, you know, especially like when I initially am talking to somebody who is interested in becoming an HCV landlord, talk very, in-depth and specifically about, we are a resource for you. You know, our goal, kind of my mantra is keeping the tenant housed, but keeping the landlord whole. You know, the landlord, it's an investment, right, of some sort. And, you know, we want to keep them in a position where their property is respected and cared for in a good way. But also, it's really important that, you know, we keep households in place. And so we get involved if there's a concern or complaint from a landlord and try and problem-solve that with them and we're pretty successful is that also. But we have to know about it, you know, so that's the big piece I guess is I spend a lot of time trying to get that information out there and say you need to call us, you know, or shoot me an email or something so we can try and problem-solve. HCV average waiting time, you know, it does ebb and flow, but right now, we're looking at applications from people who applied in 2023. So it's right at the three-year-ish, three-and-a-half-year mark right now. This is a little image here of the Home for Good project. Again, on 7 Mowsom Street, it'll be 30 units. It is considered permanent supportive housing. Services are there and on-site 24-7. People are not required to, you know, complete treatment before they're housed, but certainly, you know, back in the 90s when the Housing First model was first introduced, it was by a gentleman in New York City, and I had the pleasure of being able to go and see him speak about this model. And, you know, everybody in the room was like, what? You know, you can't do any of that. And it's taken off and finally kind of made its way to Maine over the last 10 years or so, 10 or 15. And I'm excited for Sanford Housing Authority, you know, to be a part in that because it is a remarkable model. Research shows that it works very well. Is it going to be 100% successful? Probably not, but it will make a difference certainly in the city. Springville courthouse housing, you know, that's something that's I think ebbed and flowed a little bit, but we were a recipient of a 2.5 million dollar award, and the planning is advanced to look at, you know, considering 19 units. It would be, you know, when it comes to fruition, if it comes to fruition, 55 and older would be the kind of target, and looking at, you know, workforce housing, which is, they are often will fall through the cracks, right? They make a little too much for Section 8 support or HCV support, but not necessarily enough to pay full market rent. This is one of our projects over in Springvale, Village View. This is a 62 and older. The preventative maintenance, just like it is at all of our projects, it is on site on a daily basis. We have some services available. It's going to be expanding currently now. Now we're offering it or it's being offered at the Mayflower, Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging, which I hear is changing their name. I'm not sure what to yet, but I know they're going to announce it soon. But they're on site and they provide some light housekeeping and meal planning and things like that for tenants. And they're able to expand that. So Village View and Sunset Tower are next on their list. That's looking to be sometime in January that we'll be able to do that. And they also provide meals right on site. They actually serve, you know, we, they, all of our projects have beautiful community space available, dining areas, and so those meals that they not only prepare them, but they actually wait on the tenants and serve them, and it's just a really nice community thing that they do. This is a little bit about the fiscal contribution that Stanford Housing Authority makes through taxes and the property taxes in the pilot that, you know, we do pay. And it just shows a little bit over time how that's grown. These are some of our partners. It's certainly not an all-inclusive list, but Sanford City Council, you might know who they are. Sanford Police Department, Maine Housing, Opportunity Alliance, PATH. I mentioned SMARA already. York County and Community Action, Caring Unlimited, the Sanford School Department, Massabesic School Department is also involved because one of our towns is Alfred, Seeds of Hope, Community Housing of Maine, HUD, local landlords and property owners, and what we're looking at coming up, the pipe here. It'll be certainly the home for good like I talked about, continuing hopefully to be able to issue vouchers. We're not stopping and currently, I mean, we're moving forward, so that's a positive thing. Continued assistance in coordinating care in, you know, the homelessness response in any way that we can contribute and make a difference. Courthouse housing, you know, maintaining our current portfolio. We're always, you know, modifying, updating, rehabbing, maintaining it as a very decent safe and affordable housing for people, and then the focus on the resident services and caring for our tenants, many of whom are quite elderly and, you know, starting to, some of them have certainly passed away, I guess no easy way to say that, but it's a wonderful thing, you know, they're housed in a place that has been and continues to be their home until they pass away. So I believe that wraps me up. Do you have any questions? Okay, anyone with any
[1:21:17] Mayor Becky Brink: questions? No, thank you very much. I proceed first. Oh Steve, wait a minute.
[1:21:23] Steve Buck: Steve has a question not a question but a comment so I just I just want to commend the Housing Authority you're such as an exceptional partner for the city to work with and we can just we give a lot of our problems to you here you go and you solve them and I just wanted to point out that you know the 263 there were housed with a housing navigation coordination that 's really an outstanding fact right when you when you think about that 260 I have
[1:21:48] Jen Ouellette: All the names written down too, and I can tell you where they went. It's a secret. Yeah, when I added it on a spreadsheet. Yeah. All right, good. So now I
[1:21:58] Steve Buck: I just wanted to commend that. That's a truly incredible statistic.
[1:22:01] Jonathan Martell: I actually love that, and I don't know if I've ever told Diane that. I love the fact that you have a property manager now, like individual to properties. I can see why you're seeing a change. It makes a difference. That's what I do, and it makes a difference when connected to tenants. It does. It's been a wonderful thing. It's a good thing. Hi, Michelle. Your turn. I'm thinking what?
[1:22:28] Michelle Abrey: All right. So good evening. Michelle Abrey, Assistant City Manager, and I am here to present on the Land Bank Authority. I will just preface this with the fact that during our budget presentation about six or seven months ago, you'll see a lot of the same materials in here, so this will be relatively quick. Here we go. Obviously, the Land Bank Authority is overseen by a board of commissioners, and we're thankful that we have the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, as well as Councillor Hitchcock, who is not here tonight, as part of our bi-monthly meetings. I want to say that I am just a very small part of a team that keeps the Land Bank moving forward. A lot of our work starts with our code enforcement officers who hit the streets every day. They communicate and manage and interact with our citizens every single day. So the land bank started with initially funded through the land bank through the St. Ignatius TIF, I believe. And then the fees that the land bank, that the city gets every year from rental housing and vacant buildings helps fund our code enforcement officers and keeps them able to keep us moving forward. So this, the next few slides are spreadsheets that Aaron in codes has sent me. These are vacant building licenses and vacant housing licenses, the statuses as of the end of September. They're primarily property driven. We have noticed there's some glitches in some of our ownerships, but this kind of gives you a snapshot as what we have in our system. It's pulled from Municity, and this is a list that they maintain down there. So they send out the invoices, they track, they monitor, and they try to get these properties in compliance. So the first two sheets were vacant ones, vacant housing, and one, this one is the one that they've never received a license before, as that was explained to me. The other ones have applied and sometimes they lapse, so they're kept separately. And these are the rental licenses out of compliance. A lot of these are paid at the last minute, so the list today may not be as quite involved or as lengthy as it was last month. So what I did is I went back through when I started August of 24, September 2024, and really took a snapshot of the properties that I've brought through the process from start to end and that we declare dangerous. So this is, we've done Sunset, Pleasant, Garish and Nassau Street. You will be having a hearing at the next council meeting on 27 Kilby and we do have another one tentatively scheduled for December. Our goal is to do one of these a quarter but that is dependent on the workload of our code enforcement officers and what they can actually get done. So there's a lot of paperwork. The paperwork, we have to allow time for owners to reach back out and try to correct their notice of violations. So we could have a property that if they're trying to work with us, we're going to work with them and we won't immediately just bring it to a hearing. So we have to allow adequate time for them to correct their issues. These are some completed demos that we've done for the land bank and then active rehabilitation plans that we have in process so Rehabilitation plans is obviously what we strive for we want property owners to Invest in fixing their properties However when we bring it to a hearing and once the property is declared dangerous They actually have to not only fix the issues in their notice of violation, but any bring it up to any code Requirement as well so sometimes it's just a little bit more in-depth and a lot of these properties you saw earlier this year when I did the presentation during the budget as well. The newest ones are 102 Channel Lane and 217 Old Mill Road. Both of those properties, when we put the bid out to do the demo, both of the owners came to and said that they wanted to demo it themselves. So essentially it saved the land bank resources that we didn't have to expend because they took care of that themselves. We are currently working with 144 Stanley Road. We have a new owner for that property, but he was not made aware that the property was a dangerous and hazardous property, so there's some complications with that one, but we are working with him. One thing that I did want to make you aware of that I did not put in our slide is I have some updated numbers for you for new rental units that we have in the city, so new construction credits starting with Sanford from April of 2024 to current is we have 180 new, 189 new units, and total upcoming units with approved permits so far is 186, so I thought that was quite fantastic that we've had that many units and we have more coming online. All right, so success stories, and I'm missing a picture here. I'm not sure where it went, but this is 254 Sunset Road. It's actually now changed hands, and they're fixing it up, and they're dividing the lot, and they're selling it. I'm actually missing a photo. This was 642 New Dam Road, so obviously the pictures on the left are what it was and now what it is. We all remember 26 Garris Drive. I
[1:29:20] Mayor Becky Brink: bet that neighborhood's pleased that 's gone.
[1:29:24] Michelle Abrey: And I think there's a misconception as well, too, that when we do a demo, some people assume that the city takes ownership of it as well, and that's not the case because we do have some abutters that call and they want to purchase the property and they don't really understand that we don't own it. So most properties are in foreclosure and they'll have to wait for that process to go out, sometimes they're not, so they have to just wait until a time comes that it sells. So this is Old Mill Road, this is the photos, and I'm sorry, I'm not sure where my final pictures are, but they appear to be left off, but Old Mill and Channel Lane, actually the one on the right, shows that Channel Lane, that's what it looks like now. He is putting forward a rehabilitation plan to build it up in the spring. And that's what I have.
[1:30:26] Jonathan Martell: Any questions? Just a comment. I mean, I think we get a lot of the accolades for the work that you guys do. We really have nothing to do with it. We support your efforts, and I think it's great that we're seeing such good rewards from this program and just sticking to it. Thanks for all the hard work for yourself, the Code Enforcement Office, the demo guys that we hire. It's a lot of work. And the police department obviously has a lot to do in those properties before they
[1:30:52] Michelle Abrey: Yeah. Our Code Enforcement Officers, they're the ones that are out there, and they're dealing with everyone every single day and having to coordinate a lot of it, so they get kudos to them for a great job that they do. I agree. Anyone else?
[1:31:07] Ayn Hanselmann: Pete? Yeah. this gets these lots for everybody that doesn't know right back into like families can buy them and kids going to the school so thank you for all the hard work you really have done a amazing job at cleaning that list up just wanted to
[1:31:25] Mayor Becky Brink: say that thank you okay it's moving right along we'll move into public participation and let me tell you the layout of public participation it is for Sanford Springville residents only and we have a time limit so it's three minutes and then we shut you down so usually I'll wave my hand kind of give you a warning of what's going on so when you come up you introduce tell us who you are and where you live and usually it's stuff that is not on our agenda so if you start talking and it's something that's on our agenda I'll just say hold on a second. It's on the agenda, and I'll put you on hold for a minute, and then you'll be able to speak when it's on the agenda. All right. So the first person on our list is Michael Perry.
[1:32:21] Michael Perry: Good evening. I'm Michael Perry, the Montsport Street Open Sanford. Last night, I spent some time at Heritage Crossing. I know we've already went through this evening, but before walking into Rand & Co., I spoke with four people who live in the building. They talked about what they are experiencing, which is growing in a camp and public urination and defecation, a lot of drug activity, safety concerns and fear about what happens if there's a fire at that mill. One woman told me she does not feel safe there with her one-year-old child. When I sat down with Emily Rand, she told me about declining sales, customers who no longer come because they don't feel safe, and women in the shop who say they have lost thousands of dollars in business. Emily plans to leave when her lease is up. Inside the building I saw a 2013 award celebrating the redevelopment of the Sanford Mill. 13 years later I saw barbed wire installed inside that same building. That contrast should bother us all. But the answer isn't blaming people experiencing homelessness. Residents, businesses, and unhoused people are all living with the consequences of much larger problems. But we can't solve everything tonight, but we can start somewhere. Let's explore some immediate steps, and I know that you were talking about this a little bit earlier, by providing appropriate trash receptacles, doing some more regular cleanup of accumulated trash. One of the biggest issues was just that toilet that I know that you guys were talking about earlier tonight. Remove the piles of bricks and debris and provide a visible public safety presence down in that million. And let's bring residents, business, city staff, public safety, service providers and people experiencing homelessness together and ask what else can we do right now to solve some of these issues. Identify achievable actions, assign responsibility, establish a timeline and report back to the neighborhood and sign me up because I want to be a part of it. I want to be out there helping them get that work done. But at the end of the night, let's listen, show up, and start somewhere together. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:34:42] Mayor Becky Brink: And Christopher Haywood, I don't see you online now. It's gone. Okay, moving right along. Bruce Greybeard.
[1:35:05] Ayn Hanselmann: Thank you. I do not live in Sanford, but I have been working with the homeless in Sanford for the past five years. Do you live in Springvale?
[1:35:14] Mayor Becky Brink: No. Okay, public participation is only for residents. Okay.
[1:35:22] Ayn Hanselmann: Would there be a way that I could address the agenda of the homelessness?
[1:35:31] Mayor Becky Brink: It's not, when it's on the agenda. Well, wasn't it? I don't know. I mean we just had over 45 minutes of a report on it and what we're doing and stuff so that might have been a good time to have raised your hand to talk but that was under mayor's report so I can't think of like madam
[1:36:05] Pete Tranchemontagne: mayor might this be something that somebody like myself could request to have at public safety a public safety meeting for some conversation potentially do it under
[1:36:13] Mayor Becky Brink: Public Safety Committee, we have subcommittees that meet usually once a month. Larissa can tell you what it is, and we can put it under Public Safety, and if under, that's when you can talk. And if it comes that we need to bring it to the full agenda, then we'll do it from there. Lots of our stuff gets vetted through all of our subcommittees first before it even makes it on the regular agenda, to know what else, what other information we might need, so that would be an opportunity for you. Thank you for your courtesy. Thank you, appreciate it, and thank you for what you do in our community too. Thank you.
[1:36:54] Maura Herlihy: Mayor Brink, can I make a comment? Yes, we do have a Contact the Council page on the Sanford site that you can, you can send an email, so that would be another, I
[1:37:07] Mayor Becky Brink: think he's has had emails, so what I think it needs to happen is he needs to go to Public Safety, which Larissa can tell him when our next one is, so next Tuesday. So those are, that's the only people who have signed up for public participation, are you both, are you a Sanford resident, and are you a Sanford resident? Okay. You can come first.
[1:37:39] Joshua Blake: My name is Joshua Blake. Hi, everybody. It's great to be here. I love Sanford. I love all of you. Where do you live in Sanford, Springville? Hanson Ridge Road on Sanford. Thank you. Yeah, I was born in York, Maine, on Loving Kindness Way. I went to University of New Hampshire, did some shoal swimming. I see a house of shoals to support Save Earth Today, my nonprofit. It's on YouTube, Save Earth Today Maine. And I'm doing that here a little bit, my favorite thing on profit, I'm out there with a sign that says, I love you, we can heal, remember to love, that's one of the things. The other thing I held up today is about not fluoridating the water. So I actually studied this in 2010 at University of New Hampshire, and I became pretty passionate about it. And with me I have some reports, one of them is from the National Toxology Program for America, where they're making these decisions. And the 2017 report was done on animals, not people, ever. It wasn't done in the USA, it was done in China, Mexico, Germany, and seven other countries. So I think it's pretty wrong to medicate the water based on studies on animals. You know, humans are much more advanced, and studies not even done in our country. There is another study here I have that says if we go over the levels of it, does definitely affect IQ, cause anxiety, depression, aches and pains in the bones. So I think it's really tough to regulate when you're adding it to the water and you're consuming it. We're adding it to toothpaste, foods, to control the safe, quote-unquote, levels that I don't even believe in. So as a resident, what I'm patiently and lovingly asking is, you know, the water quality thing. I really am passionate about this. I'd like for us not to add fluorosilic toxic waste to the water. I'd like us to say natural source code as much as possible. I think it will lead to a healthier community. China's number one in world math. They don't add fluorosilic acid to their water. They're number one in the world of math. We should be looking at what we're doing in our nation since the 70s. Since JFK got shot, we added toxic waste to water right after that in the nation. I went to Air Force ROTC at the University of New Hampshire. I have a red flag going off on this. We should not medicate the water. It is a crime against humanity. So I'm asking you to please lovingly stop. You know, as much as you can, be the heroes of the story of your people and stand up for them. And with that, thank you. I love Sanford. I'm happy to be here.
[1:39:45] Mayor Becky Brink: You're welcome. The gentleman in the back, please. Come down and introduce yourself and tell us where you live.
[1:39:58] Howard Cheney: Thank you all for giving me an opportunity to talk. My name is Howard Cheney. I live at 10 York Street, right next to infamous number 8. I bet you're glad it's gone. Yes, I am. Very glad, my wife and I both. I would like to take an opportunity to, you know, I'm affiliated with outreach program from St. George's for the unhoused people and the food insecure. secure what we would like to see and this is harder said easier to say than to do is for the people that were unhoused to be treated as well as people teacher pets and i really commend you because i didn't realize that you had gone from 200 unhoused to 50 that's 75 percent reduction
[1:40:52] Mayor Becky Brink: certainly thank you for that actually it was 240 something that we got 140 something
[1:40:57] Howard Cheney: something, and all I can ask is what were Jesus still? However, I want to give you my opinion of Sanford. I've been here four years. This police force you have is the best I have ever seen. I have lived in Quincy, Mass., in Cambridge, Mass., Newport, Massachusetts. I worked in Lawrence, Massachusetts. These are not easy places. I came home one day and there were two officers in my garage. I said, you guys having a meeting? There was a young kid there, and he was afraid someone was going to kill him. The men, the officers I spoke to, they were like, you know, psychiatrists, the way they were working. They've been very well trained, and I can only compliment you on, it's the best force I've ever seen. I've been around for a while. I'm 78 years old, so I'm about a half a fossil. At any rate, I know that you care about your people, and how I can tell? The sidewalks go down where a person in a wheelchair would be allowed to go up them. This community cares about its people. It's the best police force I've ever seen. I'm very impressed with your meeting. It's the only one I've ever been with. I want to congratulate every one of you for being your concern, your care, and your love for your people and community. So I have to say thank you very much. You're entirely welcome. You all deserve it. Thank you. Okay.
New Business
[1:42:27] Mayor Becky Brink: Okay, let's move right along under new business and as an order to adopt a policy as presented for the use of the Boston Post cane for honorary recognition of the elder and I don't know if I want to be labeled this, but as the eldest eligible resident to be administered by the Sanford-Springville Historical Society. So, Lawrence, could you give us a little history of it? I know the history, but I think everyone would like to know a little history of this, and if you have somebody already that you figured it out. Yes, we do.
[1:43:11] Lawrence Furbish: I'm Lawrence Furbish. I'm president of the Sanford-Springville Historical Society. With me, a person I'm sure you know, Paul Ogier, longtime board member. Before I start, really quick digression. I'm so glad to have heard the remarks about Bob Hardison. Bob was a longtime member of Rotary. I spent a number of years up at Acton Fair cooking chicken livers with him. He was a true gentleman and a very nice man. He'll be greatly missed. Yeah, we're here to talk about the Boston Post-Cain, which is a way of honoring and recognizing municipalities' oldest resident. Paul has taken the real leadership on this within the Historical Society. He did a lot of research about it. He chaired a little subcommittee that tried to work up this policy. Our goal was to come up with a way for the Historical Society to do most of the legwork in trying to identify the eligible candidates. Dates so it doesn't devolve on Sukoti or the city. I want Paul to really talk about this because he's the one who did all the research and he's the one who deserves all the credit for it. So thank you.
[1:44:28] Mayor Becky Brink: This will be brief. Is this the real one or the example? This is a replica. A replica,
[1:44:34] Lawrence Furbish: okay. Yes. So the Boston Post was one of the, excuse me, one of the biggest newspapers in the United States, and as a brilliant promotional stunt, they made 700 canes and they gave them out to every New England town, and that was 1909. They've since almost all been lost, destroyed, or stolen. So ours was given, the cane is actually made of solid ebony with a 14 karat gold head on it, greatly detailed. Our cane first went to Lyman Hooper in 1909. He was about 92. He was born in 1816. So Thomas Jefferson and John Adams may have read about him getting the cane. That's how long ago he was born. The cane has been transmitted to at least six people. It's supposed to be transmitted to the oldest male citizen, and that's the only stipulation, and that it needs to be done by the town selectman or whatever the name is. Every place I've studied has since awarded it to women, as they should, and I studied more than 40 policies, every one I could get my hands on, and with our committee we came up with a draft that is sort of an average of ballpark of what they all do and something that I think would work for us because we don't want to give any more work to the council. You guys have your hands full. Our cane disappeared sometime after 1948 and it was returned anonymously. I can't even say who gave it back to us, but with no questions asked, we said we'll take it, and that was the Sanford Historical Committee, so it was given back to the town, and we've not let it out of our sight ever since. In fact, we wouldn't even bring it to the meeting tonight, so since the committee has transitioned into the Historical Society, we're keeping it at our museum, but it belongs to the city, and what most of the towns have done now is they have had a replica made, which we did at the society's expense, no expense to the city, and they have continued the tradition, and they give people the replica. Nobody that has a cane gets the original one. There is no place that has it that ever gives it to anybody anymore, and that we know for good reason. So essentially what we suggested in here is a notice would go out on the city website and our website, and there could be paper forms too, and it's a nomination period of about 30 days, and then the what we suggested is we let the Historical Society do the legwork on who is actually the oldest person from the nominations and what we know, and then we will let you know who we believe it is. And then just like Maura did not that long ago, you can, we can bring the original cane, get a picture of them taken with it, and give them the replica and a piece of paper. Or we could go to their house, or whatever the mayor wants. The mayor can go, mayor doesn't have to go, and it's, it doesn't cost anything, and it does restart the tradition. And we might be the biggest municipality in New England that will be doing this if we approve it.
[1:48:30] Jonathan Martell: We're actually a city now, so technically we wouldn't be allowed today, right?
[1:48:34] Lawrence Furbish: Yeah, we never would have gotten it if we were a city.
[1:48:38] Jonathan Martell: Quick question for you. I also made a recommendation when we were talking about this. It would be nice to have the picture of the current holder of the replica. Like who is the honoree at the Historic Society? Do you display the cane at all times?
[1:48:52] Lawrence Furbish: It's locked up right now. We wanted to kind of wait and see how it plays out over here first.
[1:48:57] Jonathan Martell: It'd be interesting to have like a little thing that says, current recipient, so that in the historic society-
[1:49:02] Lawrence Furbish: Yeah, we'd plan on having some kind of plaque with people's names on it, who's been getting it. I know we have two residents right now that are over 100, and we have one that's 102 that just moved away. And you could be any age. In fact, we all got a little bit closer to getting it ourselves tonight, as you've noticed. If they knew they could have been up for an award,
[1:49:31] Jonathan Martell: they might not have moved. You know, it's funny, just in COVID, April of COVID, I lost an old tenant. And when she died, I think she was 106. You might have some that are well up there,
[1:49:42] Lawrence Furbish: you just don't know about. You have to do something. Oh, yeah. It very well could be. And we do have people stopping in probably every two or three months because they heard we have an original Boston Post cane and they want to see it. So this will be even more exciting now that, you know, we can actually present it. And it's got some bragging rights because we have an original.
[1:50:02] Jonathan Martell: Was it Shapley that has, have they given theirs recently? Because I saw something in the paper.
[1:50:07] Lawrence Furbish: They lost theirs, I believe. And they are doing pretty much the same thing we do. They give out a replica. and then they take it back you do you do see occasionally other towns it was kenny bunk i think i saw a thing in the paperwood they were presenting it i was in kingfield town hall recently and they had the cane post you know displayed with a list of people that got it
[1:50:34] Mayor Becky Brink: And I just have one concern. Is there any way there is a background check to make sure we're not giving it to somebody that we would be embarrassed as a community to have this award?
[1:50:49] Lawrence Furbish: There is no stipulation on character or involvement in the community. There are a few very small towns that have decided to give it as an award for community service. I'm sort of an originalist with traditions and I think it should just go to the oldest person if they want it. So occasionally somebody will say I want nothing to do with it because they heard a rumor that everybody who gets it ends up dying, which is no, well, that was your way out, seriously. Yeah, and we had to confirm that is true, but yeah, some people do decline it. And one of the, what we put in here was we suggested that it just remained vacant if the person who is next in line to get it doesn't want it, because if you give it to the next eligible person, they're not really the oldest one right in town. So we just assumed to hold on to a little strict construction of stuff going on. Exactly. But it's, it's up to you. Can change anything you want, the policy, you can, you know, give it a go for a while and then change it later or just keep it as is? We just want to help get it going again.
[1:52:08] Mayor Becky Brink: I don't think they have to be of service to the community. I would be more concerned with criminal background, depending upon the severity. I'm not just thinking about robbing or what, I'm thinking about pedophiles, about abusers of some type, that type of thing. Yeah, they can. So that would be my only concern. Yeah. You know, I don't want to give something to somebody that, as a community, we would not want to honor in any way.
[1:52:40] Lawrence Furbish: Well, you would be free not to award it to them. Okay. You know, that's a decision you could make. Yeah. The way this is drafted, the Council has the final decision on who gets it. All right. Super. Good. All right. Thank you, too. And this is going right back to the museum, even though it's the replica.
[1:53:03] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you, guys. All right. Do we have to vote on that? Yes. So we need to adopt the policy, so I need somebody to make the motion and a second.
[1:53:13] Maura Herlihy: Jonathan? I'll make a motion to adopt the policy presented for the Boston Post cane.
[1:53:19] Ayn Hanselmann: And Pete? I'll proudly second that. All right. All those in favor?
[1:53:25] Mayor Becky Brink: And moving right along, and hopefully Matt is going to be online. On order to approve a request for the MDOT overlimit permit for construction on a project pursuant to 29-A MRS section 2382-7 and to authorize the city manager to sign on behalf of the city council. Oh, you're going to, Steve's going to do this. Excuse me.
[1:53:55] Steve Buck: This is the same MDOT over-limit permit that's requested for any and all state projects in our community. This is specific to the RAISE grant scope of work, so it's a three-year scope of work in there, and I won't go through all the long list of streets and roads that it's going to improve. The gist of the over-limit permit is this does not allow them to run overweight trucks, You know more asphalt or crushed stone or something like that over the legal weight limits. It's specifically to address the routing That non-divisible loads will come into our community. So think of a large paving Apparatus that can't be broken into components or something like that cranes typically can and such for that They will use state routes and such under that but this is a mechanism recognizing that should they cause damage to your city streets, you would then exercise this option under the over-limit permit. You can require them to issue a bond to that effect for which we as a community end up paying the cost of that bond. They pass that through on the construction project, so we're not recommending a bond be implemented on this. For all of the years I've worked on these, I've never seen a bond implemented yet, nor have I seen the ability for that to be pulled. So I would recommend that you authorize the over-limit permit, and if so, I will sign on behalf of the city and forward that to the Maine Department of Transportation. The project is out to bid now. So we're anxiously awaiting some very low numbers. Let's get some low numbers in here.
[1:55:42] Mayor Becky Brink: Any questions? Can I have a motion, please? B?
[1:55:46] Ayn Hanselmann: I motion to push that forward.
[1:55:48] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you. Second? Ann? Madam Mayor, I'll second that. All those in favor? We still have enough to vote. I had to count. All right. The next, in order to authorize a reciprocal easement agreement between the City of Sanford and Sanford Masonic Temple for use and maintenance of the driveway and parking areas, with all of the municipality day-and-day administration and costs associated with the agreement to be delegated to the Sanford Library Association, and I don't know what that next thing is, A-D-B-A, the, oh, the Goodall, thank you, the Goodall Memorial Library. So, Anne, do you want to explain why we're looking at this?
[1:56:45] Pete Tranchemontagne: You bet, Madam Mayor. There was some really good information provided in our packet, of course, for folks, but essentially, as folks may or may not know, the Goodall Library building and property is owned by the City of Sanford, but the Sanford Library Association cares for its upkeep and, of course, manages the library. And in error in 2023, the then library director signed an easement with the Masons next door as if the Library Association owned the property, and so that was not a proper or a legal agreement at that point in time. The agreement itself is still exists mostly as it was originally done, but the intent of that MOU is to allow under the new construction and updated parking, which has been a great benefit to the library, just lays out the use and upkeep and plowing of that driveway area between the two properties. So this is really just kind of fixing clerical error, in a sense. Is that any other? And the Sanford Library Association Board did review it and agreed to obviously make the adjustments.
[1:58:01] Mayor Becky Brink: Okay. Any other questions about that? I think we probably all remember all this happening, so can I have a motion, please? I'll make a motion to approve. Thank you. A second? And, Madam Mayor, I'll second that. Thank you very much. All those in favor? Super. And Jonathan, we voted on the other one while you figured it would. All right. Next, in order to accept the grant funds in the amount of $747,272.28 from FEMA NMW-2025-FG-066572025, Assistance to Firefighters Grant for Paramedic Training. You just love to do that to me, don't you?
[1:59:01] Rick Smith: If you think that's a mouthful, you should have seen my grant. It's quite long.
[1:59:08] Mayor Becky Brink: Please introduce yourself and your role.
[1:59:10] Rick Smith: Absolutely. My name is Rick Smith, and I'm the Assistant Chief of Operations for the Sanford Fire Department. This is a grant every year. The FEMA offers assistance to firefighter grants, and they each year have different preferences on how they want to give the money. As a department, we always are looking to grow and develop our department, and so we look at what FEMA is looking to support and then looking at our needs. And so, obviously, one of our needs that we constantly come to talk to council about is paramedics and paramedic training. It was also happened to be one of FEMA's high priorities this year. And so, I took the opportunity to write the grant in such a fashion that it removes all barriers for the students and makes it easier for them to attend courses without doing any harm to themselves or their family or anything like that by having to take additional time off or time away and basically build a bridge so that our employees have an opportunity to go to paramedic school at no cost or burden to them and we're using federal money to supplement that extensively so there's no real burden to the city very excited when grants go out we write them either in December or April this one had to be done in the April May sequence and so you submit it and you hear nothing and you wait and you wait and wait and then we're sitting Chief Watkins and I share an office in the Central Station currently, and he looks up at me like he just opened a Christmas present. And I said, what? And he goes, did you read your email? And I was like, what? And I was like, and I was shaking. It was like, you know, the best. I get so excited when we get these grants, and we apply and apply and apply. And, you know, over my time in the front office, we've gotten two. Assistant Chief Bob Martel got the last one for training. This is the largest one. This is one of the top three largest AFG grants in the state of Maine and we got it on the first round which shows that we were a true high priority and we're very successful and I'm just I'm still buzzing with excitement every time I think about it because I was just so happy to be able to do this because it's going to be so monumental change for the department, the city, and the people that are involved in taking on that work and going to that school because it is quite a challenge. All three chiefs are paramedics. We understand the work that goes into it, and so we want to do everything we could to help break down those barriers. So I would implore you, please accept this federal money, what we think
[2:01:32] Mayor Becky Brink: about it. Does anyone have any questions? And so I'm going to approve accepting it,
[2:01:38] Pete Tranchemontagne: of course. But from a budget standpoint, I just wanted to confirm that this is going to show up in next year's fiscal year budget, or if we're covering the our
[2:01:45] Steve Buck: matching portion this year. It's actually going to spend the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year. Okay. So we'll take it as a, I want you to accept this, take it as an unanticipated revenue for that portion of this year to reimburse for costs that they already have in their in their budget and use it as an offset in the subsequent fiscal year. Okay, thank you very much. And I might be arguing with Marnie over how we're going to do
[2:02:07] Rick Smith: that just a little bit, but you know. Yeah, so FEMA grants are, she'll tell me, and then we get reimbursed and we pay it and we get reimbursed and we pay and we have to do receipts and all that, and this covers a lot. It covers tuition and travel expenses, the time that students away, and the backfill that we have to hire to get the other people to come in and work for them while they're at school. So this is big, thank
[2:02:32] Steve Buck: you. So can I, can I take just the opportunity, so we didn't, I wanted to ask this earlier when doing all the awards and such into that, but didn't want to delay all of the people here, but we have a much younger department now with fewer paramedics than what we had in the past. The department had worked diligently to have firefighter paramedics within our workforce as the predominance of the workforce so that we can achieve the ALS level certification that we're at currently. Counsel in supporting the CAR-8 positions, the EMS FSS, Field Support Specialist, CARI, in supporting that, you know, it was in recognition that we had lost a lot of that paramedic staffing, you know, due to retirements and such and to that. And we have a younger workforce and we need to get them trained, so there's an aggressive training program in there. Field Support Specialists bridge that gap. They will arrive on scene for all ambulance calls and provide that ALS piece. Not talking about everything else that's been happened to us as of late with the distribution of our medications and such under that, but this is in a very important piece for our department. And to get this grant was just icing on the cake, right? Because we have this level of cost plus over the next couple of years to get back to where we need to be. So kudos to the department for writing this. Thank you. Thank you, Rick. I appreciate it very much. We had that discussion. It's a fist bump and all that
[2:04:17] Rick Smith: sort of deal. But you know, all week I've been attending a course on fire. It's called Fire Officer Four, which is the highest level of fire officer. It's what the US three chiefs are going to be certified at. And all week they're talking about, well, your department should be doing this, and your department should be doing this, and your department should be doing this, and we were 10 for 10. That's the level that the same fire department operates at. And I was bragging to the chief when I came in. I'm like, look, they're talking about all this stuff that we should be doing, and we're doing it. And one of the topics today was EMS calls are the type of call you go on the most, and generally what happens is your two newest people are the ones that show up. Who's supervising these new people? We just instituted a system to do that, and it just makes me so proud to be a part of this
[2:05:02] Mayor Becky Brink: department. Excellent. Thank you. Any questions? Oh, the other part they I
[2:05:09] Rick Smith: learned today was how to speak to a city council, which I chuckled because they teach you. Did a great job. Thank you. They're teaching all levels of students, and I'm in there, and I've been doing this for a little bit, like, this is how you talk to the city council. I'm giggling like, oh, we'll be doing it
[2:05:22] Mayor Becky Brink: tonight. So, and I wanted to say one thing about, you mentioned they obviously saw the need, they obviously saw the need because of how you wrote the grant. Sometimes people really are needy and they don't get the grant because they don't fill out the paperwork the appropriate way. So thank you, and kudos to whoever else helped write that. That's how you get the grant.
[2:05:45] Jonathan Martell: Just think of all those failed grants. They were practice. Yes.
[2:05:49] Rick Smith: I've written a lot, and I was trying to do the math in my head, and I think, just myself, I've gotten well over a million dollars in grants for the city. Thank you. Along with Chief Watkins and Chief Soucy, we're a team.
[2:06:01] Mayor Becky Brink: Wonderful. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Can I have a motion, please? Pete?
[2:06:07] Ayn Hanselmann: Motion to accept this grant.
[2:06:11] Maura Herlihy: Jonathan? I'll second that. All those in favor?
[2:06:15] Mayor Becky Brink: Did you think we're gonna reject it? All right, let's move right ahead to the next one. A proclamation declaring November 1st, 2026 as the Extra Mile Day to recognize people and organizations who are creating positive change in the community through extraordinary efforts in volunteerism and service.
[2:06:41] Jonathan Martell: I'd like to make a motion. Extra Mile Day Proclamation, October 6th, 2026, where Sanford is a community which acknowledges is that a special vibrancy exists within the entire community when its individual citizens collectively go the extra mile in personal effort, volunteerism, and service. And whereas Sanford, Maine is a community which encourages its citizens to maximize their personal contribution to the community by giving of themselves wholeheartedly and with total effort, commitment, and conviction to their individual ambitions, family, friends, and community. And whereas Sanford, Maine is a community which chooses to shine a light on and celebrate individuals and organizations within its community who go the extra mile in order to make a difference and lift up fellow members of their community, and whereas Sanford, Maine acknowledges the mission of Extra Mile America to inspire communities across the nation to recognize those who go the extra mile in volunteerism and service, now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Sanford, Maine does hereby proclaim November 1, 2026, to be Extra Mile Day. We urge each individual in the community to take time on this day to not only go the extra mile in his or her own life, but to also acknowledge all those who are inspirational in their efforts and commitment to make their organizations, families, community, country or world a better place. On behalf of the City Council of the City of Sanford and Village of Springvale, and it would be signed by the Mayor, Becky Brink.
[2:08:05] Mayor Becky Brink: Can I have a motion, please? Or any questions? Just kind of a motion. We don't need a motion. I made it a motion. You made that the motion, so we did second.
[2:08:11] Pete Tranchemontagne: All right. And Madam Mayor, I would second that. And all those in favor?
[2:08:15] Mayor Becky Brink: heard? Thank you. All right. The last but not least, in order to approve the purchase of a new asphalt repair pavement patcher unit for the Department of Public Works in the amount of $96,650 from Allied Equipment of Harlan, Maine. And Matt, you're online. Here we go.
[2:08:41] Matt Hill: great yes matt hill director of public works coming to you from outside my twins marching band practice waiting for them to get out so our pothole patcher city vehicle 0647 is a 2006 volvo and back in 2015 we took off the dump body and retrofit it with a bird camp and pavement patcher. The cost of this at the time was about a quarter million dollars. That vehicle and the associated equipment has reached the end of its service life. It's no longer able to be repaired or put back into service. And we've gone through essentially one auger and one agitator about every year since we've had it. So as we've discussed through the fleet management team and the fleet management program, we would like to replace it. It has, you know, essentially that 11-year period is, you know, programmed to be the end of its useful service life. We've also embarked on this philosophy and strategy of a hook truck fleet, whereby it would not be dedicated to just one truck, but that pothole patcher unit could be like a Swiss Army knife attached to any truck and be sent out on the road. So we've gone through a number of manufacturers on alternatives for this, and we identified Step Manufacturing as one that is a compatible and cost-effective solution. Instead of the auger this time, which we initially did want, it turns out our hook truck fleet does not have the required power through the power takeoff to accommodate an auger system, so now we've gone to a gravity option. So this will be a similar five-yard capacity dump skid. It will tilt up in the air and look much like a dump truck, but the backs instead will just have chutes where the asphalt will come out. We will have all the tools that were set up previously with the Bergkamp, plus some of the lessons learned, such as the tack tank. I think not necessarily we've found a much better way to apply that tack consistently and without creating a mess. But we would like to get back to patching potholes as soon as practicable. We have had an interim trailer unit that we've been using, but that capacity is less than half of this unit. So we found, I think, a pretty cost-effective option in this one, which is just over $96,000, and Allied Equipment is capable of fabricating for that unit and providing it to us. I'd be happy to take any questions on it. Any questions?
[2:11:36] Pete Tranchemontagne: Ann? I have more, just a comment in regards to the fleet management program. I really appreciate, Matt, your planning along the long-term planning with equipment. I know Chief Susi and other department heads do the same, but it's a really important part of our budget process. And it's, I know it's something that in particular this fleet management program, something that's looked at property subcommittee regularly, and that you also look for deals, so to speak, when they can be had. But it's really an important part of our budget plan, so I just want to say I appreciate the management program, and don't have any questions per se, but want to share that
[2:12:15] Maura Herlihy: appreciation. Thank you. Thank you, Jonathan. Also more just a comment, but I just want to thank you for trying to provide cost-effective solutions here, and just kind of a note that I'm sure you've mentioned before, but you know, if we can keep the roads patched appropriately in a time effective manner, then that'll keep us from having to do more costly repairs later on those roads. So I think it's a good idea to have something you guys can work with to keep the roads in good shape, especially now that colder weather and winter is coming. And, you know, in the spring, we get lots of potholes everywhere. So having this available would be great.
[2:13:03] Matt Hill: We're currently getting ready to wrap up our crack seal program for the year. So they're attaching a crack sealing. They've got about a week to go. But we've got some of our major roads address this year through the crack scale. You may notice them around town
[2:13:18] Mayor Becky Brink: Thank you. Anything else guys? Can I have a motion, please?
[2:13:23] Ayn Hanselmann: Pete, a motion to set public works bid on the, what's it called, a pothole? What's up? What's the official term? It's a step patch truck. Oh, okay, on the patch truck. Thank you, a
[2:13:37] Mayor Becky Brink: A second, please. Jonathan? I'll second that. All those in favor? Thank you. And Matt, I saw them on Main Street filling up all those cracks and stuff, doing a great job. Thank you. All right. We have now approached the end, so we're at council member comments. Any comments, Ann?
[2:14:00] Pete Tranchemontagne: I just wanted to share my condolences to the family of Arlene Fortier, including her family by blood and also her work family, which I know she was very close with. She was a ray of light in our community, and she will be missed terribly, so I just wanted to share my condolences. Pete?
[2:14:21] Ayn Hanselmann: Thank you, Becky. Becky. This council comment, yes, I was down at the mill last Monday, and while meeting with business owners, it came out to please come down at nighttime. So I did. I went with the film crew and some protection to make sure, because they were talking about gang activities, and all the stories were pretty alarming. So I want to be very clear that when I spoke to Becky Monday Wednesday morning she came right through and I'd like to say thank you and I'd like to thank Steve Buck our city manager because she's like he needs to see what you saw they cleared this schedule for from Wednesday so I had a meeting for an hour right away on Thursday I was impressed and I told him everything I saw so I really appreciate that what I did see was a lawless activity the whole block at nighttime and I don't recommend people go down there we're hearing younger kids going in the mill we're hearing people throwing stuff at the people that are most vulnerable they're getting beat up down there from what I seen and the open drug abuse I guess there's two different people or agents people or whatever they called stripping in the mills and that just has to stop this council will slow down on that leverage when Emily's Spa those ladies do not bring pistols to work so I'm digging in I just think that's a whole bad Situation and I really appreciate the city council the mayor and Steve Buck for meeting with me because that is alarming and we want this stopped all of us want this stopped so there's no arguing amongst us. Nobody likes this. And so, I had to bring it to light. So, thank you very much. And if I need to, I'll do it again. So, thank you.
[2:16:21] Mayor Becky Brink: And I'd like to point out that Chief Small also attended that meeting with us. And he went down, he was on double duty that Saturday night and went into the mills and there was no one there at that time. So, it's hit or miss. The police have been going They're going in twice a week, and sometimes more, sometimes less, plus in the day, and sometimes they find nobody there, and then other times they'll find 12 people there. So it's quite the challenge to know, and I think because of everything we've put into place, the next time that some of those people are asked to leave, they can be arrested now because they have been warned. So the process is in place, and it's a long process, but it does work.
[2:17:05] Ayn Hanselmann: If we follow it all right, so I want to thank everybody that was involved, and definitely the council and Steve. I appreciate that because nobody wants those meetings, and we're working on it. We're not going to leave anybody, so that's for sure. Thank you. All right, any other councilor
[2:17:25] Mayor Becky Brink: comments go
[2:17:30] Maura Herlihy: ahead. I'll mirror some of those comments. I do appreciate the hard work that everyone's been putting into dealing with this situation. I do still have concerns because I know there was some action on the 30th. I've been down there within the last few days over the weekend, and every time I go through there, 's at least five or six people with a whole bunch of stuff on the sidewalk. So the appearance is that there's not a lot of enforcement action. That may not be actually what's going on, but that's the appearance, and I'm getting a lot of feedback. You know, and I went down there a few weeks ago, and I, like, within 10 minutes, there were a couple cars hanging around. They were making what looked like some drug buys or something. So there's still a lot of activity down there. I would like to see more law enforcement activity. I've yet to see a police car drive through there in any of the times that I've gone through. So my request would be more presence and any actions that we can do, make sure we're taking care of those.
[2:18:44] Mayor Becky Brink: And you might not have been aware because you haven't been in those meetings that we've been holding about the unhoused population and everything, but our police officers are down eight people and they have to prioritize their visits. So the things that people are in the most danger, they have to do that first, and everything has to then come down the line. So, they have been there multiple times. They do try as much as they can. They do arrest them, send them to jail, and they are back on the streets before the police even get back in. So, that has been a problem. I do have to say, Diane Small, I am so pleased with the Home for Good program. I am hoping that we can get a lot of the people who are on the streets there. I know because of what Ann did two years ago when we had, at noon time on Sundays, Bill and I went to Franny's. You were there and your husband and your daughter was there. And she would serve coffee and donuts and stuff to the unhoused population. And we did that Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and it was the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. We got to sit down and chat with the people on the streets who came in, and we heard their stories, and they became very real, and it humanized this whole population. Because it's very easy to say, like some people have told me, why don't we just get a bus and move them out of Sanford? That's kidnapping, first of all. We can't do that, and secondly, that's very disrespectful. I do want to make a comment about our police department when they, I don't know if you've ever been present to hear them talking to the unhoused population. They are very respectful, kind and caring. They totally give dignity to the people who are on the street, in hopes that someday when you ask if you will accept help, they will say yes, and we will have a bed available for them to go to. So that is the goal. The goal isn't just to clean up our streets. The goal is to get help for these people. So, and Anne, I wanna thank you for that program that you put on. That was probably, both Bill and I were so rewarded by being a part of that and getting to know the people. And we went down into the encampment on Heritage during that time. Both Bill and I would walk through and chat with the people there. And I think they needed, that was all a part of what was going on with the 19 strategies. They needed to know that somebody cared. When you drive by them and they're on the side of the road begging for money, don't look away. At least acknowledge them. They want to be acknowledged that they exist, they're real. The same way with the people who are, where are they going to go? One of the comments Steve made is once we clean up Heritage, they've got to go someplace. So they're going to hit another place, and we're going to have to address that issue too. So the goal would be not just to clean up the streets. The goal is to find them help. help. That is the goal. And we always have to remember that when the public is at us and at us and at us and demanding more and more, our goal isn't to clean up the streets. Our goal is to find help for these people and get them into facilities. So that is hard. It is hard to remember at times because we are under a lot of pressure. And knowing that we are down eight police officers to help, we have got to remember that. And hopefully the public will be patient, because they are down there as much as they possibly can get there. Half the time they don't find people, so that is a problem too. Yes, Steve.
[2:22:24] Steve Buck: I just want to be cautious about when people say, I want more enforcement. If they are standing down there on the sidewalk, there is nothing to enforce. If they are in a sleeping bag, camped out, cooking and such and such, that is an enforcement enforceable action, right? One of the things that I've asked for in the concerted enforcement down there is to document, what happens when they get to the judicial system. I know what happens. Nothing. Okay, so that's part of it. Gentlemen, I'm going to really run a risk here. A gentleman said earlier tonight we should at least treat these people as well as we treat our animals. We don't allow animals to be unhoused out on the street. We pick them up, we take them to shelters immediately. Not allowed with the people, not allowed. If they don't self-direct, if they don't self-direct, you're in a really tough situation. We don't get to direct for them. That's the difficult part that nobody gives a lot of recognition to. We don't get to decide for them. I'm just going to pick you up, put you in drug rehab or a mental health bed or something. We don't get to decide that. So I do commend our police department. I can tell you they're burning out on this topic as well, and it's a handful of people that we have remaining. Because when you look at that statistics of the Sanford Housing Authority, you know, housing 263 people using the housing navigation, that extreme amount of coordination and such into that, those are the people that would accept assistance and they were provided housing. We have a population that refused those services, it refused to do anything different than what they're doing now, and our community sees an impact from it. We have difficulties with the legal insistent system, the enforcement. The homeless protocol was put in place. State legislature passed laws that decriminalized elements that used to be criminalized. My understanding of that was the intent was to not just lock somebody up for those type of behaviors, but to get them into diversionary programming. I have not seen the advent of the diversionary programming, either from a capacity aspect or the judicial system offering in placing people in diversionary program, at least not by my direct experience here in York County. So I will commend York County government again for their building of the Mental Health Assistance Treatment Program Center that they're getting ready to open in December. That will be a blessing. But think about the legal avenue and the difficulty of somebody getting into that center to receive help. If they don't self-direct, how are they supposed to get there? If you can't enforce criminal trespass and other aspects, and they go to the judicial system and they're not even offered diversionary programming, what then? That's the recidivism, that's the cycle that we face with our law enforcement community. And if in, and if I have to hear it one more time, well, if they're not here, where are they going to be? There is no place for them to be. They will just be in a different location. We'll have a different group of citizens communicating to us that the problem is yet unsolved. And I would invite everybody to come up here with a solution as to what solves this instances when individuals refuse everything. They have no personal recourse. They refuse everything. They are just doing what they are doing down there. I just invite you to find the solution to that. It has been difficult. Thank you. Thank you, Steve.
[2:26:34] Mayor Becky Brink: Any other comments from the Council?
[2:26:37] Jonathan Martell: Just a comment. We have some good things coming. So I will end on a positive I did get some paperwork in the mail for the Cottage Tree Project for my mother's house, so that 's going to be starting next year, and it's going to just morph into the work around the pond, and the work down Main Street, all positive efforts.
[2:26:56] Mayor Becky Brink: So all these maps that are up here.
[2:26:58] Jonathan Martell: All positive efforts. All part of it. And all, I think, will... with the mill we know is in conversation and well along its way, the Stenton Trust across from Central Furniture. We are looking at a revived downtown and I know things take a long time, but I think a lot of our efforts have gone to, there's been some excellent efforts in what we're doing, and the fact that we've gotten down from 240 some odd homeless down to 15 very impactful situation or 50 very impactful situations. I know it's difficult, but we do, we do not stop plugging away and it would be nice to be
[2:27:36] Mayor Becky Brink: be able to have them other than by some of the businesses, because that's hard for them. We do understand that.
[2:27:42] Jonathan Martell: But the sad thing is they need to be downtown for access to the things they need on a day-to-day basis for being homeless. It's difficult. Anything else?
[2:27:56] Mayor Becky Brink: Yep. Future agenda items is next. Yes.
[2:28:00] Ayn Hanselmann: I didn't realize that it was 1972 that they voted on the fluoride, for or against. There's positives for it and there's building negatives against it. Could we put it on the agenda for a discussion to maybe have the citizens vote on it since it's
[2:28:18] Mayor Becky Brink: been 50 plus years? I think we need to, I wouldn't mind putting it on to look at, but I think all the agencies that he listed do regularly, they accumulate data on this issue. So there are recent studies about it. So what we need to do is look at the recent studies. Don't assume we're going to put it for a vote. We need to look at the studies first.
[2:28:43] Ayn Hanselmann: Yeah, let's put it for a discussion first or a subcommittee. You know, think of it this way, Pete.
[2:28:48] Jonathan Martell: We have almost a year because you will not, probably by July, August, you would want to put it on November if that is the choice of the council at the time. So I think Becky's right. Her approach is excellent. You maybe start doing more educational pieces because I do think they're, I think fluoride is fluoride really high, fluoride really bad. Fluoride in the right amount is actually good because it, you know, and we do have to think of the fact that we do have a population in town that, you know, if we're not going to have fluoride in the water, how do you encourage fluoride use because fluoride use is very important
[2:29:26] Ayn Hanselmann: for your teeth. Correct. So that's awesome.
[2:29:29] Jonathan Martell: I would love to have that. Yeah, which is good
[2:29:34] Pete Tranchemontagne: And I don't know if this is a zoning subcommittee conversation or somebody just helping me understand better. Are I want to look into our ability within the Sanford downtown and Springvale village design districts because they're Quarters on Main Street primarily Springvale. It looks like on the GIS dips off Main Street but I want to look into our ability within those design districts because they're very particular to economic development and how our community feels to restrict not the right word, but to That might be what it is to restrict signage Certain looks and feels to building projects on that in those areas for residential properties, right? So we have very strict rules for commercial properties in those design districts, I'd like to see that conversation around, can we extend that to primary residences, to residential properties? All right. Excellent.
[2:30:29] Jonathan Martell: You know, the signed ordinance is a nightmare.
[2:30:32] Mayor Becky Brink: So would that, which subcommittee would that go under first? Zoning. Zoning. Zoning? Yeah. Okay. And the fluoride would go under public safety first?
[2:30:43] Pete Tranchemontagne: You're just saying that because Pete and I are in public safety.
[2:30:46] Jonathan Martell: I think she's right though, an agenda where you do a learning agenda is the first step. Yeah, it's a great, well, since we have time, a learning agenda where you're, and you know, we could start right away. Yeah, I don't know if all the
[2:31:02] Mayor Becky Brink: agencies, I don't know if the CDC would come, but I do know we have a lot of other agencies who will come and present their information. Yeah, all right, good.
[2:31:13] Steve Buck: Anything else? Okay, so on the matter of floor, what I'm hearing is really kind of an ongoing education piece for the council to make a decision as to whether to put this to vote or not, but at the same time, it's an educational component for the public? Yes. Okay. All right.
[2:31:35] Mayor Becky Brink: Okay. Good. We've got one thing for everybody to sign? Oh, we're free. You don't need to sign it. Meeting is adjourned.