Following more than an hour of impassioned public testimony, the Biddeford Planning Board voted unanimously Wednesday to table further review of UNE’s controversial pier proposal until all board members can participate in a site walk.

Although the Planning Board conducted a site walk at the university on June 9, board member Roch Angers was unable to attend. Alternate, non-voting board members Kayla Lewis and Stephen Beaudette were also not able to attend the prior site walk.

Unlike the planning board’s previous meeting in May – in which all public comment came from those concerned with the pier’s planned location — a half dozen people – mostly UNE students, staff, faculty and board trustees – spoke in favor of the proposal.

But residents concerned about the impacts of the project still outnumbered supporters by more than a 2-1 margin.

“It seems that this review process has somehow morphed into a PR event for the university,” quipped Chris Stone, a Hills Beach resident.

City Attorney Harry Center has been providing the board with legal advice and updates regarding relevant criteria for their ongoing consideration of the proposal.

Center has previously told the board that issues such as water depth and river current are not relevant factors for the board’s consideration.

Despite questions from some community members about why the city’s former city manager sidelined the city’s harbormaster – Paul Lariviere – from review of the project last year, Center still defends that decision, saying the harbormaster was clearly biased against the university.

Center also maintains that the city has been in full compliance within its own ordinances even though the person hired to review UNE’s application is not a trained or certified harbor master.

In fact, in a June 11 memo to the planning board, Center points out that it was John Schaeffer – the former chair of the city’s harbor commission – who suggested the ordinance should be updated almost two years ago.

Schaeffer has been an outspoken critic of UNE’s proposal and resigned his seat from the harbor commission last year, citing concerns about transparency and government process.

Although the person who the city hired to ‘sign-off’ on UNE’s application is not a trained harbormaster, Center says that fact is irrelevant, especially since the city updated the ordinance at Schaeffer’s request in 2023.

Impassioned testimony from both sides

Although not relevant to the planning board’s criteria for approval, several people told the Planning Board that the university provides the city with numerous benefits and the proposed pier will only augment those benefits.

Tim Black, a retired federal judge who became a full time Biddeford Pool resident three years ago, told the board that they should listen to and follow [Center’s] advice.

“UNE is one of the top-10 institutions in the United States for marine research,” Black said. “They also provide a substantial economic impact and benefit to the city of Biddeford. The moment is upon us.”

Nearly all those who raised concerns about the proposal shared a common message with the planning board.

“A lot of this has been examples in misdirection and obfuscation,” said Mike Gerstner of Biddeford. “We all agree that UNE should have a pier, our only issue is where that pier should be located.”

Skip Irving said he is a member of the university’s board of trustees. “I cannot simply stand by and listen to the rhetoric,” he said. “Our mission is to train students for important work that is critical to our future.”

Former city councilor Richard Rhames told the board that they should consider how much work volunteers put into serving on subordinate boards and committees.

“These volunteers, these people with no real power, are often ignored or worse,” Rhames said. “We have learned that power dictates the outcome. Powerful, well-connected interests are always able to get their way.”

Another resident said the pier controversy reminded him of a prior Planning Board’s decision to locate the MERC trash incinerator in downtown Biddeford nearly 40 years ago.

UNE Marine Sciences professor Will Kochtitzky told the board that “our world is constantly changing, and we owe it to our students to be prepared for the future by giving them the ability to conduct year-round critical research regarding marine ecosystems.”

Kochtitzky – who moved to Biddeford three years ago — also told the board that he is frustrated and angry about some of the “rhetoric” he has heard and read about from those who want to see the pier built in a different location, approximately 200 feet downriver.

“We cannot afford to let a toxic political climate trickle down from Washington and impact Biddeford,” he added.

Carol Alexander told the board: “The pier is not the problem. Its proposed location is the problem. This will affect and impact future generations.”

Mike Ramunno, a former UNE student and nearby mooring owner, said he doesn’t know anyone opposed to the idea of UNE building a new pier. He reiterated a common theme: “It’s about the location,” he said. “UNE simply cares about the aesthetic appeal of this.”

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Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com

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