Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman told the Biddeford Gazette Tuesday that a special, “Citizens Grievance” meeting has been scheduled for Oct. 23 and will be held in the council chambers at Biddeford City Hall, beginning at 6 p.m.
The special meeting will focus on the controversial pier project that the University of New England wants to build on the Saco River.
The Citizens Grievance meeting was triggered last month when a group of residents were able to collect more than 100 signatures of registered voters to demand an opportunity to publicly address the mayor and city council about their concerns.
The university’s proposal — although controversial — has already been approved by several regulatory agencies, including the Saco River Corridor Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Biddeford Planning Board, which voted 3-2 on Aug. 5, 2025, to approve the project.
The special meeting comes only a few weeks ahead of a scheduled Zoning Board of Appeals meeting about the pier on Nov. 13.
The ZBA appeal was requested and filed by John Shafer, an outspoken opponent of the pier project and the former chair of Biddeford’s Harbor Commission.
Although Shafer said he helped gather signatures to trigger the special Citizens Grievance meeting, he said he is not actively involved in coordinating the Oct. 23 citizens meeting.
Carole Alexander, the wife of the late Marshall Alexander – Biddeford’s former harbormaster – spearheaded the signature campaign and presented the signatures to City Manager Truc Dever last month.
Alexander told the Gazette she that became angry during the review process of UNE’s proposal, especially when University of New England officials publicly implied that her late husband supported the school’s desired location for their large research pier.
“They just made that up,” Alexander said. “Marshall never approved that site. They [the university] are just trying to cover their butts now because our current harbormaster also doesn’t approve of the site.”
Other members of the public have expressed concerns about how former Biddeford City Manager Jim Bennett removed both the city’s current harbormaster and assistant harbormaster from the review process.
A number of residents also expressed anger about Grohman’s push to remove Roch Angers from his position on Biddeford’s planning board.
Grohman said Angers violated the board’s code of ethics by publicly addressing the city council regarding his concerns about how the city has handled its review of the university’s application.
According to the city’s charter, a special grievance meeting requires the mayor and council to be present and listen to the concerns of residents. Organizers will choose their own moderator for the meeting.
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Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be reached by email: randy@randyseaver.com
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