Roughly 40 Biddeford residents turned out Tuesday for a “town hall” style meeting in order to learn more and ask questions about two local bond questions that will appear on the November ballot.
Various city officials and department heads took turns presenting information and fielding questions from concerned residents during the hour-long meeting.
The Q&A session was followed by a guided tour of the J. Richard Martin Community Center, which houses the city’s recreation department.
Detailed information about the two bonds can be found here: Local Referendum Questions
Because the city is still behind on completing its FY ’24 and FY ’25 audits, some residents wondered if Biddeford will be able to qualify for a competitive interest rate on the bond repayments.
Both City Manager Truc Dever and Finance Director Gerry Matherne said they expect the overdue FY2024 audit to be done by December, ahead of when the city would be applying for bond approval.
Although the city can only estimate the expected rates, approval of both questions – upgrades to the city’s sewer system ($20 million) and funding repairs and upgrades at the city’s recreational facilities ($6 million) – will have a combined impact of about 37 cents on the mil rate.
The average Biddeford home would see a $147 property tax impact.
Public Works Director Jeff Demers said the city is making steady progress in complying with state-mandated sewer separation projects, but said a future project could pose significant impacts on downtown businesses.
“We have already completed what we call the low-hanging fruit,” Demers explained. “We’re going to do the very best we can possibly do, and we will be working closely with business owners.”
Recreation Director Lisa Thompson listed a number of repair and upgrade projects that are long overdue at several of the city’s recreational facilities, including the West Brook skating rink, St, Louis Field, Rotary Park, the Biddeford Ice arena and the now closed skate park on outer Main Street.
“The city has seen tremendous growth in the past year, and we want to ensure that we can meet the demands that the public wants and needs,” Thompson said.
City Councilor Marc Lessard stood up from his seat in the audience to make an impassioned plea for investments in the city’s recreational assets.
“We are a service center community,” Lessard said. “Our recreational facilities attract new investments and growth in our community. Unfortunately, when things get tight, recreation is usually the first thing to be cut.
“I am a huge supporter of our city’s recreational resources,” he continued. “We have delayed these projects long enough.
“The loss of our skatepark is the poster child of what happens when we put off critical investments,” Lessard added.
Not all residents said they would support the two bonds.
“We’re writing checks we can’t cash,” said Mike Bouthillette of Biddeford.
Bouthillette asked several pointed questions during the presentation, saying the city should be looking for other sources of revenue by selling unused properties and increasing user fees for recreational buildings.
NOTE: A previous version of this story contained incorrect information about the anticipated completion of the city’s FY 2024 audit. We apologize for the error.
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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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