This is the first in a multi-part series that examines the relationship between the University of New England and Biddeford’s municipal leaders.
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
Tensions between the University of New England and the city of Biddeford have reached a boiling point.
Over the last few weeks, it has become increasingly clear that the relationship between the city and the university is severely strained and any substantial agreement now seems increasingly unlikely.
In a letter he sent to Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain on April 27, Dr. James Herbert – the university’s president — described UNE’s relationship with the city as “broken.”
Just a few days later – during a May 7 public meeting of the newly created Institutional Zone Review Committee – Herbert clashed with fellow committee member, City Councilor Marc Lessard, on an issue related to the school’s controversial research pier, a project that has been delayed while being reviewed in York County Superior Court.
The heat got turned up in November
Herbert and other university officials have signaled clear and increasing frustration ever since the November 2025 city election that brought a new mayor and several new councilors to the table.
In that November election, more than 60 percent of the city’s voters said they were tired of what they perceived as “backroom deals” with developers. Many residents said they felt as if their voices didn’t matter at City Hall – as if municipal leaders were locked-in on a predetermined path, regardless of public sentiment.
Both LaFountain and fellow mayoral candidate Norman Belanger said they thought the city needed “stronger leadership.”
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LaFountain’s central campaign promise to renew accountability and transparency at City Hall resonated with a majority of voters.
In the months before the election, the university had virtually sailed through what would typically be a rather arduous review and permitting process for a large scale pier that will forever change the view of the lower part of the Saco River.
Permits for the controversial pier proposal were granted with minimal public participation from a slew of regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Saco River Corridor Commission and even Biddeford’s Planning Board.
But despite the clear sailing through state and federal agencies, there were signs of clear public frustration and discontent brewing just beneath the surface. That resentment and new questions about the project were not limited to the usual suspects of nearby property abutters and coastal residents who have historically been a thorn in UNE’s side.
In fact, only a few weeks before the November election, residents gathered enough signatures to force a special citizens grievance meeting about the university’s planned research pier.
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Residents said they were angry that the city’s harbormaster had been sidelined in the pier’s review process by former mayor Marty Grohman and former City Manager James Bennett.
Paul Larivierre – the city’s harbormaster – was very vocal with his opinion that the pier’s proposed location would be detrimental to others who rely on access to the Saco River. He proposed a nearby alternative location that would better serve the university’s needs without interrupting other activity on the river.
Though Grohman had consistently said he supported the former city manager’s decision to remove both the harbormaster and assistant harbormaster from the review process, the former mayor was singing a much different tune just moments before the October citizens grievance meeting got underway.
As a steady stream of frustrated citizens filled the room, the former mayor — who was seeking reelection – was passing out information pamphlets and telling residents he “had nothing to do” with the harbormaster’s removal.
Despite the grievance meeting and increasing public concerns and questions about the pier, the university was still moving forward with its plans to build the pier.
The university’s proposal gained support and $3.5 million in federal funding from U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee. Collins will be facing her own political battles in just a few months as she seeks reelection during a sluggish economy.
The needed permits fell into place like clockwork for UNE. All the lights were green, and the project seemed inevitable.
All the lights were green,
and the project seemed inevitable.
The Saco River Corridor Commission, in fact, gave the project preliminary approval in just one meeting, a rare occurrence for commissioners who typically demand a very detailed and substantive review on every project, from a homeowner’s proposed firepit to a new dock at a family camp.
But the university’s proposed research pier is much larger and more complex than any typical dock that could be found along the shoreline of the Saco River. The concrete and steel structure will stretch approximately 180-feet from the shoreline (roughly two-thirds the length of a football field), jutting toward the center of the river.
The university says the new pier will be used to facilitate their year-round and ongoing marine research activities, including a deeper understanding about the potential benefits of kelp and the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, while also providing an opportunity to conduct ongoing research at Ram Island.
Those who have expressed the most ardent opposition to the pier’s construction generally say that they are not opposed to the pier’s concept, just its proposed, specific location.
A new approach catches UNE off guard
Within weeks after the election, the Biddeford City Council unanimously voted to enact a temporary, six-month moratorium on any new development at UNE’s coastal campus, where several new projects have been built in recent years.
The city said the temporary moratorium was necessary in order to give Biddeford officials a chance to review and update zoning ordinances that had not been examined for more than 25 years.
Mayor LaFountain – with the full backing of the city council – also resurrected a citizen Institutional Zone Review Committee to examine current zoning and make recommendations about possible updates.
In a signal of public transparency, LaFountain appointed Herbert to be a voting member of that committee.
The new committee’s first few meetings were cordial – though tedious – as members slogged through technical terms of existing zoning.
But earlier this month, Herbert attempted to have the committee “memorialize” the controversial pier’s prior approval by the Biddeford Planning Board in August.
SEE VIDEO | May 7 Institutional Zone Review Committee meeting (13:10)
Herbert has long said he is concerned that the city may be attempting to retroactively deny a permit that was already legally approved by the planning board in August.
Other committee members pushed back on Herbert’s plan.
Lessard described Herbert’s move as part of an elaborate and strategic game of chess, pointing out that committee has no authority other than to make suggested recommendations for the city council’s consideration.
Meanwhile, UNE’s pier project is facing another relatively new bump in the road as the York County Superior Court reviews the city’s complaint about a 250-foot buffer that was either ignored or forgotten during the review process.
Because of that pending court case, UNE’s request to begin removing mature trees near the shoreline earlier this year was denied by the city, a decision that was upheld earlier this month by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
NEXT | Is UNE’s proposed pier a sure thing? And what political pressure is being put upon the city’s new mayor and city council?
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