OPINION | An open letter to Mayor Liam LaFountain and the Biddeford City Council

“Last year’s local elections of a new mayor and city councilors in Biddeford helped pave the way for a desperately needed course correction”

By JOHN SHAFER | Biddeford

Dear Mayor LaFountain and members of the Biddeford City Council,

It looks like the UNE pier issue has reached a resolution of sorts, after the city wisely sought and then received clarification from the Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC).

What needed clarification was whether or not the commission had deliberately erased the 250-foot no-build zone they created on the University of New England’s Biddeford campus.

My personal opinion is that by extinguishing a Saco River protection that was intended (in 2001) to last “in perpetuity,” which the SRCC did Wednesday night, they exposed their completely arbitrary and unprincipled process.

The SRCC also clearly proved that different applicants get different treatment, depending on status. By smoothing the way for UNE, and by killing an environmental protection of the river, an organization with a mission to protect the river committed reputational suicide. But that’s their problem, not yours.

When I resigned as chair of the Biddeford Harbor Commission two years ago, I wrote to Mayor [Marty] Grohman and the city council, “The city manager has taken steps to silence critical input from the Harbor Commission, the harbormaster and the assistant harbormaster.”

**THE AUTHOR** testifies during a Saco River Corridor Commission meeting earlier this month | *Biddeford Gazette File Photo*

Colluding with UNE, city leadership in 2024 ultimately succeeded with their scheme. At the same time, a knowledgeable land use attorney and major UNE donor was our SRCC representative. Although he likely knew about it, he did not inform the SRCC about the 250-foot no-build buffer. Therefore, the commission voted in 2024 to kill the buffer, “unknowingly,” according to today’s SRCC chairman.

Remember, UNE had omitted any mention of the buffer in their application. Keeping SRCC commissioners in the dark turned out to be a very handy tool for the applicants.

There is one silver lining in this story. Last year’s local elections of a new mayor and city councilors helped pave the way for a desperately needed course correction.

The new mayor and council brought renewed transparency and accountability back to city government. Whereas the SRCC last week compounded their mistake and disowned their commitment to protect the river, you folks have taken many obvious steps since being elected to welcome citizen participation in the regulatory process and increase accountability. You have also made it clear you respect input from citizens, whether or not you agree. That’s all we can ask.

There has been another major victory.

Everyone in town has the highest respect for UNE’s students, the professors and their outstanding academic programs. That certainly includes the marine sciences program and the legitimate need for a new research vessel and a pier to accommodate it.

That need for a year-round pier has always been true and was never in doubt. However, as just one example proves (there are many others), UNE hiding the 250-foot buffer from every application they submitted told us something crucial.

The current city council is now very tuned in to the habitually “selective” sharing of information with the city of Biddeford, practiced by senior leadership at the University of New England.

“The new mayor and council
brought renewed transparency
and accountability back
to city government.”

You’ve seen the ferocity with which they defend this cynical behavior. Thankfully, this council, and all future councils, are now aware. UNE’s claims of full transparency are meaningless, and any land use proposal they make always needs to be put under a microscope.

With your committed leadership, I trust the city to keep a watchful eye — and here’s some fresh evidence.

As opposed to what happened when the SRCC first approved UNE’s proposed pier in 2024, our new SRCC representative on Wednesday night refused to stomach the idea that the agency should abandon a key river protection.

He said the language from the commission’s 2001 order is “pretty clear to me about maintaining a no-build protected zone within 250 feet of the river.”

That’s clarity and transparency. His vote was obviously based on principle, his integrity in taking the time to understand the plain intent of previous law, and his commitment shared with the mayor and council to honor the need for accountability when local government conducts the people’s business.

In the first eight months of 2026, this distinct return to ethics has been a very positive outcome in Biddeford, and a very welcome turn of events.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR | John Shafer is a Hills Beach resident. He is the former chair of Biddeford’s Harbor Commission and has been an outspoken critic of the process used to review and regulate the construction of a new research pier on the Saco River.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Biddeford Gazette, its staff, affiliates or sponsors. We encourage robust and diverse community conversations on topics related to the city of Biddeford. To submit your own letter or column, please CONTACT US

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