Tag: Marc Lessard

Biddeford budget: ‘Saltines & Cauliflower’

~ Randy Seaver ~ Leave a comment

The Biddeford City Council was presented Tuesday with preliminary budget proposals from both the School Department and the acting city manager.

There were a lot of grim faces in the room after both acting City Manager Brian Phinney and School Superintendent Jeremy Ray reviewed their budget projections with the council.

Because of a technical glitch, Phinney was unable to provide detailed information regarding salaries, but said that information should be available by early next week.

Ray described the annual budget process as a “Superbowl event” for those who have to develop public budgets.

Much later in the meeting, Biddeford City Councilor Norm Belanger said he felt like he was being served “saltines and cauliflower” instead of chicken wings for this ‘Superbowl.”

The largest number of the evening came from the School Department, which is requesting an 11.6 percent increase over last year.

Acting City Manager Brian Phinney (center) presents the council some grim budget realities (Seaver photo)

Though the city does not have its municipal budget finalized, Councilor Marc Lessard predicted a bleak outlook for the public and his fellow councilors.

Lessard, who has served on the council since 1993, said the upcoming budget review is going to be a “monumental task,” which will require plenty of pain and needed belt-tightening.

“The city council has never been able to shrink a budget request by more than two or three percent,” Lessard said. “Although we don’t yet have the numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a seven to eight percent increase [on the city side of the budget]”

According to Lessard, the city’s combined budgets (School and City) have increased by roughly 20 percent over the last three years.

“This may be the year when we zero fund some social services,” Lessard said.

The social service budget includes funding for non-municipal services and programs, including things such as the library, the Heart of Biddeford, the Biddeford Housing Authority, Seeds of Hope, La Kermesse and the Biddeford Mills Museum.

A few highlights and details

Supt. Ray gave the council an impassioned presentation, pointing out the biggest factor for the school budget was directly tied to dwindling reductions in state subsidies because of the city’s skyrocketing valuation.

“This is the real picture and it’s going to involve some tough conversations,” Ray said. “But I firmly believe that our conversation should be about what is right, not what is on the spreadsheet.”

Ray said the school department is “hanging on” with its proposed budget and operating with minimum staffing levels and supports for students.

While student enrollment has risen only risen slightly since last year, Ray said an increasing number of students are facing significant challenges, including food insecurity and homelessness.

“I firmly believe that our conversation
should be about what is right,
not what is on the spreadsheet.”

— School Supt. Jeremy Ray

Ray told the council that between 100 and 150 Biddeford students are homeless, and that the large majority of students are living in poverty.

“Roughly two-thirds of our kids are living below the federal poverty line,” Ray said.

Ray told councilors that the school department has also seen a spike in students who need English as a Second Language services, up more than 100 from last year’s total of 300 students needing those same services.

Ray said looming concerns about federal funding for education along with changes in state funding are creating an extraordinary set of challenges, asking councilors and members of the public to show support for two bills now being reviewed by the Maine Legislature.

LD 501 would slightly increase the weighted count in the school funding formula for economically disadvantaged students under the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, from 0.15 to 0.25 beginning next year.

LD 193 would amend the school funding formula to provide an additional .50 weight to a school administrative unit’s per-pupil count for each student experiencing homelessness.

On the municipal side of the budget, Phinney said he and his staff are presenting a “needs-based” budget.”

Phinney listed five new positions including a deputy fire chief, a fire inspector and a part-time administrative assistant in the fire department. The Recreation Department is requesting a part-time custodian, and the Assessing Department is requesting a “field lister” position.

Of those five new positions, Phinney said he was only recommending the field lister position.

Phinney said the council may want to look at reducing staff and building operations for the city’s public-access television studio that is now located on Pool Street near the West Brook skating park.

The budget process will continue Thursday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. as the council hears directly from those requesting social service funding from the city, including City Theater, the My Place Teen Center, Caring Unlimited, Biddeford Community Gardens and several others.

Randy Seaver is the editor of the Biddeford Gazette, He can be reached at: randy@randyseaver.com

Never miss another update! Subscribe for free today!

Council discusses winter parking bans

~ Randy Seaver ~ Leave a comment

With another winter storm looming on the horizon, members of the Biddeford City Council discussed the city’s policy regarding overnight parking bans.

At the tail end of Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilor Neva Gross – who represents much of the city’s downtown area — raised the issue to her fellow councilors, asking if there is more the city can do to announce parking bans in advance of a storm.

“I personally live down here [downtown area] so I am affected by this every time there is [a ban],” Gross said. “I received some emails over the last few days from some folks whose cars were towed during a ban because they didn’t know about it.”

Photo: City of Biddeford

Gross acknowledged that city routinely updates residents about pending parking bans in a variety of ways, including the city’s website, the city’s official Facebook page and the ability for residents to sign up for email or text notifications.

The city — — along with several other communities throughout southern Maine — also notifies television news stations about upcoming parking bans.

“Is there some kind of way that we could notify folks who are not on social media or looking at the city’s website,” Gross asked.

City Councilor Marc Lessard drew a round of laughter when he suggested that the city may want to consider using a “fire horn” to alert downtown residents of a pending parking ban.

“The bottom line is that if you park your vehicle on a public road, in the wintertime,
and it’s going to snow; you have to assume that there is going to be a parking ban
and try to figure out a way to find out about that.”

City Manager James Bennett

“I’m kind of being serious,” Lessard said, recalling that decades ago the city used a central fire horn to inform citizens of fires and served as a curfew notice.

City Manager James Bennett said “there is just no way for us to do it right” in reference to snow parking bans.

Bennett said the city of Lewiston had a policy prohibiting all overnight parking during the entire winter season.

“I’m glad to look at ways for us to enhance getting that information out,” Bennett said, pointing out that residents should make an effort to stay informed.

“This probably sounds cold, or not customer-friendly, but the bottom line is that if you park your vehicle on a public road, in the winter time, and it’s going to snow; you have to assume that there is going to be a parking ban and try to figure out a way to find out about that,” Bennett said.

Bennett also told the council that “snow clearing” parking bans represent an additional challenge in keeping residents informed about parking bans because those do not happen during a storm. “We really have to go overboard in alerting residents about those [parking bans].” Bennett said.

“If you live downtown, please help us by also doing what you can to find out about parking bans,” Bennett said.

Mayor Marty Grohman also said he heard from some friends whose vehicles were towed during a parking ban. “I think making the lots on Water and Washington streets available has been helpful,” he said.

Editor’s note: Click here for more information about Biddeford parking bans or to sign up for email and text alerts

Never miss another update! Subscribe for free today!

Biddeford struggles with communication

~ Randy Seaver ~ 1 Comment

Despite spending a little more than $45,000 last year on upgrades and consulting services, the city of Biddeford is still wrestling to improve its external communication platforms.

During almost every public meeting, the city struggles and stumbles as it attempts to allow people to remotely watch or participate in meetings at City Hall. As a result, many meetings begin late.

There are often sound issues and other glitches, especially when the council is hearing a presentation and trying to load third-party information onto its streaming platform.

Many residents also complain that remotely watching meetings is confusing, including poor sound issues and saying online public participation is often arduous

“It has gotten a bit ridiculous,” Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman said during a recent interview with the Biddeford Gazette.

Unlike the city of Saco, Biddeford uses the ZOOM technology platform to both broadcast and archive past meetings of the city council, school committee, planning board and other government committee meetings.

Saco, on the other hand, uses more user-friendly technology including Facebook and YouTube.

Biddeford City Councilor Roger Beaupre said many senior citizens feel somewhat disenfranchised because the city is not doing a good enough job in getting news and information out through more traditional methods, including public access television and print media such as the Biddeford-Saco Courier and the Portland Press Herald.

“All this push to online communication is fine and dandy, but many seniors are not comfortable with using websites to get information about what is happening in the city,” Beaupre said.

During the tail end of a city council meeting earlier this month, Beaupre shared his frustration about the issue with his fellow councilors, suggesting that the city should focus on more traditional media platforms.

The city now offers a weekly newsletter that is available by email from the city.

I think we need to do a better job in making sure that the public is getting
the news and information they need.”

— Councilor Marc Lessard

Anyone with an internet connection can access and receive the Biddeford Beat newsletter. Updates are then automatically sent out weekly by email to subscribers.

Beaupre suggested that the council should also consider having the Biddeford Beat or something similar published in the weekly Biddeford-Saco Courier, a free newspaper that is distributed to every household in Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach.

For those who don’t receive the Courier in their driveway, the paper is also available at area newsstands.

Councilor Marc Lessard emphatically agreed with Beaupre’s idea.

“We don’t want to leave anyone in the dark, and we want to be open and transparent,” Lessard said. “But I think we need to do a better job in making sure that the public is getting the news and information they need.”

Grohman — who was elected as mayor a little more than a year ago — said he is also frustrated by the situation, an issue that has plagued almost every meeting he has chaired.

“Almost every meeting experiences some kind of technology glitch,” Grohman said. “We are striving to be open and inclusive, but we have to do better in getting information out to the public.”

Grohman had high praise for the city’s communications director, Danica Lamontagne.

“I think Danica does a really good job of putting the Biddeford Beat together every week,” Grohman. “The trick now is how do we make sure that everyone is able to see that information.”

Councilor Doris Ortiz said it’s the consensus of the council to solve the problems associated with broadcasting public meetings. She also said that many older people feel more comfortable with popular platforms such as Facebook, pointing out that city of Saco livestreams its meetings on the popular social media site rather than using ZOOM.

Although Saco seems to have a more user-friendly approach, there is no opportunity for remote public comment. Those who want to comment during a Saco meeting must attend the meeting in person, according to the city’s website.

City Council President Liam LaFountain sends out his own weekly newsletter for his constituents who use Facebook.

LaFountain uses the Biddeford -Ward 7 Facebook page to keep his constituents informed about what is happening in the city and to offer previews about upcoming issues that the council will face.

“A lot of people like that I do that,” LaFountain said. “But I have also heard complaints from people regarding how we currently stream live meetings.

“We want to use technology to increase efficiency and promote public participation, but we also have to make sure that our methods are user-friendly.

Never miss another update! Enter your email and subscribe for free today!