Mayor proposes planning board shakeup

January 5, 2026January 5, 2026 ~ Randy Seaver ~ 1 Comment

[This story has been updated to include commentary from Alexa Plotkin, chair of Biddeford’s planning board.]

By RANDY SEAVER, Editor

Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain won his campaign a few weeks ago by promising to prioritize transparency and accountability at City Hall.

As part of that pledge, LaFountain has been seeking and interviewing people who have expressed an interest in serving on any one of more than 20 committees, boards and commissions.

One of the most notable changes being proposed by LaFountain is a slight shakeup on the city’s planning board.

The Planning Board has seven members, including the chair and two non-voting, associate members.

Both Larry Patoine and Susan Deschambault will no longer be serving as regular members on the planning board because their terms expired in December.

*Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain says periodic “refreshing” can be valuable,*

Deschambault said she was ready to step down after more than a decade of service, but Patoine says he would have enjoyed serving another term.

Patoine joined the planning board in 2007 during the Wallace Nutting administration and has been repeatedly reappointed over the last 18 years.

“I really enjoyed it,” Patoine said of his tenure on the board. “Yes, I would have liked another term, but it’s the mayor’s prerogative about who is appointed. I think he (LaFountain) wants to be headed in a different direction.”

A few weeks before he announced his bid to become Biddeford’s next mayor, LaFountain – then city council president — was clearly troubled by the review process of several large projects that came before the planning board.

During a June 17, 2025 city council meeting, LaFountain and other councilors were visibly upset about how two major projects were being presented to the city council.

Both Fathom Development and Westbrook Development Corp. appeared before the council for final approval of credit enhancement agreements connected to two projects near the city’s Pearl Street parking garage.

After a tense, marathon council meeting that lasted until after midnight, the council was evenly split in a 4-4 tie, and credit enhancement agreements were approved after then mayor Marty Grohman broke the tie.

“This makes me ridiculously uncomfortable,” LaFountain said during the meeting, frustrated that City Planner David Galbraith appeared to be taking direction from the developers who were seated in the audience. “This is not a good look for the city.”

*The site where Westbrook Development Commission wants to build 90 units of senior housing near the intersection of Lincoln and Pearl streets (Seaver photo)*

Within days after winning his election, LaFountain pushed for further review of how the University of New England’s controversial pier proposal was handled.

The pier project was narrowly approved in a 3-2 vote before the planning board on August 6.

Planning board member Roch Angers appeared before the council on the previous day and said “something smells fishy” about how UNE’s application was reviewed by city officials.

Today, LaFountain says there is a benefit to having “periodic changes” on city boards and commissions.

“I think it’s good to refresh things from time to time,” the mayor said.

During his first council meeting as mayor in December, LaFountain appointed former city councilor John McCurry to the planning board.

McCurry – a former city councilor, council president and former School Committee member – said he is looking forward to serving on the planning board. “This mayor is focused on data-driven solutions,” McCurry says. “I think that’s right up my alley.”

On Tuesday, the city council will review LaFountain’s appointment of Leah Schaffer to the planning board.

LaFountain told the Gazette that he is “impressed” by Schaffer’s resume and qualifications.

According to her application, Schaffer is an architect and has a “strong interest in city planning.”

Schaffer has served on the city’s Historic Preservation Commission since 2016 and currently serves as that organization’s chair. She also serves as chair on the Citizen’s Advisory since 2023.

Schafer served as chair and member of the Heart of Biddeford’s Design Committee from 2016 to 2024.

Other members of the planning board include Chair Alexa Plotkin; voting members Roch Angers and Matt Dubois; and associate member Kayla Lewis.

Plotkin told the Gazette that the planning board has experienced a significant increase in both the pace and volume of items requiring review.

“We are seeing a big spike in the number of applications that have come before us,” Plotkin said, pointing to both large-scale housing projects and increasing rebuild/redesign applications from coastal homeowners who are either preparing for future storms or trying to repair weather-related damages to their homes.

“Being on the planning is a constant learning process,” Plotkin said, pointing to numerous policy changes and updated zoning ordinances at both the local and state level.

Plotkin said she feels “a bit sad’ that Larry Patoine will no longer be on the board. “I can see the value of a fresh set of eyes, but I also see tremendous value in having people with lots of institutional knowledge, Plotkin added.

Plotkin’s term expires in December 2027; Angers and Dubois both have terms that expire in December.

_____________

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be reached by email: randy@randyseaver.com

Never miss another update! Subscribe for free today!

Tensions run high during Planning Board review of UNE’s proposed pier

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 ~ Randy Seaver ~ 3 Comments

Following a rather tense and emotionally-charged discussion, the Biddeford Planning Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to give preliminary site approval for the University of New England’s proposed research pier.

The controversial pier proposal has generated widespread public discourse for more than a year, even before the application was formally submitted in June 2024.

*This aerial photograph shows the proposed location of the University of New England’s proposed research pier (UNE Photo)*

Opponents – including area fishermen, private mooring owners and neighbors – have consistently said they wanted the university to consider an alternative location that was proposed by Harbormaster Paul Lariviere nearly two years ago.

City Attorney Harry Center, however, told board members that the so-called “alternative location” was not part of UNE’s application and thus, not subject to review and/or approval by the board.

City Planner David Galbraith began the discussion with an emotional statement, saying he has been vilified by project opponents and that “personal attacks” have called into question both his integrity and professionalism.

“I have been doing this for 30 years, and I have never been subjected to such malicious comments,” Galbraith told the board. “I and others involved in the review of this proposal have gone out of our way to be open, transparent and accommodating.”

Galbraith told the board that he was especially angry about a recent YouTube video that was posted by a anonymous Facebook page known as “UNE Pier Review.”

“Frankly, I am appalled,” Galbraith said. “I assure you that my integrity is worth much more than what any developer could offer me.”

“I have been doing this for 30 years,
and I have never been subjected
to such malicious comments.”
— City Planner David Galbraith

Planning Board Member Susan Deschambault reminded her fellow board members that the university’s proposal has already been reviewed and approved by several other agencies, including the Saco River Corridor Commission, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S, Army Corps of Engineers.

But alternate board member Kayla Lewis said she could understand why opponents and other members of the public were feeling angry and frustrated.

“UNE did exactly what they were supposed to do in submitting their application to us,” Lewis said. “But we also have to acknowledge and recognize that this review process has had a shaky foundation. Somewhere along the line, things got very blurred.”

Roch Angers was one of the two board members who voted against approval of the project.

“I have a lot of mixed feelings about the process,” Angers said. “But that has nothing to do with our city planner, who I think has done an outstanding job.”

Center told the board that the city’s ordinances are clear and that there is no legal basis for consideration of potential impacts to mooring owners or fishermen in the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. Center also told the board that any concerns about the harbormaster being removed from the review process were also not relevant for the board’s consideration.

Resident Kyle Noble questioned why the Planning Board was even considering the application after what he described as a “faulty review process.”

“This is a once in a lifetime project,” Noble told the board. “And it’s forever.”

A UNE spokesperson said the university was pleased about the board’s preliminary vote.

“We were also encouraged by the comments made by city staff and planning board members correcting a number of false statements that have been made about the project,” said Sarah Delage, associate vice president of communications for the university. “We look forward to a final vote at the next meeting.”

John Schafer, the former chair of Biddeford’s Harbor Commission, has been a leading opponent of the university’s proposal.

“Obviously, I am very disappointed,” Shafer said during a brief interview Thursday. “There was a lot of misinformation thrown at the board and they acted mostly in lock-step. From my perspective, it seems that their decision was already made before the meeting started.”

NOTE: Board members Roch Angers and Matt Dubois voted in opposition to the application; Board Members Larry Patoine and Susan Deschambault voted in favor of the application. Board Chair Alexa Plotkin broke the tie, voting in the affirmative for the applicant (UNE). Kayla Lewis is an alternate, non-voting member of the board.

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com

NEVER MISS ANOTHER UPDATE! Subscribe for free today!

OPINION: A missed opportunity for leadership

July 13, 2025July 13, 2025 ~ Randy Seaver ~ 1 Comment

According to his Facebook campaign page, Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman is “feeling frustrated” about being called out for not disclosing some relevant campaign donations made to his mayoral campaign nearly two years ago.

Apparently, Marty still doesn’t get why I mentioned his failure to disclose those donations in my story about a large-scale development that was approved by the city council during its June 17, 2025 meeting.

Allow me to explain.

Just a few weeks ago, Biddeford Planning Board Member Susan Deschambault made a point of offering a public disclosure even before the planning board was set to begin considering an application from the University of New England to build a controversial pier on the Saco River.

*Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman* (Facebook photo)

Deschambault knew that the project had created controversy. She knew that both opponents and proponents of the project were sitting in the room, all waiting to see how the board was going to tackle the issue.

She began the meeting by saying she thought it was important for everyone to know that she had been a student at the university, even though it was many years ago – back when the school was then called St. Francis College.

Does anyone really think that Deschambault may be biased about the pier project simply because she went to college at the Biddeford campus nearly 50 years ago? No. Of course not.

But to her credit, Deschambault just wanted to make sure that everyone at the table was aware of a fact that was already a matter of public record.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, most people know that Biddeford has been facing some serious “red-flag issues” at City Hall. Public confidence in local government is not exactly overflowing.

Just minutes before the mayor provided his tie breaking votes regarding the proposed development project, the council and public heard a scathing report from an independent accounting firm about the city’s two-year overdue audit.

The accounting firm said they found “several serious deficiencies,” including how the city handles cash reconciliations and federal grant monies.

Furthermore, Mayor Grohman stalled this reporter, only reluctantly confirming information about the former city manager and his lawsuit against the city, not to mention the city’s counter claims.

This is all stuff that has come to light in just the past 30 days, never mind the upcoming stories or the last several months of various problems at City Hall.

Let’s be real. Grohman only received about $391 from the developers who came before the council on June 17. Those donations happened two years ago. There was no way for the developers to know that Grohman would be in a position to break several tie votes.

There is no criminal conspiracy here. After selling his company several years ago, Grohman is financially speaking quite comfortable. To think that his votes could be bought for less than $500 is laughable.

But that’s not the point.

There was absolutely NOTHING wrong about Marty accepting those donations. There was absolutely NOTHING wrong in how the mayor chose to exercise his rare voting power. Honestly, I would have probably voted the same way.

Marty’s mistake was one of poor leadership.
If he had just briefly mentioned
the small donations he had received
two years ago, we would not
be having this conversation today.

Marty’s mistake was one of poor leadership. If he had just briefly mentioned the small donations he had received two years ago, we would not be having this conversation today.

Maine voters are vigilant about government transparency. We have a “clean elections” law and rigorous reporting requirements even for local candidates.

Campaign finance reports are not intended to just “check the box” and then reside in the bottom of a dusty file cabinet. Sure, they are public records, but the public relies on the media and other observers to stay on top of those issues.

Given the current atmosphere at City Hall; given the magnitude and benefits of the development project, Grohman should have simply disclosed that he received donations from the very same developers sitting in the room.

Susan Deschambault understood the importance of integrity and leadership. Sadly, Mayor Grohman missed this point.

I think we’re all “feeling frustrated.”

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com

NEVER MISS ANOTHER UPDATE! Subscribe for free today!

Board members get front-row view of UNE’s controversial pier proposal

June 9, 2025June 9, 2025 ~ Randy Seaver ~ 2 Comments

A small group of slightly more than 40 people attended a Biddeford Planning Board site walk near the location of where the University of New England wants to construct a new pier to dock its marine research vessel.

The proposed pier includes a 130-foot approach pier with an 80 by 20-foot pier head jutting out into the channel almost directly across from the Camp Ellis pier on the Saco River

*UNE Vice President Alan Thibeault answers questions for planning board members (Seaver photo)*

The university’s proposal has generated considerable controversy over the past several months. During a preliminary Planning Board meeting last month, several members of the public raised concerns about the proposal including its potential impact to existing moorings and impacts on navigation and recreational fishing during low tide.

No members of the public spoke in favor of the proposal at that May 22 meeting.

Monday’s site walk lasted almost 45 minutes, requiring board members and the public to hike through a wooded area behind the school’s marine sciences center.

There was no opportunity for public comment or questions, but planning board members did ask several questions about the project, including the proposed height of the pier, how river current and tides could impact the pier and how exactly the pier would be constructed.

Alan Thibeault, the university’s vice president of operations, led board members to a spot overlooking the Saco River to answer questions and point out the exact area where the university hopes to build their pier.

*Ken Buechs of Biddeford made his feelings about the project known during Monday’s site walk* (*Seaver photo.)*

Behind Thibeault, critics of the pier were sharing their own information about the project. Two small boats were anchored near the shore; one boat closest to the school’s proposed location and another boat slightly downriver where the city’s harbormaster and others say the pier should be located.

People on each of the small boats held up large placards to display the data from their depth-finding equipment. During the site walk, at low tide, the vessel closest to the school’s preferred location showed a water depth of six feet, while the other vessel showed a water depth of 12-feet.

Former City Councilor Patricia Boston was one of those who attended the site walk. Although water depth is technically not part of the criteria for the planning board, Boston said the board should pay attention to that issue.

A private boat owner holds up a placard showing a water depth of only six feet during low tide where the university hopes to build their pier. Another boat, slightly downstream, showed a water dept of 12 feet at the location where Biddeford’s harbormaster says the pier should be built. (Seaver photo)

“To me, it seems like a simple issue to objectively address,” Boston said. “This project is going to have significant impacts on the Saco River for generations to come. I’m hoping the planning board will consider all of the issues – from a planning perspective, it’s important to know all the information.”

“This project is going to have significant
impacts on the Saco River for
generations. I’m hoping the
planning board will consider
all of the issues”
— Patricia Boston, former city councilor

Boston said she is disappointed by how the university has been pushing the project forward. “Based just on what I have been reading and hearing, there seems to be some missed opportunities for collaboration, and I find that sad,” she said.

A few people from Saco also attended Monday’s site walk, including Kevin Roche, the president of SOS Saco Bay, a non-profit group focused on erosion issues in the Camp Ellis area. Roche did not return a phone call for comment, as of press time.

Matt Dubois, the newest member of the planning board, described the site walk as “informative and comprehensive.”

*Former city councilor Kyle Noble — an outspoken critic of the project, holds a pole to demonstrate the height of UNE proposed pier*

Susan Deschambault, another Planning Board member, said she appreciated the opportunity to see the exact location and ask questions about the project. “There are still more questions to be asked,” she said.

*Members of the public paid close attention to UNE’s presentation during Monday’s site walk. (Seaver photo)*

Earlier in the day, a group of private mooring owners who would be impacted by the proposal, issued a press release stating that they “are ready to be sued by the university” because they are unwilling to give up their mooring locations.

“I guess they don’t understand the English language over there at the college,” said Capt. Shawn Tibbetts, a commercial fisherman with a mooring location that would need to be moved. “We’re not moving. The site they want for their pier is unavailable to the University of New England.”

Planning board chair Alexa Plotkin described the site walk as somewhat unique. “This is not like driving into a parking lot and looking around,” she said. “I’m glad we had the opportunity to see the area that is not really visible on a daily basis.”

Plotkin said she was pleased by the turnout and said the university’s proposal will be back on the planning board’s agenda for its next meeting on June 18.

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be contacted by email: randy@randyseaver.com

Never miss another update! Subscribe for free today!