Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

SMPDC Winter

Newsletter

Ogunquit, Maine

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Community Development Block Grant Gap Funding to Assist Businesses

The Maine Office of Community Development has published the 2018

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Proposed Statement. The

document can be found at

http://www.maine.gov/decd/meocd/cdbg/statement.shtm

The 2018 CDBG Proposed Statement details how CDBG funds will be

distributed for FY 2018. This document contains a list of funding per

program as well as Letter of Intent and application due dates. There are

two economic development programs that are targeted towards

economic development projects and activities.

The Economic Development Program (EDP) provides communities with

gap funding to assist businesses in the creation/retention of jobs for low-

and moderate income persons. There are two types of grants for the EDP

program. There are grants to municipalities for relocation, demolition,

clearance, construction, reconstruction, installation and rehabilitation

associated with public infrastructure projects such as water and sewer

improvements, flood and drainage improvements, publicly-owned

commercial and industrial buildings, parking, streets, curbs, gutters,

sidewalks, etc. All public infrastructure must be owned by the

municipality or public or private utility and be in support of an identified

business. In addition, there are grants to municipalities for direct business

support for capital and non-capital equipment, land and site

improvements, rehabilitation or construction of commercial or industrial

buildings, job training, working capital and capital equipment and be in

support of an identified business.

National Brownfields

Conference

Paul Schumacher, SMPDC

Executive Director, will be

speaking at the EPA National

Brownfields Conference in

Pittsburgh, PA in December.

The presentation will address

leveraging brownfields funds

across a region. Regional

Planning Commissions (RPCs)

and Council of Governments

(COGs) struggle with equitable

community disbursement of

Brownfields monies.

Communities all want a big

piece of the Brownfields pie.

This panel will discuss how

regional entities in Maine have

created transformative

programs, and maximized

public and private partnerships

using Brownfields Assessment

and Revolving Loan Funds (RLF)

monies to convert Brownfields

from community liabilities into

community assets while trying

to disburse monies throughout

very diverse cities and towns.

“The Economic Development Program (EDP)

provides communities with gap funding to assist

businesses in the creation/retention of jobs for

low-and moderate income persons.”

SMPDC Newsletter SMPDC Winter Edition Volume 6 Issue 3

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Acquisition is not an allowable activity under this group. Under this category a private business may receive grant

funds to support job creation.

The maximum award amount for both programs is $500,000 and the deadline for letters of intent is February 23,

2018.The Micro-Enterprise Assistance Grant (MEA) Program provides grant funds to assist in innovative solutions to

problems faced by micro-enterprise businesses. Assistance to businesses may be in the form of grants or loans at the

discretion of the community. Eligible activities under the Micro-Enterprise Assistance category are grants or loans to

for-profit businesses that can be used for working capital and interior renovations, façade grants or loans for exterior

improvements, including signage, painting, siding, awnings, lighting, display windows and other approved

improvements; and eligible planning activities necessary to complete the

Project Development Phase. Sewer, water, storm drainage, parking, roads

or streets and other infrastructure improvements and buildings solely for

residential use are not eligible. The maximum award amount is $150,000

and the deadline for Letters of Intent is the February 9, 2018.

Assistance in the explanation of CDBG programs and to provide information

on the development of applications is available from SMPDC at no cost to

the municipalities. These services are financed through a contract with the

Department of Economic and Community Development, and made possible

as a result of your annual dues payment. We are able to meet with you to

explain the types of activities eligible under the various grant programs,

match the grant programs to the community and economic development

needs of your community, or provide information on the development of

an application. Feel free to contact Chuck Morgan by phone at 571-7065 or

email at cmorgan@smpdc.org for more information.

Thank-You’s &

Congratulations

SMPDC would like to thank

everyone who contributed

to the development of,

and purchased our first

edition of the Maine Land

Use law book! Of the 850

books printed, we sold

836! This has been a huge

success! THANK YOU

Congratulations to the

Town of Berwick for

passing hybrid form-based

code in November to help

shape the community’s

downtown!

Congratulations to the

Town of Limerick for

passing their zoning

ordinance in November!

Briarcliff Farms, West Baldwin Maine

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Personnel Moves at SMPDC Meet Our New Hires

The times and people are

changing at SMPDC. As some

know, Jamel Torres, our

Transportation Planner has

moved on to the Assistant

Planner position in Scarborough.

Congrats and good luck to Jamel

who provided us with some top

notch assistance in his two years

here.

SMPDC has just hired Abbie

Sherwin to take the position of

Land Use/Transportation

Planner. Abbie is an under

graduate of Wheaton College

with a M.S. in Natural Resources

from UNH. Abbie worked as a

NOAA Coastal Management

Fellow for the Maine Dept. of

Agriculture, Conservation and

Forestry (DACF) for two years.

She is currently employed by the

NH Floodplain Management

Program. Abbie will be joining

SMPDC at the end of December

and be working on transportation

projects, Comprehensive Plans,

the SMPDC coastal contract,

community resiliency and a

number of other projects.

SMPDC has also recently hired

Ashleigh Tatarcyk as a part time

Community Outreach Specialist.

Ashleigh has a B.A from USM in

Sustainable Tourism and

Hospitality with a concentration

in Community Development.

Ashleigh spent time in Cuba as

Research Assistant, studying

Cuba’s tourism infrastructure

while living aboard the Tall Ship

“The Harvey Gamage”. She also

worked at GPCOG for some time,

working on the Portland Food

Launch and helping to organize

other events. Ashleigh will be

helping SMPDC with our

publications, meeting

facilitations, the website and

data collection and research.

We welcome both new members

to the team and look forward to

working with them.

A Note from Lee Jay

Feldman Director of Planning

Planning Boards, local ordinances

and the processes which we all

have followed have their

differences town by town (thank

you Home Rule) but there comes

a moment in time when we have

to stop and ask; How well is this

working? It works for my town so

it should work for everybody

else! That may not be the case!

Recently at the Maine Municipal

Annual Conference, I had the

good fortune to team with Beth

DellaValle, AICP, Sanford’s

Planning Director along with Phil

Saucier, Land Use Attorney of

Bernstein Shur to talk about

recent court cases and the effect

these cases are having on Maine

Land Use regulations.

Time and again, the Maine Law

Court has been handing down

rulings that suggest the

municipalities need to change

their regulations to be more

standardized in the approach. I

believe both worlds can still

exist! In my estimation it all

comes down to the local process,

from that respect there is a

process during the review of

projects that ALL boards should

follow (and many do not). By

following this process, the

board(s) will put themselves

legally on a better footing to

withstand any challenges that

may occur.

Nubble Beach, Maine

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Working with so many of your

communities as I do, I get it!

Every town is different and you

all have done it your way for 100

years BUT that one legal

challenge could be a big one. I

think it is very important to at

least look at the process you

follow from initial application

acceptance through to the

Findings of Fact, and make sure

you follow the well-established

formula that MMA, SMPDC and

your legal team may have laid

out for you. I know that in the

past both Natalie Burns (SMPDC’s

attorney) and I have both

discussed this process at many

workshops, and I know MMA has

done the same. It may take a

little longer for the process to

unfold, it may make the applicant

very impatient, BUT it is for the

good of the applicant as well as

the town.

If any community is interested to

follow up on this process, I would

be happy to talk with you.

Updates Conferences and Sessions

1. Northeast Transportation Safety Conference on October 25th in Connecticut – Tom Reinauer was asked to attend and give a presentation focused on the Maine – New Hampshire Traffic Incident Management Committee, and items the Committee has been working on. The conference included over 250 attendees from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York.

2. Lee Jay Presented the Maine Flood Resiliency Checklist booklet developed by Abbie Sherwin, a NOAA fellow with the Maine Coastal Program, a recent workshop sponsored by the Island Institute of Maine held at the Muskie school with 80 in attendance. Lee Jay had assisted Abbie with the development of this program, and worked with the City of Saco to conduct a test run during the development of the decklist.

3. Maine Storm water Conference on October 24th in Portland – Tom Reinauer gave a presentation with Jake Ammon from the Wells Reserve. Tom went over the process of developing a Decision Support Tool (DST) for culvert prioritization, and Jake explained how he took the DST and applied it to culvert infrastructure in the

Road Salt Bids

SMPDC continues to provide a

cost saving Cooperative

Purchasing Program to their

municipalities, schools and non-

profit agencies. The Road Salt

bid was awarded to Morton Salt

again this year. The delivered

price for Sodium Chloride is

$60.60/ton and Treated Ice-B-

Gone is $78.60/ton. To place an

order, please call Morton Salt at

1-855-665-4540.

Over the past few years SMPDC

municipalities have saved

hundreds of thousands of dollars

through the cooperative road salt

bid.

Our Copy Paper bid was awarded

to WB Mason. This year’s pricing

is:

•8 ½ X 11 - $23.65/case

•8 ½ X 14 - $32.87/case

•11 X 17 - $31.66/case

The Office Supply bid again this

year was combined with GPCOG.

WB Mason was awarded the bid.

As in the past, WB Mason

supplied a list of “everyday” used

office supplies at a much lower

price. To see this list, please

contact Marian at SMPDC.

SMPDC encourages their

municipalities, schools and non-

profit agencies to continue

participating in our bid process.

The more participants; the better

the pricing!

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Town of York and other areas of the SMPDC region. The DST takes in to consideration several different categories, and provides a method for municipalities and agencies to rate culverts based on risk of damage and other factors such as infrastructure condition, habitat barriers and the location of the roadway.

4. Lee Jay recently moderated a session at the Maine

Municipal Association annual meeting in Augusta Dealing with Land Use law and the future of Land Use regulations in Maine. Lee Jay worked the session with Beth DellaValle, Planning Director of Sanford, and Phil Saucier, Land Use attorney, with Bernstein Shur of Portland. Approximately 40 people attend the session.

Upcoming Events

Safety- A Universal Challenge 67th Maine Transportation Conference. December 7th, 2017.

Technical and policy track discussions will examine a range of topics, from Colorado’s groundbreaking Road X system launched this fall and system-wide advances on Maine’s highways to efforts to improved work zone, railroad, bike-ped and autonomous vehicle safety.

Two Day Training Course: All Hazards Transportation Recovery Plan. January 23rd-24th, 2018.

The purpose of the course is to provide participants with the tools, knowledge, skills, and resources to develop an emergency transportation recovery plan that includes coordinated transit, TDM and ITS strategies and the use of social media to facilitate recovery.

Mojo, our office dog

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

Dredging Maine’s Coast

Feasibility of Purchasing a Dredge SMPDC Receives Maine Coastal

Program Grant to study

Feasibility of Purchasing a Dredge

for Use on a Regional Scale

SMPDC recently received a

competitive grant through the

Maine Coastal Program to assess

the feasibility of purchasing a

dredge for use along the coast in

southern Maine.

A number of harbors and rivers in

southern coastal Maine (and all

of Maine for that matter) have

been waiting years for their

permitted harbors to be dredged.

Due to high demand and lack of

funds these projects continue to

be delayed. Using the model of

Barnstable County,

Massachusetts, (where a county

purchased dredge has been

operating successfully for over 20

years) SMPDC and its project

partners (coastal towns in

southern Maine, MaineDOT,

Maine Geological Survey and the

Maine Coastal Program) will

conduct a feasibility analysis,

including a cost/benefit study, to

determine whether the purchase

of a dredge on a regional or

larger than regional scale can

provide a cost efficient and

environmentally sustainable

method of dredging harbors and

nourishing beaches when

possible. The southern portions

of the state’s coast line is made

up of miles of sandy beaches and

harbors. This region is dependent

on tourism to support many of

the year round business owners

who may rely solely on tourism

dollars for their revenue stream.

Without access to well-nourished

beaches and maintained harbors,

not only does the region suffer

but the state as a whole suffers

diminished sales tax if tourists

decide to spend these dollars

elsewhere. Additionally, the

southern Maine fishing and

lobster industries rely on

dredged harbors and access to

continue with their vibrant

efforts at providing fresh

seafood.

SMPDC has contracted with the

Woods Hole Group on Cape Cod

to assist with the study. The

study will be conducted over the

upcoming year.

Please call Paul Schumacher

(571-7065) if you would like to

learn more about the effort.

.

“This region is dependent on tourism…. Without

access to well-nourished beaches and

maintained harbors, not only does the region

suffer but the state as a whole suffers...”

Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission

SMPDC Staff

Paul Schumacher: Executive Director Lee Jay Feldman: Director of Planning Chuck Morgan: Economic and Community Development Director Tom Reinauer: Transportation Director Kathy Connor: Senior Planner Abbie Sherwin: Transportation & Land Use Planner Marian Alexandre: Office Manager David DiPerri: Contract Accountant Ashleigh Tatarcyk: Community Outreach Coordinator

SMPDC Executive Committee

Robert Heard Chairman Board of Selectmen 71 Main Street Porter, ME 04068

Perry Ellsworth Vice Chairman Town Manager 180 Main Street South Berwick, ME 03908

Jan Williams Treasurer 25 Allard Circle PO Box 105 Hiram, ME 04041

Gary Lamb Town Administrator Town of Waterboro 24 Townhouse Road East Waterboro, ME 04030

Beth Della Valle, AICP Sanford City Planner 917 Main St., Suite 300 Sanford, ME 04073

Werner Gilliam, CFM Town Planner PO Box 566 Kennebunkport, ME 04046

Jim Nimon Director Sanford Regional Econ Growth Council 917 Main Street Sanford, ME 04073 Kendra Amaral Town Manager 200 Rogers Road Ext Kittery, ME 03904 Mike Perro Board of Selectman PO Box 26 Shapleigh ME 04076-0026

Greg Tansley City Planner PO Box 586 Biddeford, ME 04005 Richard Dutremble County Commissioner 45 Kennebunk Road Alfred, ME 04002 Patricia Finnigan Town Manager 23 School Street, PO Box 875 Ogunquit, ME 03907

Judy Bernstein Town Planner 1 Summer Street Kennebunk, ME 04043-1897 Bill Mann Economic Development Director 300 Main Street Saco, ME 04072