It's the first newsletter of 2024! We hope you and your family had a safe and joy-filled holiday season. Snowy winter days are perfect for enjoying the abundance of outdoor trails and natural spaces that Scarborough has to offer. As we look ahead to the new year, our Town Council and staff continue to work through ongoing discussions around growth and its subsequent impacts on traffic, conservation, and overcrowding in our schools. While you make the most of the season, read on for a reflection on 2023 and what's to come from our Town leadership.

Town offices are closed today, Monday, January 1st, for New Year's Day. We will reopen on Tuesday at 7:00am.

Town Manager's Message: A Year End Reflection & Look Forward

As 2023 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on another year gone by and look forward to the work to be done in 2024. This past year was exceptionally busy, driven by both community needs and an ambitious list of Town Council goals. While the Council advanced a number of studies, plans, and ad-hoc committees, the year was largely dominated by the Town Council’s continued work on modifications to the Rate of Growth Ordinance as well as the proposed K-8 consolidated school. 

The school project aimed to solve a number of challenges that the elementary school population has been contending with for decades, none more significant than overcrowding and a reliance on portable classrooms. The deal was complicated by the lack of available land parcels of the requisite size, project cost, many in the community’s desire to retain neighborhood schools, and the complexity of the land option agreement.  

Tom Hall, Scarborough Town Manager

While the ballot referendum failed to pass, likely due to a combination of these factors, I remain proud of the effort to support the School’s needs and ultimately putting a viable solution forward to the voters to decide. If there is a silver lining in the referendum, it is that the community has a firm understanding of the challenges facing our schools. Looking forward, we need to identify the solution that best meets the needs of the schools and the taxpayers. Undoubtedly, this matter will continue to be an area of focus in the coming year.

Earlier in the year, the Town Council passed a new Rate of Growth Ordinance. This replaces the Growth Management Ordinance to contend with Scarborough’s growth and development and residents' concerns with the same. This work places new parameters on residential development and directs growth to our designated growth areas, while preserving the rest of Scarborough. The Town Council directed staff to monitor residential growth on an annual basis and will consider the overall ordinance in two years, if not sooner. The Town is also making tangible efforts to manage the impacts of growth, specifically traffic, through investments in studies and adaptive traffic signals.

Conservation is a key component of the Town’s growth management strategy and was another prominent goal for the Town Council this past year. They unanimously agreed to a resolution to support “30x30”, an initiative to conserve 30% of Scarborough land and water by 2030. This initiative, like so many others, is driven by our talented and dedicated volunteer committees and boards, with support of our capable and dedicated professional staff. Spoiler Alert: I expect those actively involved in conservation will be recommending another land bond in 2024 to ensure that we have financial resources available when conservation opportunities are available.

We expect the work in the coming year to be driven by new and ongoing council goals, a renewed effort for a school solution, understanding and responding to the community needs reflected in the 2023 community survey, and a need to invest in the retention of our experienced staff in an increasingly competitive market. We expect many of these initiatives will receive attention and will require financial support through the FY25 budget. Scarborough has been an exciting place to live and work and I look forward to another year of serving the community and making it a better place into the future.

After an ongoing survey process that began in October, a Findings Report of the survey results is now available. The report is based off of the statistically valid mailed survey, which received 608 responses. The results have a precision of at least +/-4.0% at the 95% level of confidence. The survey findings will be presented to the Town Council on Wednesday, January 3 at 6:00pm. Click Here to tune in via Zoom.

The survey was also open online to any residents who had not received a mailed copy. Those results are tabulated separately so as not to interfere with the statistically valid method, and will be made available as data on the survey webpage when available.

Trash Collection One Day Late This Week

Public Works would like to remind you that there will be changes to your curbside trash collection this week (January 1-5). Pickup will be delayed by one day:

• If your normal trash collection day is Monday, it will be picked up on Tuesday.
• Tuesday pickup will be on Wednesday.
• Wednesday pickup will be on Thursday.
• Thursday pickup will be on Friday.
• Friday pickup will be on Saturday.

*Snowy weather reminder!* If there is inclement weather, please help our plow drivers by placing your trash and recycle carts in your driveway, not on the roadside.

Questions? Contact Public Works at pwinfo@scarboroughmaine.org or (207) 730-4400.

What To Do With My Christmas Tree?

Beginning next week, Public Works will pick up your discarded Christmas tree throughout January. Place your tree curbside (only “real” trees, nothing artificial) on the same day as your trash collection any week in January.

Please place it far enough from the curb that it will not get hit by a car or covered with snow by a snowplow, but still be within reach for our crew. Please put it out on the day of your trash collection so it doesn't freeze to the ground.

Please Note: Trash and tree pick up will not be happening at the same time; Public Works is doing tree pickup separately from the Pine Tree Waste trash/recycle pickup. If it is snowing on the day you plan to put your tree out for pick up, please wait until the following week. If snowing (or otherwise dangerous road conditions), our crew will be plowing and treating roads rather than picking up trees. Thank you for your patience!

Questions? Contact us at pwinfo@scarboroughmaine.org or (207) 730-4400.

CodeRED is an opt-in alert system used by the Town to quickly notify large groups of people for emergency situations like criminal activity, severe weather, road closures, evacuations, and missing persons. Only those who are signed up receive these alerts. It's free and secure to sign up for cell phone alerts. Select how to receive alerts: text, phone call and/or email. Help us keep you informed and safe by signing up for CodeRED.

2023 dog licenses are now expired, so be sure to register or renew your dog license. All dog renewals must be completed by January 31, 2024. There is a $25 late fee starting February 1st. To receive a license for your dog, please come into the Town Clerk's Office at Town Hall during our business hours, Monday through Thursday from 7:00am-5:00pm. Or, renew online (If you register your dog online, you will receive your tag at the beginning of the next month). The cost for a spayed/neutered dog is $6, or $7 if completed online.

Why do dogs need to be licensed? Many reasons! Dog licensing ensures rabies vaccination which protects the health of your pet. Also, dog license fees go directly to the Maine Animal Welfare Program to fight animal cruelty and abuse, accounting for 95% of the State Animal Welfare Program’s entire funding. Without these fees, the State would be unable to protect the animals of this state.

The Assessing department will be conducting a town-wide property revaluation this spring. A revaluation is the process of updating all property values in town to reflect their current market value (i.e., to maintain reasonable estimates of what each property could sell for on the open market). The primary purpose is to create equitable distribution of the tax burden in order to ensure fairness to all property owners within town.

The project has been in preparation since the last revaluation was performed in 2019, and more steadily since being officially approved in the FY2024 budget last June. The Assessing department developed a thorough Revaluation area of the Town of Scarborough website last spring and continues to add updates and links to ongoing outreach materials here. Visit the website regularly to stay informed, and learn more in an upcoming Town Council Workshop on January 17 at 6:00pm, when the Assessor will provide more information about the 2024 Revaluation.

Request Your Absentee Ballot (March Election)

2024 is a presidential election year. The presidential primary election will be on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Absentee ballots may now be requested. Complete the Application for an Absentee Ballot and mail to or drop off at the Clerk's office. Alternatively complete the online request form. Absentee ballots will be mailed to those who requested it when they are available.

Saturday, January 13

9:30am-3:45pm

$100/person; Ages 11-14

SCS Hub, 418 Payne Road

Register Here

Learn the responsibilities and qualities of being a good babysitter while in a fun and interactive environment. Upon completion of this course, participants will receive an American Red Cross Babysitting certification. The course will also be taught on Saturday, February 10.

Thursday, January 18

11:30am-3:30pm (Approximately)

$25/resident, $30/non-resident

Includes transportation, ticket, 16 oz. refillable cup, and a small bag of popcorn

Come enjoy a movie with us! Flagship Cinemas features power reclining seats, digital projection, digital surround sound, and a comfortable atmosphere. Movie will be selected the week before the trip.

Sand for Seniors

See more programs and offerings like these in the Community Services winter program brochure.

Temperatures aren't quite cold enough for our municipal skate ponds, but soon enough! We'll share information about them in our next newsletter.

Police Chief Reflects on Hiring in 2023

As 2023 comes to an end, I would like to highlight one of the top initiatives of our department over the last year: hiring new personnel to fill our ranks in the patrol division and dispatch.

As a department, we place great emphasis into hiring the right people to serve our community. On average, we are able to hire a dispatcher or patrol officer within 6-8 weeks after an application has been submitted. The hiring process includes an application packet screening, interview process, background investigation, polygraph, mental and physical health screening and the Chief’s interview.

Patrol candidates who are not a full-time certified officer are required to pass a physical agility test and become certified as a reserve officer through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA) through a three-phase process.

Mark Holmquist, Scarborough Chief of Police

One of the challenges in today’s job market is finding quality applicants to meet our minimum requirements and hiring these candidates in a timely manner before they accept a position with another law enforcement agency.  

Once these steps have been successfully completed, applicants for both dispatch and patrol are assigned to a field training officer. The field training process typically lasts for approximately three to four months before an employee is able to work independently. Dispatchers receive approximately three weeks of training at the MCJA to become certified in the basics of dispatching, 911 call taking, emergency medical and emergency fire dispatching.  

Upon completion of field training, patrol officers are assigned to a patrol shift for several months while waiting to attend the academy. Patrol officers are required to attend the resident 18-week basic academy at MCJA within one year of being hired to obtain a full-time certification. In 2023, we have been fortunate to have three officers certified through this process, with two additional officers scheduled to attend the academy in January 2024.  

I commend the police department staff and our Human Resources Department for their steadfast efforts during the hiring processes. We have two Detectives and two Special Enforcement Officers who have been tasked with conducting the background investigations for each dispatch and patrol candidate, in addition to their normal duties. We also have one Detective who conducts each polygraph examination for each candidate. The amount of work these officers have devoted to the hiring process has been tremendous. They are responsible for making a fair and accurate assessment of the viability of each candidate to be hired by our department. The background investigation and polygraph exam are key components to hiring the right individual to represent our department’s core values while serving the community.

I would also like to commend the efforts of our Field Training Officers. These officers and dispatchers are the standard bearers for our department, making sure our new employees are trained at a high standard, can perform their duties in a fast-paced environment and can be an effective team member upon completion of their field training. It is important to me that each member of our department takes pride in their work and recognizes that the outstanding reputation we have with our community has to be earned each day through each interaction with the public.

We'll cover more of the Police Chief's message on top initiatives in upcoming newsletters.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.

The longer I live in Scarborough, the more I fall in love with our wonderful community. My family has lived in Scarborough for seven years and chose Scarborough because of its affordability, strong school system, the multiple sandy beaches, the beautiful marsh, proximity to Portland and the relative diversity of the community. We hit the jackpot and I am so grateful that I get to call Scarborough my home and give back as a Town Councilor. My objective is to preserve as much as we can of this exceptional town, while enhancing the quality of life for all. It’s not going to be easy, but my hope is to build on the past year’s successes and continue to make forward progress as we overcome inevitable hurdles together as a community. 

The Town Council set an ambitious agenda in 2023. You can view our 2023 goals on the Council Outlook section of the Town’s website. We will be setting 2024 goals in January as we reflect on 2023 and the results of the Town-wide Community Survey. The survey results will be discussed in a Workshop on January 3rd at 6:00pm. This time of year is always highly reflective, so here are some of the highlights in 2023 and opportunities for 2024:

Financial Management: In 2023, we set a goal to have the tax rate as close to $15.85 as possible, with the actual mil rate coming in higher at $15.97. This was in part due to some choices made to further invest in conservation and climate change efforts, as well as rely less on debt to pay for capital needs. The Council also started Quarterly Financial Reviews to track our finances, which I hope we continue to do in 2024. 

Based on our financial performance, we were able to sustain our debt ratings with Moody's at Aa3 and AA+/Stable with Standard & Poors, even after being transparent that we will likely need to incur significant debt in the near future to address facilities needs of our schools. The financial health of the town is strong and something we need to sustain in 2024. I am committed to ensuring we keep the tax rate increase to a minimum so we can keep Scarborough affordable, while making appropriate investments to meet the evolving needs of our community.

Housing Choice and Homelessness: One thing I love about Scarborough is the compassion we show our neighbors. I am proud of how the Town addressed the unhoused challenge in 2023, particularly as we worked with the Comfort Inn. We invested in an additional full-time employee for a General Assistance Administrator to build our Social Services division to provide services and aid to members of our community. We also provided a contribution to GPCOG’s Safe in Maine Program, leveraging fees collected from developers, to build transitional housing for asylum seekers. To help with affordable housing, we updated our rate of growth ordinance to include a pool for deed restricted affordable and workforce housing to incentivize affordable housing options in Scarborough. In November, the Council approved a credit enhancement agreement for the 3iHome Project, the first of its kind to provide affordable housing for individuals with a mobility disability that significantly impacts their activities of daily life. As we go into 2024, my hope is that we continue to make good decisions specific to the challenge of the unhoused and affordable housing in Scarborough. It is a regional issue, and I support Scarborough doing its part in a way that is unique and appropriate to meet our community’s needs.     

Residential Growth Management: Growth Management will be the challenge of the decade for Scarborough. The Council made enhancements to the Rate of Growth Ordinance in 2024 to direct growth to our designated growth areas, limit single family and three bedroom housing to put less pressure on the school, and create a pathway for more deed restricted affordable and workforce housing. It will take time to see the effects of these changes. Additionally, the Town is in the process of updating impact fees to make sure new development pays its fair share toward the impact it has on our infrastructure, traffic, public safety and schools. This will be an 18-month process to make all the updates and will likely carry into 2024 and even 2025. Impact fees require aligned designated capital investments to fund, and our Parks and Facilities Master Plan and upcoming Town-wide Transportation Network Study will help inform what those needs are. Impact fees spread the burden of new capital investments, including updates to the schools, so the costs do not fall entirely on existing taxpayers. Additionally, in 2023 the Town finally achieved the goal of the commercial tax base exceeding 25%, a goal that was made in 2006. It took time to get there, but the continued economic development generated with new businesses will help to offset the impact of new growth to taxpayers. There is still more work to do to ensure we balance growth and investments with affordability in Scarborough. We are at the beginning of our journey to find this balance and I believe we have the right pieces starting to fall into place and will continue to make adjustments in 2024.  

Strategic Capital & Facilities Planning: This year, we swung for the fences and missed with the K-8 Strategic Solution. The solution was intended to address the facility needs at our three K-2 schools and the Middle School. After a lot of reflection, there were many reasons the school failed in November that we will need to learn from as the revised solution is developed. I am so pleased by the outpouring of residents willing to roll up their sleeves and support a refreshed building committee in 2024 to find a path forward. I believe we do have a crisis around the corner with our aging school facilities and if we don’t act as a community soon, we will have real challenges with our schools that will impact everyone. With more public input throughout the process to identify, define and communicate the solution, my hope is the next solution will be the right solution for Scarborough. We also set up an ad hoc committee to better define a Community Center, picking up where the prior committee ended right before COVID. I would love to have a Community Center with a pool in Scarborough, however until there is a clear path for the school, I believe it is prudent that this particular project gets pushed further out than originally planned. Additionally in 2024, I would like to see the Town and Schools take a step back and partner together to develop a Strategic Capital Investment Plan that considers major capital improvements and investments in the next 10+ years. This will better facilitate long-term planning so we can prioritize our major capital needs and keep Scarborough affordable.  

Sustainability, Conservation and Climate Change: This year, we tackled the tip of the iceberg to address conservation and climate change in Scarborough. The Council committed to a 30x30 goal to conserve 30% of our land by 2030. To help with this, we funded an Open Space Plan and plan to seat an Ad Hoc Open Space Committee in 2024, made up of members from our other environmentally focused committees, to help us prioritize land conservation efforts. We continued to use our Land Acquisition Reserve Fund to partner with the Scarborough Land Trust to purchase land for conservation. It’s likely at some point in the next few years we will need to ask voters for more financial support to replenish the fund. However, not all conserved land needs to be acquired by the Town. More information will be coming out in 2024 on how residents with land can help us achieve our 30x30 goal. As it relates to climate change, the Council funded a Vulnerability Assessment in 2024 to help us understand the impacts climate change has on our infrastructure so we can prioritize investments to enhance our resiliency. Lastly, this year we held our first Sustainable Scarborough Day which was a huge success, bringing together organizations and businesses to bring greater attention to sustainability efforts in Town. I hope this continues to be an annual tradition in our community so everyone continues to learn a bit more about how they can help conserve our planet and protect the Marsh, which is at risk if we don’t act now.

Traffic & Transportation: As previously mentioned, we are embarking on a Transportation Network Study to provide direction and focus for the Town's future capital spending related to traffic and transportation needs. Traffic and ease of getting around town continues to be a huge concern for many. We are continually making traffic improvements, but many improvements focus on traffic safety rather than traffic flow. One investment intended to improve flow was adding new adaptive traffic signals along Rt. 1. We had great success installing these traffic lights in Dunstan, but reviews so far in Oak Hill have been mixed and need to be assessed further. My personal experience has been that Rt. 1 seems to move faster, but that is at the expense of the feeder streets that now wait and can get backed up. As the adaptive lights learn, hopefully all routes will move a bit more smoothly. Lastly, we continue to get feedback from residents on the need for more traffic calming measures in residential neighborhoods. We are creating a Traffic Calming Policy to help better assess needs and offer appropriate traffic calming measures that improve safety in our residential neighborhoods. This policy will be completed in early 2024 and will be a partnership across multiple Town Departments and our resident-led Transportation Committee.

Public Engagement & Communications: Lastly and most importantly, this year we continued our Council Corner Live forum to engage residents on key topics in Town. Our forum that explored options for short term rentals was one of the biggest hits this year. We also conducted another town-wide survey to gauge resident sentiment on the services provided by the Town. Thank you to those who completed the survey! This tool will be instrumental in identifying areas for improvement and investment in the future and help the Council set goals for 2024. There is still more work to be done in this area to improve resident engagement and continue to build trust in the Town and how decisions are made within our community. If there is anything we can do better in the areas of engagement and communications, please let us know and email us at towncouncil@scarboroughmaine.org. For me, this will be a top priority in 2024 and in my term as a Councilor.

Phew, if you made it this far thank you! As you can see, we have been busy but there is still work to be done in 2024 to build on the foundation we set in 2023. I would love to hear more directly from you as we work through these and other areas of interest to you in 2024. If you have it as a personal goal in 2024 to be more involved in your community, getting involved in local government activities is a great way to start. You can start by simply emailing the Council, coming to a public meeting scheduled on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 7:00pm, attending a Council or Citizen Committee Meeting (times posted on the Town Calendar) or simply giving the councilors a call or text. Our direct contact information is available online. I hope to hear from you and see you in 2024!

Every year in January, the Council meets outside of their scheduled Town Council meetings to develop their priority initiatives for the year ahead. Last year their goals fell within the areas listed above in Councilor Anderson's article. The Council plans to meet on Saturday, January 27 for this year's goal-setting workshop. More information will be shared in February.

Scarborough Town Council

Nick McGee, Chair • April Sither, Vice Chair • Jonathan Anderson • Jean-Marie Caterina • Don Cushing • Don Hamill • Karin Shupe

Town Council meets the first and third Wednesday of each month. Visit our Town Calendar for links to attend and view agendas.

Join a Board or Committee in the New Year

Town staff and the Town Council are supported by the efforts of the many volunteers who make up our citizen-led boards and committees. These committees advance the work on present issues in Scarborough and do the research and preparation before bringing it to the council. 

If your New Year's resolution is to become more involved in your community, having a role in local government activities is a great way to start. There are currently vacancies on the following boards/committees:

• ADA Advisory Board
• Historic Preservation Implementation Committee
• Senior Advisory Board 
• Sustainability Committee

Learn more about these committees and access the online application form on our Boards & Committees page. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis by our Appointments & Negotiations committee.

Save the Date: Project GRACE Fuel Rally on February 10

The 12th annual Fuel Rally community fundraiser by Project GRACE is being held on Saturday, February 10. The rally raises critical funds for fuel assistance. It will be held from 10:00am-Noon at the Scarborough Public Library. Project GRACE is a Scarborough nonprofit with a mission to improve the lives of Scarborough neighbors by identifying both those in need and those willing to share their gifts, and coordinating the interchange in a compassionate, confidential manner.

Scarborough Public Library: Upcoming Programs

The Library is closed for New Year's Day today, Monday, January 1.

Week of January 8-12 Featured Programs

Vet 2 Vet Maine

Tuesday, January 9, 12:00-1:00pm

Learn More

Learn about helping veterans in your community, or getting help if you are a veteran. Vet to Vet Maine offers support, companionship, a friend who understands, and a link to services to lonely and socially isolated veterans. Whether you are a Vet, you love a Vet, or you're curious, join us for this informative program.

Emerald Ash Borer in Maine

Thursday, January 11, 4:00-5:30pm

Learn More & Register

The Scarborough Land Trust (SLT), Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik (APCAW) and the Wild Seed Project will present on the current state of Ash Trees and the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer in Maine, what these organizations are doing to conserve Ash trees, and how community members can help.

Big Conversations in 10 Short Minutes

Thursday, January 18, 6:30-7:30pm

Register

Three conversations in an hour with other people in Maine. The prompts are simple. The conversations are non-political. What might you learn about (or from) your fellow humans? Let’s find out. In the dark moments in winter, let's connect with other Mainers on Zoom and discover a little pocket of meaning together.

A collaboration with people from Curtis Memorial Library, Prince Memorial Library, Scarborough Public Library, Thomas Memorial Library and Windham Public Library.

Bollywood Dance Performance & Lesson

With Sumithra Preetham

Sunday, January 21, 2pm

Register

Join us for a fun time at the Library! We're taking over on a Sunday afternoon for a little adventure on a cold January weekend. Scarborough's own gem, Sumithra Preetham, will perform and teach a lesson on Bollywood inspired dance movies.

Monday – 9am to 5pm • Tuesday – 9am to 7pm • Wednesday – 9am to 7pm • Thursday – 9am to 7pm • Friday – 9am to 5pm • Saturday – 9am to 5pm • Sunday – Closed