There is much to look forward to as summer approaches. For some, it's anticipating beach days and concerts. Town departments are gearing up for paving, summer camp, and getting started on projects approved in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which begins July 1. There are many ways you can get involved with the Town during this time. Read on for details on a Council Corner Live event to share your thoughts, attend the School Board's upcoming community forum, and join one of the many programs being offered by Community Services this summer.

Looking Ahead:

• Town offices will be closed on Monday, June 19 in honor of Juneteenth (Trash pickup will remain on schedule).
• Town offices will be closed on Tuesday, July 4 in honor of Independence Day (Trash pickup schedule changes, too. See more below).
• As the 4th of July approaches, please be aware of the Town's Consumer Fireworks Ordinance and 2021 amendments made to acceptable use areas. A Notification of Intent must be submitted to the Scarborough Fire Department prior to use. This online form can be found on the town website under the Residents menu.
• Save the Date! Summerfest will be held on Friday, August 18. More details to come. Click Here if you are a local organization, business, or group who would like to participate in the event as a vendor.

Crews will be paving Gorham Road on Thursday and Friday of this week (June 15-16). This will cause significant traffic delays; if at all possible, please avoid traveling on Gorham Road during this timeframe. Less traffic will help ease congestion and will better enable the crew to work more efficiently. The end is nearly in sight - we're getting there! Thank you, as always, for your patience. 

Additional Scheduled Road Pavings

The following roads will be paved either this summer/ fall or next spring:

Asselyn Dr

Bridges Dr (Shim)

Cumberland Way

Holmes Rd

Nelsen Rd

Pleasant Ave

Sawyer Rd (Shim)

Welch Dr

Woodfield Dr

Woodland Rd

Nonesuch Cove Rd

Questions? Contact us at [email protected] or 207.730.4400.

Check out the FAQs on our website for some reminders (dog times, plover protection, lot fees, and more). Heading to the beach often? Purchase a beach pass from Town Hall to avoid daily parking fees.

Town offices will be closed on Tuesday, July 4 for the holiday. Additionally, there will be no curbside trash collection on Tuesday, July 4. Collection for the remainder of the week will be bumped by one day:

Tuesday Route: Wednesday 7/5 Pickup

Wednesday Route: Thursday 7/6 Pickup

Thursday Route: Friday 7/7 Pickup

Friday Route: Saturday 7/8 Pickup

Questions? Contact Public Works at [email protected] or (207) 730-4400.

Tuesday, June 27

6:00pm, Public Safety Building Classroom

Zoom / YouTube

Join us for Council Corner LIVE, a two-way conversation and a chance for you to get to know your councilors and talk with them candidly about hot topic issues in town.

This month's topic is on the Unified School Solution. This is an opportunity to learn updates on the site selection process, land acquisition efforts, and preliminary project timeline. Ask questions, share your thoughts, and have an open discussion with councilors.

This event will be in-person in the Public Safety Building classroom on Tuesday, June 27 at 6:00pm. Or, participate on Zoom or view on YouTube.

The Town Council approved the FY2024 municipal budget after a second reading on Wednesday, June 7 as part of their Town Council meeting.

The budget process was a collaboration with Town staff, School staff, and the Finance Committee. It was first presented jointly by Town Manager Tom Hall and Superintendent Geoff Bruno on March 29. The Finance Committee then held four full review sessions to learn more about individual department budget requests. They held a fifth meeting in late May to culminate the review work and make recommendations for the Town Council.

The final budget results in a 3.96% mill rate increase, near the 2023 Council goal to keep the mill rate increase "as close to +3% as possible" (the figure that has historically been used in an average budget season). Finance Committee Chair John Cloutier speaks more to this in his Council Corner article below.

View the full budget document to review major projects. Visit our FY2024 Budget page to see videos and articles of key highlights, such as CAD system upgrades for Public Safety, a town-wide property revaluation, new Social Services Coordinator position, replacement catch basin truck, and more.

Election Day is on Tuesday, June 27. The election is to vote on the school budget and a Special Election for an open seat on the Portland Water Trustee Board. The School Budget Validation Referendum Election allows voters to validate the FY2024 school budget. Read the special edition newsletter for details.

How to Vote

• Absentee ballot by mail (request it)

• Absentee ballot drop off (Town Hall entrance)

• Absentee in-person - Stop into Town Hall during business hours (M-Th, 8am-5pm); Through June 22

• In-person at the High School on Election Day, June 27, 7:00am-8:00pm

Learn more on our Elections page.

The Planning Board has kept busy and reviewed several exciting projects:

Affordable Housing

At its June 5th meeting, the Planning Board approved the site plan of 3i HoME for a 51 unit apartment building for physically disabled persons. These will be affordable units and the project is the first site plan approved in what is proposed as the Downs Town Center subdivision.

Safety Improvements

Parking at Nonesuch River Brewery

The Planning Board worked with Nonesuch River Brewery to permit and approve a parking lot across the street from the existing restaurant on Gorham Road. This will make Gorham Road safer and provide on-location parking for the customers and employees of Nonesuch River Brewing. The project will include a left turn lane to the lot on Gorham Road and will eventually connect via a trail to a previously approved apartment project, AR Building at the corner of Mussey and Gorham Roads.

Traffic Flow at The Downs

The Town is working with Crossroads Holdings to design and permit a roundabout for the intersection of Scarborough Downs Road and Innovation Way. The roundabout would be single lane and facilitate safe and efficient traffic flows throughout The Downs. 

This takes you to BoardDocs, our new tool to access meeting minutes and agendas from a single platform with improved review and search capabilities.

Tuesday, June 20

5:30-6:30pm

Council Chambers A

In-person or online (Zoom)

Meeting ID: 843 7601 2012

Passcode: 174410

Join Scarborough School District and the New Unified School Building Steering Committee for their next community forum on the K-8 Strategic Project and Unified Primary School. They will be sharing where they are in the process, the concept floor plans, and how the educational visioning process conducted with the community and school stakeholders informed the design. 

Come with your questions as they share exciting updates in the project and look at the important next steps. Attendees who want to learn more are invited to stay for our Building Committee meeting at 6:30pm.

June 27: Council Corner Live

The Unified School Solution

Public Safety Building, 6:00-8:00pm

Zoom / YouTube

Save the Date! Join a couple of members of the Town Council for an informal discussion on the Unified School Solution, a topic which has recently been active at both the Council and School Board levels. "Council Corner Live" is a quarterly opportunity to meet with councilors on a rotating topic. It differs from the public comment period of a regular meeting and invites open dialogue and engagement.

On June 8, the 6th All Boards Summit gathered together representatives from nearly all active Town boards and committees at the Community Services Hub to share accomplishments and goals for the upcoming year. Five previous Summits, starting in 2014, focused on goals of collaboration and communication. Two Summits featured the Comprehensive Plan. This year’s Summit asked each of the committees and boards to talk about their goals for the year. They were also asked to highlight any work that relates to the policy goals set by the Town Council on housing, transportation, sustainability, and public engagement.  

Collective responses from the branding exercise, "Jot down three images of Scarborough and three words that best describe Scarborough."

In addition to offering a forum to share goals, the All Boards Summit creates an opportunity for representatives from various Boards and Committees to meet and identify areas of common interest, recognizing the power of community engagement. 

The All Boards Summit was first organized by a joint committee of the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) and the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce. The original idea was to create an opportunity for all the folks working on committees to meet each other and look for ways to collaborate.  

At the 2023 All Boards Summit, Tom Hall, Scarborough Town Manager, welcomed the attendees and turned the meeting over to Council Chair, Jon Anderson. Councilor Anderson presented the Council goals and talked about why these goals were priorities for the Town and the Council.

Tom Hall then ran a round table discussion, calling on each committee to describe their workplan and, if applicable, how that workplan would advance the goals. After the round table, the floor was opened, and attendees were asked about potential opportunities for collaboration. Many opportunities were identified between the groups particularly in the areas of the Council goals on transportation, housing, and sustainability.

Council Chair Jon Anderson wrapped up the Round Table discussion by thanking everyone for attending. He also asked that the committees take a moment to reflect on how their work may affect other objectives in town. The Council’s job is to balance the needs of all the committees, which can be a complex task.

The final job of the attendees was to help in a branding exercise – they were asked to jot down three images of Scarborough and three words that best describe Scarborough. Those responses were put in a word cloud and included in a summary of the round table discussion which can be found here.

July is National Parks and Recreation Month! Scarborough Community Services will celebrate by offering FREE fitness and wellness activities almost every day of the month, made possible with the help of Martin's Point Healthcare. The schedule and class descriptions will be posted on our website—check back soon!

Scarborough Community Services also holds ongoing programs for all ages weekdays throughout the summer. See the scope of opportunities in their Summer Brochure.

Stop by the Scarborough Farmers Market this summer! The market is held on Sundays from 9:00am-1:00pm, June through October.

When your recycling bins are emptied, they're brought to ecomaine, a Portland-based sustainable waste management facility. Sometimes they receive items that can be dangerous to staff. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are a major hazard for recycling and waste processors, as they can cause battery-sparked fires. 

There have been more reports of these fires in Maine's waste facilities as lithium-ion batteries have increased in potency and prevalence more recently. To avoid these dangerous situations, please keep these batteries out of your recycling bins.

Lithium batteries can be recycled at designated drop-off locations (like hardware stores) - check Call2Recycle.org - or at Scarborough's Household Hazardous Waste Days (July 8 and September 9).

Regular alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, etc.) should go in the trash.

The Scarborough Police Department’s Fire-Police Team is recruiting new team members to join their ranks. The team originated in 1987 with seven team members and currently has eleven people assigned to the primary task of conducting traffic control at motor vehicle crashes, structure fires, storm related road closures and large scale events. Team members are assigned on an “on-call” basis and are notified by our dispatch center when they are needed to respond to a scene. Team members are compensated for their efforts and also provided a yearly stipend for their vehicle use.

In 2022, Fire-Police members responded to eighty-nine calls for service accumulating just over 1,000 total hours of service to the Scarborough Community. The team also assisted during community events such as Summerfest, Relay for Life, Beach to Beacon, the Wreaths Across America escort, Election Day activities and many more. 

On December 23, 2022, our Fire-Police Team assisted Public Safety, Public Works and utility companies during a strong coastal storm, which caused extensive flooding, wide-spread power outages and multiple downed trees. During this event, team members took responsibility for the safe flow of traffic on our major roads and set up generators to operate traffic lights in congested areas of town. The dedication and stamina of the team was on full display during this storm event as most team members endured several hours in challenging weather conditions.   

Our Fire-Police personnel are the unsung heroes of our Public Safety teams as they allow our police officers, firefighters and rescue personnel the opportunity to concentrate on the task at hand at a scene while the team makes sure traffic safely moves through the area or is diverted away from the danger. They have a “team first” philosophy and are truly dedicated professionals who are willing to assist in any capacity.  

Fire-Police Team in 2018. We currently have 11 members serving in this on-call capacity and hope to add more.

If you are interested in joining the Fire-Police Team or would like more information, please contact Sergeant Craig Hebert at (207) 883-6361 or [email protected]. View the job ad

At their June 7th meeting, the Scarborough Town Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution put forth by the Scarborough Conservation Commission to support the 30x30 campaign, which is an effort to conserve at least 30% of Scarborough’s land by 2030. This ambitious target has been set at state, national, and global levels as a way to preserve landscapes and ecosystems that are needed to address species extinction and climate change. It appears that Scarborough is the first municipality in Maine to adopt such a resolution. 

Land conservation has many economic and environmental benefits, including enhanced property values, attracting business, increased access to recreation, improved health and wellbeing of residents, habitat protection, improved water quality, flood prevention, and many others. Achieving this lofty goal will require creative partnerships and an “all hands on deck” approach. In the coming year, the Town will undertake an open space planning process, which will provide a roadmap and strategies to help Scarborough achieve 30x30. The open space plan was included in the Town’s fiscal year 2024 budget, also passed by the Town Council on June 7th. 

More information about 30x30, the open space planning process, and opportunities to become involved will be shared as it is available. 

Our annual summer concert series is hosted by the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce and Scarborough Community Services. Concerts are held on Thursdays beginning at 6:30pm in Memorial Park.

June 29: Hello Newman Best of the 90s, 00s

July 6: Joan Kennedy Classic Covers and Originals

July 13: Motor Booty Affair Ultimate Party Disco Band

July 20: Delta Knights Classic Rock, R&B and Blues

July 27: Compaq Big Band Big Band, Swing

August 3: Don Campbell Band American Crossovers and Originals

See the Community Services summer brochure for program details and instructions for registering.

Emergency Preparedness

Friday, June 16

10:00-11:00am

Scarborough Public Library

Learn about Emergency Preparedness and pick up a bag of emergency essentials. Speakers include Fire Chief Rich Kindelan, Scarborough Fire Department; District Chief Sandler, EMS; and Chelsea Robins, CCEMA.

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 Town Council adopted its budget for Fiscal Year 2024 at our June 7th meeting. This action establishes the Municipal budget for next year, and determines what amounts will be sent to the voters for approval in the school budget validation referendum. Absentee ballots can be cast on the School budget today, and you can vote in person on June 27th.  

Like most things in government, establishing the budget is a balancing act. It’s a combination of preparing for what we know lies ahead, while properly funding the needs that we have today. A common theme this year related to mitigating the increasing impacts of inflation and rising interest rates while improving our fund balance position.

That’s no simple task, but I’m pleased that we made some good progress. This budget specifically earmarks funds to improve our fund balance (savings) and it makes a solid effort to reduce our reliance on debt for some capital items. In particular, we are relying upon cash and reserves to fund our next batch of school buses, a plow truck and a modern Computer Aided Dispatch system that will enhance our public safety capabilities. We are also utilizing cash, and not debt, to fund roughly $2.3M of capital expenditures compared to around $1.3M last year.  

This budget also earmarks funds for an updated Open Space plan, a climate change vulnerability assessment, a replacement catch basin truck, expanded social services capabilities and improved staffing in our police, fire and school departments. We established 3 goals as a Council to guide our budget adoption process:

Mill Rate increase as close to +3% as possible: This budget will likely produce a mill rate increase closer to +4%. We missed the target. Inflation is real, and many costs are going up much faster than we could reasonably accommodate without impacting the mill rate. We took some solid steps to prepare for better days, however, by setting aside funds to improve fund balance and paying for recurring capital items with cash instead of debt. Over time, these decisions will save the taxpayer money.

Gross Budget Appropriation <$121.9M (+5%): This year's gross budget appropriation is $114.7M. We exceeded this target.

Taxpayer funded capital & fund balance of $15.9M: This was a new goal this year in recognition of our declining debt service burden. We didn’t want funds that would normally be used for capital costs to be used for regular operating expenses. We allocated $15.6M for capital expenditures and fund balance improvements with this budget, which met the target.

The Town Council deliberated on last minute budget reductions to help us come closer to a +3% mill rate target, but rejected that option. We wanted to ensure that our approved budget is properly funded, and does not rely upon artificial and short term benefits that will create upward pressure on future budgets.  

It has been a pleasure to work with the Council, Board of Education, and staff to approve a budget that positions us well to accommodate the needs of today and prepares us for what lies ahead.  

Scarborough Town Council

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

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

Scarborough Public Library: June Programs

The Library is a Read ME participating library. Read ME is the Maine Humanities Council’s statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Every summer, the program gets Maine adults all reading two books recommended by a well-known Maine author. Check out the related events here.

Summer Learning 2023 All Ages!

Wednesday, June 21-Saturday, August 12

Pick up materials at Library

Summer Learning Activities

Remember to Think Outside!

Kids: Head to Youth Services to pick up your bingo sheet and learn about all the fun programs happening throughout the summer! Turn your bingo sheet in for a raffle ticket and enter the raffle of your choice.

Teens & Tweens: There are cool programs for you, too, plus a Reading Punch Card for those who don't want to do a bingo sheet. For every five punches, you can enter a raffle of your choice. Enter as many times as you can!

Adults: We have a Reading Punch Card, or a grown-up bingo sheet. Pick whichever you like! Completion of either one enters you into the raffle of your choice. Ask the Librarian at Adult Services for your Summer Learning materials!

When we say, "Read a book," we mean listen or read! Books read aloud and audiobooks definitely count. Raffle prizes will be drawn on the last week of August, so you have until then to enter. As always, special thanks to the Friends of Scarborough Library for being our awesome Summer Learning sponsors!

Sparks' Ark

Wednesday, June 21, 6:30-7:30pm

Register

Join the Library at our big Summer Learning 2023 Kick-Off at Wentworth School! We'll be welcoming Josh Sparks from Sparks' Ark. Meet some amazing live animals and hear fascinating stories of animal rescue. Pick up Summer Learning materials then, or later at Scarborough Public Library.

All Ages Events

Board Game Night

Friday, June 16, 5:00-8:00pm

We will supply the games & snacks, you supply the fun! We'll have Chutes & Ladders, Settlers of Catan, Apples to Apples, Spy Alley, and a bunch more. Bring the whole family, a couple of friends, or come on your own.

Movie Screenings

Dungeons & Dragons: June 22, 5:00pm (Register)

The Parent Trap: June 26, 4:00pm (Register)

View Youth Services offerings on their website.

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