A major milestone is approaching for the new public safety building project as crews have emerged from a cold and snowy winter at full speed on the Route 1 construction site. Steel erection has progressed through the spring and is nearing completion. The workforce on site celebrated this major accomplishment on Friday, June 21st with a ceremonial beam-signing and hoist with members of the town's ad-hoc building committee, public safety staff, and other town officials. The topping off ceremony was followed by a bar-b-q for the crews furnished by construction manager Landry French to celebrate this achievement.

Along with the structural steel, which is the predominant feature passers-by likely notice most from the adjacent roadways and Memorial Park, crews have also created the new entrance to Durant Drive and installed a substantial portion of the underground site utilities around the building. Inside, concrete slabs have been placed on the metal decks and piping inside the building has commenced as well.

By the numbers, here are some statistics to date:

-          0 OSHA-recordable injuries

-          362 tons of steel erected

-          1,626 cubic yards of concrete placed

-          27,000 masonry blocks set on the building facade

We can look forward to new activities starting in the coming weeks, including the natural gas line installation in Route 1, roof trusses to mark the high point of the building, and the brick masonry facade. Overall, the project continues to be on schedule and tracking towards a spring 2020 occupancy.

2019 will be a record-setting summer for endangered piping plovers in Maine. Maine Audubon reports at least 85 nesting pairs of plovers on the State's beaches from Ogunquit to Georgetown, a new record. The previous record was set in 2018, when we had 68 pairs of the birds on Maine's beaches.

 

Scarborough's beaches are also seeing a bit of a plover boom! As of June 21st, we had approximately 17 pairs on our four beaches (2 pairs at Scarborough Beach State Park, 6 pairs on Higgins, 8 pairs on Western, and 1 pair on Pine Point). Many nests have already hatched, resulting in roughly 34 fuzzy plover chicks scurrying around the beaches so far.

 

Beach activity can be harmful to plovers and other shorebirds birds. Please follow these general rules when enjoying the beach:

We'd like to thank our diligent volunteer monitors who visit our beaches to educate residents and visitors about the plovers and our local ordinances. We'd also like to thank residents and visitors for obeying the ordinances that are in place to protect these endangered birds.

Each year the Scarborough Public Safety Dispatch center fields dozens of calls for seals on the beaches or rocks surrounding our coast line.  Often people think the seals are ill or stranded and in need of help. Sometimes the seal is deceased and beyond help but most often the seal is in its natural environment.

Recently the Scarborough Police Department teamed up with Marine Mammals of Maine (MMOME) for training on how to respond to these calls for service and how we can help educate the public.  MMOME is a non-profit organization dedicated to marine mammal and sea turtle response, rescue, care, research and education. Their small full time staff and dedicated volunteer team provides expert stranding response across roughly 2,500 miles of Maine's coastline (including islands), covering the geographic area of Kittery to Rockland.  They operate a 24/7 marine mammal and sea turtle reporting hotline.

Scarborough's 55+ Program will be holding their annual Senior BBQ at Memorial Park on Wednesday, July 31. Join us under the tent and indulge in delicious food, socialize with friends, spend time outdoors, and enjoy some live music! 

Lunch will be served at 11:30 am and music will start at 12:30 pm. This lunch is $8 (ages 60+) or $10 (under age 60) per person. Stop by the Community Services office or visit us online to register before July 22. This event will be held rain or shine. We hope to see you there!