December 1, 2019
On Saturday, December 5th from 5:00-6:30 at Memorial Park bundle up and join us for a chance to meet with Santa and tell him what you want for that special gift! Fiddleheads Chorus and the Scarborough High School Chorus will be providing live music during the event as we count down to the tree lighting. Scarborough Rotary Club will be providing hot beverages and goodies courtesy of On The Vine Marketplace and Sam's Club. Home Depot will be joining us again with free build-your-own toy kits. As always, we will have many fire pits going to keep everyone warm and tractor rides to transport people to and from the High School parking lots. Be sure to bring a camera to capture the fun and stay for the fireworks display at the end of the night. Hope to see everyone there!
Protect Your Pet and Provide for Animal Welfare
Tody Justice, Town Clerk
Come into the Town Clerk's office and pick up a lovely green tag that helps your dog get home if the unthinkable happens and helps provide much needed services for our furry friends across the state. Dog license fees account for 95% of the State Animal Welfare Program's entire funding and without these fees the State would be unable to protect the animal companions of Maine.

In order to obtain a license for your dog, you must present a current State of Maine Rabies Certificate obtained from a veterinarian. This certificate will verify that your dog has received its rabies shot within the past two years.  Also, bring with you written proof that the dog has been spayed or neutered, if applicable. If you have already shown proof of spay or neuter to the Town Clerk's Office then additional proof is not necessary. All dog licenses expire December 31 of each year.

$6.00 per year for spayed/neutered dogs
$11.00 per year for dogs not spayed/neutered

Per state law, any dog that is re-licensed after January 31 will be subject to a $25.00 late fee.

Code Red: Keeping Our Citizens Informed
Sgt. Steve Thibodeau, Police Department
Code Red is a computer alert system used to quickly notify large groups of people. Code Red can be used for emergency situations like criminal activity, severe weather, road closures, evacuations, and missing persons. With this system, a specific geographic area can be selected to send messages to those within that area.
 
The Town of Scarborough Public Safety Communications Center Has been using this system for over 10 years, but when it was introduced we all used landlines for communications and it was simple to push our messages out. Now that people use cell phones, we can't contact you unless you sign up to get these notifications. It is free and secure to sign up.
  1. Visit scarboroughmaine.org
  2. Click the Code Red icon located near the bottom left of the page
  3. Complete all required fields
You may select how to receive alerts: text, phone call and/or email. Help us keep you informed and safe by signing up for Code Red.

Silver Bullets Moving on December 2
Jami Fitch, Sustainability Coordinator
As of December 2, 2019, recycling and food waste collection will be moved to Scarborough Public Works at 20 Washington Avenue. The current location on Bessey School Drive will no longer be used.

Public Works made the decision to move the containers to a location that is more easily monitored and maintained by staff.  Dealing with excessive illegal dumping at the site has cost the Town nearly $10,000 since July 2019. Three other recycling drop off locations in Scarborough have also closed in the past 10 months due to illegal dumping.

Community recycling containers and food waste collection is provided as a service to Scarborough residents. The facilities are not intended for commercial use, and proper recycling is required. Only items listed on  ecomaine-approved recycling lists and noted in  ecomaine's Recyclopedia should be placed in the recycling containers. To continue to have this service, we all need to do our part to recycle correctly.

Find Events and Gift Ideas in the Holiday Guide
Karen Martin, Executive Director, SEDCO
Looking for that favorite craft show? Need some gift ideas from local businesses?  Download the 2019 Scarborough Holiday Guide

We've looked high and low to find all the events and celebrations happening in Scarborough. We've also asked local businesses for gift ideas for your shopping list.  The Guide is a collaboration of the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce, Scarborough Buy Local and the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation.  Feel free to download it and pass it along to friends and family.

We hope the Guide makes organizing your holidays easier.

Snowmobilers and Conservationists Fight Erosion
Hannah Chamberlain, Stewardship Director, Scarborough Land Trust
Volunteers from a local snowmobile club and the community at large pitched in to help a severely damaged trail on Scarborough Land Trust's Fuller Farm Preserve, a well-loved conservation property on Broadturn Road. If you haven't visited, you should! The trails offer a great opportunity for getting outdoors, whether you want to take a gentle stroll across the rolling former hayfields, go on a peaceful run, or walk your dog to the waterfall in the heart of the property.
 
Upkeep is critical on trails that get so much use. On the far side of the property, the walking trail, a portion of which is also a snowmobile route, follows an old woods road. This steep section of trail has been slowly eroding thanks to Scarborough's sandy soils. Water had cut a channel more than a foot deep in many places and the embankment was devoid of plant life. The trail was becoming hard to walk on and difficult for snowmobiles to navigate. It would only get worse if left alone. We considered rerouting or closing the trail, building stone steps or felling logs in the trail center. Finally, we worked with the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District to come up with a solution that was better than any of our prior plans.
 
On Sunday, November 17, volunteers from Scarborough and members of the Saco Pathfinders snowmobile club gathered to implement the plan. We had 1,800 square feet of jute blanket to pin down on the slope and 35 yards of erosion control mulch - a specialized, extra-chunky mulch used for stabilizing slopes - to spread to create the new trail surface. Luckily we also had 12 volunteers, a dump truck lent to us by The Grounds Crew, some heavy machinery from the Saco Pathfinders, and a neighbor who kindly let us cross his land. With everything in place, we got to work and were rewarded with a flat, stable trail surface that should hold up to years of use. A huge thanks to everyone who helped make this trail project possible!

About the Scarborough Town Newsletter
Welcome to the official newsletter of the Town of Scarborough, Maine.  Brought to you by a team of Town staff, our mission is to keep you informed about town events and activities.  

Please note that the newsletter articles are intended to be brief and will often point you back to a link on the Town's Website or Facebook page. The website is the heart of the communication network within town and is the central repository for information on Town government.

Thanks for reading!  If you have ideas for stories, please email us.  

Your newsletter team:

Tody Justice, Town Clerk Catherine Morrison, Public Library
Stephen Kramer, Community Services Donald Begin, IT
Kailey Dubuque, Human Resources Brian Longstaff, Codes & Planning
Kelly Johnston, Scarborough Public Schools
Michael Thurlow, Fire Department
Kim Sperlich, Police Department Ruth Porter, Finance
Leona Oceania, Public Works Larissa Crockett, Administration
Magdalena Slawiec, SEDCO


Scarborough Town Council
Paul Johnson, Chair
Don Hamill, Vice Chair
Jean-Marie Caterina
John Cloutier
Betsy Gleysteen
Peter Hayes
Ken Johnson