February 1, 2020
Winter Celebration Series: Magic on Ice
Stephen Kramer, Program Coordinator, Community Services
Our Winter Celebration Series continues on n Friday, February 7th. For our third ice rink event Scarborough Community Services will be hosting Anna and Elsa from Disney's Frozen. The special event will take place at the outdoor municipal ice rink starting at 5:30 pm. The Princesses will arrive around 6:00 pm and will do a meet and greet with kids. As long as weather cooperates we will be having Disney themed music, skating and a snowman contest. If weather does not permit these activities then we will hold the event at Wentworth Intermediate School.

Community Round Table: The Proposed WEX CEA
Join members of the Town Council, staff, and your fellow residents for a Community Round Table focused on the WEX credit enhancement agreement proposal currently before the Town Council. There will be a brief presentation to share the what, who, and how of the proposal and then the floor will be open for resident questions and comments.

Date: Thursday, February 6, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Council Chamber A, Town Hall

Are You Ready for the March Elections?
Tody Justice, Town Clerk
Although the primary is set for Super Tuesday, March 3, voters should check their registration and enrollment status before Friday, February 14th. If you are registered to vote and already enrolled in a party, you may change your enrollment from one party to another until the town clerk's office closes on Friday, February 14th. If you aren't already enrolled in a party, you may enroll any time leading up to and including the day of the primary, Tuesday, March 3rd.

If you are not already registered, you may do so up to and including on Election Day, March 3rd, please provide a photo ID and proof of residency.
Please remember, if you enroll in a particular party on March 3rd, you must remain enrolled in that party for 90 days, according to state law, which, in this case, means you will be voting in races in that party during the State Primary in June.

How voters are enrolled determines which ballots they will be allowed to fill out:
  • If you are at least 18 years old, registered to vote and enrolled as a Democrat or Republican you will receive the appropriate Party Primary Ballot and a State Referendum Ballot.
  • If you are at least 18, registered to vote and enrolled in the Green Independent Party you will receive a State Referendum Ballot only. The party opted not to have a Maine presidential primary.
  • If you are at least 18, registered to vote, unenrolled and wish to remain unenrolled you will receive a State Referendum Ballot only.
  • If you are currently 17 but will turn 18 by the general election, on Tuesday, November 3rd, you are allowed to vote in Maine's Presidential Preference Primary, either as a Democrat or a Republican, but are you not allowed to vote on the State referendum ballot. 
Please contact the Town Clerk's Office to check your voter status or with any questions, (207) 730-4020.

Are You a Non-Conformist?
Brian Longstaff, Zoning Administrator
In every community there are many properties, structures, and uses in existence that were created, built, or established before zoning requirements were adopted by the municipality. Often these properties, structures, or uses do not meet the current zoning requirements even though they were allowed at the time they were created. In the Planning and Land Use world, we refer to these lots, buildings, and uses as " legally existing non-conforming".  

In Scarborough, a lot that was legally in existence before the zoning ordinance was adopted or later changed, is considered a "lot of record", and may be built upon even if it fails to meet the minimum requirements for lot area or road frontage in that particular zone. The lot and development that occurs on it must meet all other requirements unless a variance is obtained from the Board of Appeals. However, if the the non-conforming lot of record is owned by the same entity as an adjacent lot and also has continuous road frontage with that adjacent lot, it must be combined in order to make a (more) conforming lot. 

If a building was allowed to be constructed prior to any established zoning requirements and now does not meet the requirements for minimum yard setbacks in that zone, it is a legally existing, non-conforming building.  However, the ordinance does not allow a non-conforming structure to be expanded, enlarged, or increased in height unless it meets the minimum space and bulk requirements of the zone in which it located. 

Click here for the complete article

Adopt a Fire Hydrant Program
B. Michael Thurlow, Fire Chief
Now that we are in the heart of the winter season I wanted to remind everyone of the Scarborough Fire Department's Adopt a Hydrant program. In Scarborough we have a variety of different types of fire hydrants. Our community is so large we are actually covered by two separate water districts. The Portland Water District provides Sebago Lake water to most of the community south of the Maine Turnpike with the exception of Pine Point and Blue Point. Those neighborhoods are served from the Maine Water Company system with water that is pumped from the Saco River.
 
In addition to those municipal hydrants we have a system of private hydrants, dry hydrants, and holding tanks. Let me explain the difference between all of them. A municipal hydrant is a pressurized hydrant off one of the mains owned by one of the two previously mentioned water companies. The town pays a hydrant rental fee for each one that primarily covers a prorated cost of providing the water mains and capacity to assure an adequate water flow for firefighting activities throughout the community along with a small annual maintenance allocation. A private hydrant is generally located on private property and is installed by the business owner or development where required by codes and ordinances. These are the same type of hydrants from the same water companies, but the town doesn't pay the rental fee and the owner of the hydrant is responsible for the installation and maintenance because it is on private property instead of the public way.

Click here for the complete article

Unified Basketball Comes to Scarborough
Kelly Johnston, Scarborough Public Schools
History was recently made at Scarborough High School on Friday, January 24. The high school hosted its first Unified Basketball game against Bonny Eagle! Scarborough's team is among 61 teams throughout the State representing 67 Maine high schools. The sport is sanctioned by the Maine Principal's Association (MPA) - a group that governs and manages all high school sports. The MPA has partnered with Special Olympics Maine to develop and promote Unified Basketball in the State. "Unified Basketball partners students with developmental disabilities with students without developmental disabilities to train, compete and represent their schools. Unified Sports impacts all kinds of students and helps promote physical activity, teamwork, sportsmanship, and social inclusion." - MPA

Scarborough's team is composed of 13 players from grades 9, 11 and 12. They have a Head Coach, SHS science teacher Albert McCormack and an Assistant Coach, SHS Spanish teacher Brooke Wasden. If you missed the game on the 24th, there are many more opportunities to catch this popular and infectious team in the coming weeks. The remainder of their schedule is:

Wednesday, February 5th - 4:00 p.m. vs. Portland/Deering at Scarborough High School
Friday, February 7th at 4:00 p.m. vs. Biddeford at Scarborough High School
Friday, February 14th at 4:00 p.m. vs. South Portland at Scarborough High School
Tuesday, February 25th 4:00 p.m. vs. Gorham at Gorham High School
Wednesday, March 4th at 4:00 p.m. vs. South Portland at South Portland High School
Friday, March 6th at 3:45 p.m. vs. Bonny Eagle at Bonny Eagle High School

Welcome Austin McKearney, Fire Fighter/EMT
Kailey Dubuque, Human Resources
On Monday, January 27th, Austin started the full-time position of Firefighter/Paramedic with the Scarborough Fire Department.
Some may already know Austin, as he joined the Scarborough Fire Department in June of 2015, first as a live-in student/Call Company Firefighter, and then as a Per Diem Firefighter/EMT.
 
Austin is originally from Connecticut where he earned his EMT License. After that, Austin came to Maine and has since earned two Associates Degree's in Applied Science and Paramedicine from Southern Maine Community College and his Paramedic License. Austin will continue serving the community in a greater capacity, responding to emergency medical and fire situations across the town with the Scarborough Fire Department that annually responds to over 3,500 calls for service.

Best of luck in your new full-time role with the Scarborough Fire Department!

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