The Gorham Town Council met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 7. Chairperson Suzanne Phillips called the meeting to order and all members were present. Their first action was to approve the minutes of the March 3 regular meeting. (7-0)
Nine members of the public addressed the board. Several spoke in opposition of the Amazon project. One of the leaders of the group represented numerous other community members and explained to the board that they had intentionally reduced their numbers out of courtesy for the councilors’ time at the meeting. Another community member advocated for the council to spend $45,000 to repair the town cemeteries. In addition, one citizen questioned why there wasn’t a more positive attitude from the board towards a local company, one spoke in opposition to an event at the Baxter Memorial Library and one spoke about the need of the board to investigate and enforce the water management policies particularly in the area of Lawn Avenue.
School Committee Chair Nicole Yeo-Fisher provided an update to the council. She mentioned the budget process timeline resulting in a May 12 council vote and a June 9 referendum vote. She detailed the implications of several items in the governor’s budget and proposed bills that might impact the local schools. She provided a list of dates for events within each school through to the end of the school year. During National Assistant Principal Week she recognized Deanna Etienne, Sean Hanson, Jennifer Baker, Vanessa Nickerson, Marc Sawyer and Christina Cifelli.
Each council member was provided the opportunity to provide updates. Councilor Hamblen admitted to feeling stressed about all of the opposition to the Amazon project. Councilor Willis noted the date of Gorham Cleans Up (April 25) and the Friends of Baxter Book Sales (May 1, May 2). Councilor Siegel mentioned that the Baxter Library has free tickets to the USM Planetarium, wished everyone a Happy Passover and confirmed that he was running for state representative. Chairperson Phillips spoke about the upcoming Jane’s Walk on May 2, the Taste Walk on June 7 and several Horace Wilson field events for the spring and early summer.
Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak announced that the parking bans have been lifted, the street-sweeping schedule is available on the town website and there is a joint budget workshop with the School Committee on April 25. He also detailed upcoming projects including South Street sidewalks and continued work on Robie Park as soon as weather improves.
The council voted (7-0) to issue a renewal massage license to Heather Theriault and a new massage license to Mallory Parks.
The council voted (7-0) to amend the Land Use and Development Code to create a sewer impact fee for parts of Main Street.
Two members of the public spoke about concerns to the proposed changes to the Fire Suppression System Ordinance. The council voted (6-1, Phillips opposed) to amend the code to allow fees in lieu of systems, although there is considerable council support to eventually retract the ordinance.
The council voted (7-0) to appoint a roster of Democratic and Republican election workers for the next two years.
The council voted to authorize the transfer of $7,500 from the opioid settlement funds to the Gorham Action Team for Youth (GATY) for drug prevention activities.
An item to allow an exception of transfer overlay density bonus fees within a quarter-mile of the Husky Line bus stop in the Village was forwarded to the Economic and Development Committee. (7-0)
A complete account of the meeting, a copy of the minutes and a recorded video of the meeting may be found on the Gorham Town Council website.