January –

• The Cape Elizabeth Town Council unanimously approved an agreement
with the city of South Portland to designate South Portland as the
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for Cape Elizabeth, effective Jan.
30. Councilors made clear their distaste for the agreement was not
directed at city of South Portland, which they praised. Their derision
was directed at the mandate itself, which, according to Councilor Anne
Swift-Kayatta will cost Cape Elizabeth roughly $20,000 in additional
costs during the first year of implementation and $11,000 in additional
costs in following years.

• The Cape Elizabeth Town Council voted 6-0 to accept as public
rights-of-way several roads associated with the Blueberry Ridge
subdivision on the border between the town and the city of South
Portland that had been the subject of animosity between the neighboring
communities.

• Attorney General Steven Rowe announced two South Portland police
officers, Theodore Sargent and Jeffrey Cogswell, were legally justified
when they used deadly force against Donald H. Gray, 40, during the late
evening of Nov. 29, 2006. According to a statement released by Rowe’s
office, the investigation focused on the issue of whether the use of
deadly force by the officers in the particular situation was legally
justified.

• After months of hold-ups and intense opposition from Knightville
neighbors, Southport Marina has received the city of South Portland’s
go-ahead to expand their docks.  While residents of the cove
beside the marina believe the expansion will exacerbate problems with
parking, garbage collection and noise that they say are caused by the
marina, the marina owners say the expansion will serve the public good
by providing a place for transient boaters to dock while they patronize
local businesses.  The expansion will provide 400-feet of new
floating dockage at the end of B Street that will be designated for
smaller motorized boats as well as crafts like kayaks or rowboats.

• After 20 months of meetings, hearings, and reviewing correspondence,
the Cape Elizabeth Comprehensive Plan Committee is nearing the end of
what Town Planner Maureen O’Meara described as the “first step” in
bringing the plan to fruition. The Committee will host a final public
forum to hear citizens’ comments and concerns about the 145-page draft
plan before submitting it to the town council. The last Comprehensive
Plan was adopted in 1993.

• The fates of two buildings owned by the city of South Portland are up
in the air. Both the South Portland Armory and the Mary Marsh School
were built in the early 1940s and currently sit in abandoned disrepair.
While the school building, in the city’s west end Redbank neighborhood,
is up for sale and expected to eventually be demolished, what will
happen to the Armory is far less certain. A committee established by
the city council to recommend a use for the Armory is expected to
explore options ranging from converting the old Army National Guard
center into a new city hall to selling it outright. Other uses that
have generated interest include transforming the 35,000-square-foot
building into an arts center, a library, an eventual expansion of the
public safety facilities or a business incubator. City Councilor Jim
Soule, who co-chairs the committee, says it’s too early to make any
guesses at the path the city will eventually follow.

• The South Portland City Council is considering the creation of three
proposed tax increment financing districts (TIFs) that would allow
property taxes otherwise destined for Augusta to be directed towards a
wide range of projects throughout South Portland. The creation of a
Maine Mall TIF, a Rigby Railyard TIF and a Knightville-Mill Creek TIF
would be the crux of an ambitious economic development program intended
to eventually result in the creation of an economic development
committee and the funding of numerous projects designed to address
ongoing challenges facing the city.



February –

• South Portland Police Chief Edward J. Googins announced Officer
Steven Connors has been named the South Portland Police Department’s
Officer of the Year for 2006. Connors joined the South Portland Police
Department in 1995 and is presently assigned to the Selective
Enforcement Unit. Connors made headlines this past October when he was
shot multiple times during a gun battle with Terrel Dubois, who was
wanted on outstanding warrants. While attempting to arrest Dubois with
several Portland Police Officers, Dubois opened fire, striking Connors
in the head, shoulder, chest and hand. After being shot he returned
fire, striking Dubois. Connors has recovered and he returned to full
duty seven weeks later.

• South Portland leaders have a message for two state education
officials: South Portland is contributing more than it’s fair share of
revenues to the state, they said, while the city is getting far less
than its fair share of funding in return. City officials are planning a
series of meetings with state officials to explore possible ways to
address concerns about funding inequities. Mayor Claude Morgan said the
city’s state delegation is fully engaged with the effort.

• Virtually foot-by-foot, a team of engineers, designers and
negotiators from the Maine Department of Transportation reviewed the
design of an estimated $1.2 million reconstruction of a 1.4 mile
section of Spurwink Avenue in Cape Elizabeth at a public meeting. The
meeting attracted a handful of abutters and users of the southernmost
portion of the road – extending from the intersection with Route 77
abutting the Spurwink Church north to Deer Run Road near Jordan Farm.

• The South Portland City Council voted unanimously to amend the city’s
agreement with the South Portland Police Patrol Association that would
change the way injured officers are compensated for absences from work.
The agreement will  “cover extraordinary circumstances, such as
being shot,” said Jankowski. In each case, the police chief and the
city manager must approve the circumstances before the initiative can
be applied.

• Contention over the fiscal year 2008 budget has increased among
members of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council even as the actual municipal
and school budgets are being drafted. Meeting as the finance committee,
council members resumed discussion regarding whether to impose spending
growth targets for the budget requests and if so, what those targets
should be.

• The assets of Mainely Newspapers, Inc., the publishers of six weekly
newspapers including the South Portland/ Cape Elizabeth Sentry, have
been sold by David and Carolyn Flood to a new Biddeford-based media
company, Mainely Media, LLC. Chris P. Miles will lead the new firm
which is a sister company to Beacon Press Inc. publisher of The
Journal-Tribune, Making it at Home and The Northern Light newspapers.
All of the 26 employees of the Mainely Newspapers will be rehired by
Mainely Media, LLC.



March –

• A proposal to rehabilitate a shuttered nursing home on Scott Dyer
Road in Cape Elizabeth is moving ahead following the town planning
board’s decision to recommend two changes to the zoning ordinance
sought by developers. Canyon Creek Development, Inc of Salem, Ore.
bought the former Viking home located at 126 Scott Dyer Road, just west
of the town center in late 2006, according to Ryan Houskeeper, vice
president of acquisitions, finance and construction for Canyon Creek.
The company has developed a plan to demolish a nearly 30-year-old
one-story structure that housed the facility’s skilled nursing and
replace it with a two-story building that will house independent-living
apartments. Canyon Creek’s plan, according to Houskeeper, calls for the
new wing to contain 45 units consisting of studios and one and
two-bedroom apartments. It plans only minor alterations to the newer
assisted living wing containing 55 units.

• The city of South Portland faces potential lawsuits and legislative
action from two Cape Elizabeth residents and the town respectively,
after the council’s 5-2 vote to discontinue the final 25 feet of
Edgewood Road in South Portland. Over its long history, the issue has
stirred up animosity among South Portland Edgewood residents who want
the road to be restored to its initial dead end status and the two Cape
Elizabeth residents at 59 and 60 Edgewood, who were granted easements.
South Portland residents of Edgewood Road said posted signs do nothing
to deter motorists from traveling down the road and they cited traffic
and safety issues as reasons for its closure.

• A concept for an “empty-nester” oriented condominium complex in a
Cape Elizabeth residential neighborhood may soon come before the town’s
planning board following unanimous approval by the town council to
extend the sewer service area on the town’s zoning map. The developer
of the condominium project, Joel Fitzpatrick, sought the approval
before proceeding with a proposed design and permitting process. The
site is a 30-acre parcel on Eastman Road known as the Jordan Farm and
is made up of a farmhouse, fields and woods surrounding a smaller lot
located at 60 Eastman Road. Currently, sewer service on Eastman Road
stops 1,200 feet short of the site and would need to be extended.

• Organizers for the Cape Elizabeth High School Junior/ Senior Prom
were sent scrambling after learning the Pavilion Banquet Hall in
Portland is closed. What will become of the $2,500 deposit the children
raised to reserve the space is unclear. CEHS is not the only school
that has found their spring plans disrupted by the closure. Thornton
Academy placed a $2,000 deposit for their May 11 prom and Sanford High
School had scheduled a “Project Graduation” event at the Pavilion
scheduled to take place at the Middle Street location on June 8. SHS
reserved the space with a $1,500 deposit.

• Nearly a week after some South Portland residents received notice of
proposed redistricting plans for Skillin Elementary, the school board
implied that although redistricting is inevitable, it most likely will
not begin next year as parents had feared. When South Portland went
through the redistricting two years ago, Houlihan said students living
east of Route 1 were diverted to Kaler Elementary, with the exception
of the Thornton Heights neighborhood. Under Houlihan’s new
recommendation, the 26 children that live on those streets would also
attend Kaler. Houlihan said Skillin, the largest elementary school in
the district with 22 classrooms, was larger last year than she would
have liked it to be.

• Administrators at South Portland schools have yet to receive
essential programs and services (EPS) funding for the 2008 fiscal year,
however, the school board unanimously approved the $42 million budget
on the assumption that when the funding does come in, it will be on the
same level as the previous year. The budget currently includes an
estimate of EPS funding of $4.4 million.

• In an effort to prevent another controversy, similar to the one that
surrounded last year’s Sawyer Marsh development, the city council is
considering amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance that would extend
the Resource Protection (RP) zoning district and terminate the special
exceptions that currently allow for construction on the margins of
100-year flood plains.

• This fiscal year, the city of South Portland will apply for $500,857
in funding from Cumberland County’s Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) to be used for housing, public service, and public improvement
projects throughout the city. Although it is the city’s fourth year of
receiving funds from the CDBG program, as of July 1, the city will no
longer be considered an entitlement community by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and will instead be a “set-a-side
allocation” in the county’s CDBG funds. The funds directed to South
Portland will be based on 23 percent of the funding the city of
Portland receives each year.

• The Cape Elizabeth School Board began the process of dissecting
School Supt. Alan Hawkins’s $19 million school budget on Tuesday and
will continue that process on Saturday during a workshop. The budget
represents a $780,281 or 4.28 percent increase in spending over last
year’s budget. The increase is significantly higher than the $456,107
or 2.5 percent spending increase cap several town councilors have
pledged to adhere to. According to Hawkins, such a limit would not
allow the school department to maintain the current level of service
and would not cover the $602,000 increase in salary and benefit
increases largely driven by contractual obligations.

• A tense debate about the need to evaluate South Portland City
Manager’s six-month tenure has spilled into the public with charges of
inappropriate behavior and poor judgment being leveled against the
manager, Mayor and the city’s legal counsel. The debate is rooted in
differing interpretations of City Manager Ted Jankowski’s employment
contract, which stipulates a six-month probationary period, after which
the council could evaluate his performance.



April –

• Following a combative special meeting of the city council on Monday
night that was announced Sunday evening, the Mayor has been authorized
to seek outside legal advice regarding the council’s “legal obligations
and responsibilities and options are regarding issues that have arisen”
regarding the city’s attorney Mary Kahl.  The 4-2 vote to
authorize the Mayor to meet with an outside attorney fell along the
same lines reported to have split the council in an executive session
over the need to formally review City Manager Ted Jankowski’s six-month
tenure. Mayor Claude Morgan, along with councilors Jim Hughes, Ralph
Baxter and Maxine Beecher all voted in favor of seeking outside
council. Councilors Linda Boudreau and Kay Loring voted against the
outside council and have expressed support for a formal review of the
city manager. Councilor James Soule, who was not present at the special
meeting, also pushed for a formal review process, he has said.

• Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 25, a self-described “punk” in high school who
credited the Army and its storied 82nd Airborne Division for turning
his life around, died from wounds sustained when his patrol was
attacked with a bomb in Diyala Province, Iraq on Sunday, March 25. It
was the second time in two weeks and the second time since the war
began that South Portland has learned it lost a son in the conflict.
Private Angel Rosa, serving with the Marines in Al Anbar Province was
killed on March 13.

•  The South Portland City Council unanimously voted to commission
a law firm to handle a standing Freedom of Access Act request for the
City Manager Ted Jankowski’s incoming and outgoing emails from Feb. 1
to March 21. With noticeably frustrated tones, however, the council
amended the order to divert as much of the associated legal costs away
from taxpayers and on to the individual or group making the FOAA
request.

• The city of South Portland has received the much-anticipated response
to the council’s decision to discontinue the final 25 feet of Edgewood
Road from the Cape Elizabeth residents living at 59 and 60 Edgewood. On
March 21, Bruce McGlauflin, attorney for Debra Sampson of 59 Edgewood
and Chris and Jayne Boulos of 60 Edgewood, sent a letter to city
attorney Mary Kahl stating his clients would not be appealing the
city’s decision because they believe it is invalid.

• The South Portland City Council is considering a new Anti-Graffiti
Ordinance that will address what Police Chief Edward Googins identified
as a growing problem in the city. He said the current laws are
ineffective because they require the individual be caught in the act.
As Googins presented the draft to the council along with Officer
Jeffrey Caldwell, a member of the Graffiti Task Force, the council
expressed concern over the ordinance’s treatment of property owners.

• Beginning this summer and continuing into next winter, the Cape
Elizabeth Assessing Department will be busy updating the assessed
values assigned to each property in the town. It is the first such
update since a major revaluation project was undertaken in 2003.
According to Town Assessor Matthew Sturgis, in the four years between
the 2003 revaluation and now, home sale prices have increased to the
point where the assessed value of the average home in Cape Elizabeth
represents only 66 percent of the fair market value.

•The City of South Portland is currently holding discussions with the
City of Portland regarding the consolidation of Public Safety Answering
Points (PSAP), a plan that according to the Maine Public Utilities
Commission mandate must be completed by Oct. 1. South Portland City
Manager Ted Jankowski said he expects the issue to come before the
South Portland City Council at the April 23 workshop. Jankowski said
because South Portland already works closely with Portland on various
issues and because future consolidations may be required in the future,
the move makes sense for the city.

• The Patriots Day storm that brought snow and more than four inches of
rain to the greater Portland area, slowly loosened its grip on the
Northeast on Tuesday, allowing citizens and municipal officials to get
to the task of cleaning up.  Although it was too early for an
accurate assessment of damages, public officials from South Portland
and Cape Elizabeth said they would be dealing with the storm’s
aftermath for weeks to come.

• The South Portland City Council moved forward with a bond proposal
for the high school renovations to allow the school board and school
administrators ample time to educate the public on the need for the
project and the associated costs. The total project cost was estimated
at $55.6 million. With $29.4 million in interest, the total annual cost
will be $85 million. The annual total average home impact will be
$5,181 over more than 20 years. At least three crews would be needed,
as three wings will be constructed simultaneously and the initial
addition of 12 classrooms would reduce the number of portable classes
needed as construction progresses. In the second year of construction
there would probably be a need for six portable classrooms. The project
budget includes funds for a year’s worth of trailers.

May –

• South Portland High School was among 51 high schools the Maine
Department of Education identified as not meeting Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) for two or more years, as required by the federal No
Child Left Behind Act. 2006 was the first year that the SAT reasoning
test was used as the state high school assessment for NCLB. Previously
the grade 11 MEA was used as the state assessment for this purpose. For
this year’s reporting Maine used only one year of assessment data
because of the use of the new test. Previously, years two years of data
were used.

• The controversy over a South Portland ordinance prohibiting the
display of yellow ribbons on city property may soon play out once
again. In 2003, Valorie Swiger, was outraged when South Portland
officials removed hundreds of ribbons she had placed throughout the
city in honor of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Swiger led a
movement to change the ordinance to allow for displays of public
support of the troops. When Valorie’s son Sgt. Jason W. Swiger was
killed March 25, the city council unanimously approved a suspension of
the ordinance for 30 days. The council called for yellow ribbons to be
displayed on all city property as a tribute to Swiger and Private Angel
Rosa, who was killed within the same two-week period.

• In an effort to move forward with the evaluations of council
appointed city employees, an issue that has caused controversy in the
last two months, the South Portland city council unanimously agreed it
would be the only body to offer input during the evaluations, scheduled
for May 14. The council dismissed the 360-degree evaluation, which
calls for input from department heads, city employees and community
stakeholders in favor of conducting the reviews of City Manager Ted
Jankowski, City Clerk Sue Mooney, and City Attorney Mary Kahl, more
expeditiously.

• South Portland police officers now have the authority to catch
graffiti vandals before they leave their mark on public or private
property. The city council unanimously approved the ordinance, which
fines vandals up to $250 for their first offense and up to $500 for
subsequent offenses.

• The South Portland City Council got its first look at the proposed
$56 million bond ordinance for South Portland High School additions and
renovations. With $29.4 million in interest, the total annual cost,
over a period of more than 20 years, will be $85 million.

• A little more than a month after the South Portland Planning Board
recommended a zoning amendment to the Knightville Mill Creek area with
a vote of 5-0 to pave the way for a new office condominium building on
the site of Beale Street BBQ, the city council took up the issue in a
workshop to consider approving the amendment. While noting the
neighborhood’s opposition to the four-story office building that would
be permitted with the zoning changes, Ingalls focused on potential
economic benefits to the area.

• With a 4-3 vote, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council passed a combined
$29.2 million budget for municipal, school and country spending, with
all but $7.7 million raised through property taxes. The budget, which
takes effect July 1, represents a 2.9 percent or $825,000 increase of
the current budget and translates to a 1.86 percent or 30-cent increase
in the town’s anticipated tax rate from $16.16 per $1,000 of assessed
value to $16.46.

•The South Portland Historical Society has announced the planned
purchase of a historic building on Madison Street adjacent to Bug Light
Park to be used as a permanent home and history museum. After months of
planning and negotiation, the Society signed a purchase option
agreement with Portland Pipeline Corporation on May 4 to acquire the
building within 18 months. The two-story brick historic building known
to some as the Captain Nichols House and to others as the Cushing Point
House according to Kathy DiPhilippo, South Portland Historical Society
historian.

• South Portland Claude Morgan confirmed speculation City Manager Ted
Jankowski resigned is position following a rocky eight month tenure.
Jankowski’s status was unclear at the Sentry’s press time on Wednesday.
Conflicting information circulated in and outside South Portland City
Hall beginning at least on May 18, casting doubt on Jankowski’s tenure
following Morgan’s call for a special executive session of the City
Council.

• Faced with a $43,804 gap in next year’s school budget, the Cape
Elizabeth School Board unanimously agreed to forgo program cuts and
instead tap the district’s contingency reserve. The board made the
decision Tuesday night after hearing from about 10 parents and children
who spoke out against a plan floated by Superintendent Alan Hawkins to
cut the two-year Latin program. One student, Graham Nichols,
distributed a petition signed by 135 students on one day to preserve
the program.



June –

• City Manager Ted Jankowski’s resignation goes into effect, leaving
Assistant City Manager Jim Gailey to fill the role of interim city
manager. In his resignation letter, dated May 24, Jankowski stated he
was leaving to “pursue other professional opportunities.” The
separation agreement of Jankowski’s departure states the city will pay
him $34,664, or four months of his salary at the time of separation;
$4,133.33 in accrued vacation time of 77.5 hours; $3,551.72 for four
months of insurance coverage; and $1,200 which represents the balance
of his moving account. The total gross amount, subject to state and
federal deductions, is $43,549.05, according to the document.

• With a 4-3 vote, the South Portland City Council passed an $81.5
million budget for the next fiscal year, which reflects a $2.6 million
or 3.3 percent increase from the current year’s budget. With the total
needs from taxes at $51 million, an increase of $2.2 million or 4.4
percent from the current year. The median single family home assessed
at $212,000 can expect to see an increase of $117 over this year’s tax
bill, provided valuation holds said Finance Director Rob Coombs.

• Ten-year-old Olivia Collins headed before the South Portland City
Council in an attempt to convince councilors that she should be allowed
to raise chickens on her family’s 5,500-square-foot lot in the city’s
Thornton Heights neighborhood. Collins was interested in raising
heritage breeds of chickens, which were used for backyard flocks in
colonial times. Roosters were not included in her request. Collins’
request to amend the zoning ordinances was met with hesitation from the
council and city officials. Planning and Development Director Tex
Haeuser also cited concerns regarding property values, health risks,
requests for other types of domestic animals and an increased burden on
animal control and health officers.

• Residents of South Portland’s Knightville Mill Creek neighborhood
were again out in full force to express their opposition to a
four-story condominium office building on Waterman Drive, but in the
end, the city council cleared the way for developer Andrew Ingalls to
construct a 50-foot building.

• The Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) issued another timeline
for the construction of a new Interstate-295N on-ramp at Exit 3 and
construction is expected to begin in the fall. The project, one of six
included in the MDOT’s Maine Mall Area Road Work plan, will widen
Broadway and Westbrook Street and create an east bound lane on
Westbrook that will allow motorists right-hand turn access to a new
Interstate-295 on ramp. MDOT Project Manager Shawn Smith said the $5.2
million project is fully funded under the previous biannual funding
through a combination of federal, state, local and developer money from
the construction of the U.S. Post Office Distribution Center in
Scarborough.

• Faced with a proposal to rezone a small parcel of city property along
one of South Portland’s busiest roads, the city council agreed in
principal to throw out the land use rules and let private interests
propose how the land – as well as neighboring parcels – could be used.
The parcel, an undeveloped triangle of woods and scrub, takes up a
portion of an island of land separating the Gorham Road extension,
Western Avenue and Westbrook Street. It shares the island with several
well-known businesses including Mulberry Cottage Interiors and
Ricetta’s restaurant. The city took the 1.45-acre parcel by eminent
domain in 1986 in order to build a fire station, which was later built
further up Western Avenue. The city has been trying to sell the
property for several years and even went to court with the former owner
over its right to sell.



July –

• Ten-year-old Olivia Collins’ campaign to allow chickens as a
permitted pet in South Portland drew a sizable crowd to city council
workshop. The normally empty seats were filled with about 50 supporters
of Collins’ proposal to allow residents to maintain urban or city
chicken coops with about 10 of the audience members a decade or more
away from their first opportunity to vote. Several audience held up
placards with the now familiar “Give peeps a chance,” motto Collins has
used to gather support and more than 260 signatures.

• The Maine Mall’s owner, General Growth Properties, moved forward with
a proposal to reconfigure the large retail complex to include a
14-screen, stadium-style theater, an expansion of the JC Penney store,
two detached restaurants and fewer parking spaces. The theater would be
built on the site currently occupied by the former Filenes Department
store. The Planning Board has scheduled the approval process to begin
July 24. Palmer said GGP hopes to begin the project by the fall.

• David Cram, owner of Spring Point Tavern, was re-issued a special
amusement license for live music by the South Portland city council,
but once again that license is contingent on some conditions. The
council unanimously approved a one-year license provided music, food
and drinks are not allowed on the outdoor patio. Cram appeared before
the council in October 2006 after Police Chief Edward Googins failed to
approve the license due to noise complaints.

• State and local officials in southern Maine have teamed up to form a
violent crimes task force to combat the recent increase in the rate of
violent crimes across the state.

The police departments of Biddeford, Scarborough, South Portland and
Portland, along with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office are joining
forces with the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the U.S. Attorney to improve
coordination in the investigation of crimes, officials from the six
enforcement offices announced in a press conference.



August –

• It was announced that the South Portland school system will likely
remain an independent entity following the school board’s unanimous
decision directing new School Superintendent Suzanne Godin to file a
letter of intent with the State Deptartment of Education in line with
the new school district reorganization law. South Portland schools
qualify for an exception because it has a student population of more
than 2,500. Even though it qualified for the exception, the district
could have pursued a consolidation with a neighboring district such as
Cape Elizabeth. Cape Elizabeth qualifies for a different exception that
allows “high performing, highly efficient” school systems to remain
independent. Godin who said she keeps in regular contact with Cape
Elizabeth Superintendent Alan Hawkins said Cape Elizabeth will likely
opt to remain independent.

• The South Portland City Council voted 5-2 in favor of changing the
city’s zoning ordinance to allow for keeping of pet hens. If approved,
the amendments would require residents who wish to keep hens to pay $25
for an annual permit and a $25 one-time building permit fee for the
construction of a henhouse or pen. The amendments also outline
standards for the keeping of the chickens to ensure they are kept in a
sanitary manner, away from predators and in a way that minimizes any
adverse impact on neighbors.

• Construction on Southern Maine Community College’s (SMCC) new 320-bed
residence hall was moving along smoothly and school officials said the
dorm will likely be finished by the end of the year, months ahead of
the anticipated summer 2008 completion date. With a budget of $12.1
million, the SMCC dorm is the largest component of the Maine Community
College System’s (MCCS) residential housing expansion project,
according to Helen Pelletier, Interim Director of Public Affairs.

• The four story office condominium building proposed for 100 Waterman
Drive by Andrew Ingalls now has a name, Fore River Office Park, and
likely a future in South Portland as planning board members expressed
their support for a structure that can support a variety of uses. As
proposed, the Fore River Office Park will be a four-story, 48-feet high
building. The 31,668 square feet building will be accessed via two
existing curb cuts on B and C Streets.



September –

• With a unanimous vote, the South Portland City Council approved an
ordinance that will “give peeps a chance.” The ordinance allows
residents to keep up to six hens for personal use, beginning Sept. 25,
with no more than 20 issued in the first year. In each subsequent year,
20 more permits may be issued beyond any renewal permits. The code
enforcement officer will be charged with reporting to the council about
the program’s progress by Dec. 31, 2008.

• As a green lifestyle becomes a priority for more and more people,
officials in Cape Elizabeth reviewed town ordinances to create a
compromise between aesthetics and alternative energy sources such as
solar and wind power. Discussions about alternative energy sources have
largely been focused on wind turbines, however, at the direction of the
town council, the planning board is working to craft language in the
town’s ordinances to allow for wind turbines, solar panels and other
devices such as tidal and outdoor wood boilers. The planning board is
to submit a final report with recommendations by January 2, 2008. At
the same time, a Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee will
explore opportunities to bring alternative energy sources to municipal
and school buildings and vehicles.

• Of the 88 recommendations outlined in the Cape Elizabeth draft
Comprehensive Plan, residents who spoke at a public hearing on the
document seized upon a handful they claim weigh heavily in favor of
development that will cost the town its rural character. Following the
public hearing, the town council, as expected, tabled a vote on the
draft plan in favor of further discussion.

The state-mandated plan, developed over several years by a 12-member
committee of town officials, citizens and business owners, will act as
the town’s principal guiding document over the next dozen years once it
is approved by the town council. Upon approval, town ordinances and
other policies, including how land will be used and the nature and
intensity of development within the town of Cape Elizabeth will be
required to conform to the plan’s conclusions.



October –

• During a surprise school-wide assembly, Maine Department of Education
Commissioner Susan Gendron presented South Portland High School English
teacher Brian Jandreau with the Milken Family Foundation National
Educator Award, which recognizes elementary and secondary school
teachers, principals and other education professionals for excellence
in education. More than 2,300 educators have been honored since the
program began in 1982 and 66 Maine educators have received the award
since the state joined the program in 1990.

• Cape residents turned out to a community design workshop to generate
ideas about the town center intersection, the crossings of Route 77,
Shore Road and Scott Dyer Road. MDOT’s preliminary plans called for a
realignment of Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road, which are currently
offset by 110 feet. A traffic signal would replace the current blinking
yellow and red light. A concrete island would designate a left turn
lane onto Scott Dyer Road from Route 77, one inch in elevation,
stretching north from the town hall to Jonesy’s service station. Two
triangular, slightly raised concrete islands would also be constructed
within the intersection to slow traffic.

• General Growth Properties (GGP), owners of the Maine Mall, seek to
draw more clientele to their property with the construction of new
retail space, three restaurants and a 3,200 seat cinema – a project
dubbed the Maine Mall Revitilization Project – but perhaps the most
significant developments will take place underground.

As the property is located in the Long Creek watershed, identified by
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as an urban
impaired stream, the site’s run-off will be treated before it is
eventually discharged into the stream. GGP is represented on the Long
Creek Watershed Management Convening Committee, which is seeking to
work with property owners to develop methods for addressing water
quality problems.

• Safety topped a list of concerns voiced by seven Cape Elizabeth
residents during a planning board public hearing for the proposed
46-unit condominium subdivision, Eastman Meadows. If approved, Eastman
Meadows would be the first of its kind in Cape Elizabeth: a multiplex
development marketed toward people 55 and older. Fitzpatrick is
proposing to build on a 40-acre site abutting existing open space
including Winnock Woods and Sprague Corporation land.



November –

• After a closed meeting, Mayor Claude Morgan said the South Portland
City Council has offered the city manager position to Acting City
Manager Jim Gailey, after the council interviewed five candidates out
of a pool of 10 applicants at the Marriot Hotel. The city was
guaranteed a free search when former city manager Ted Jankowski’s
tenure fell four months short of a year. Former Assistant City Manager
Jim Gailey took on the role of acting city manager following
Jankowski’s departure in May. Gailey also filled in after former City
Manager Jeff Jordan resigned last year.

• Ensuring the town’s remaining farms stay alive and well was the
objective of the newly formed Cape Elizabeth Farm Committee. The
committee hopes to submit a report to the town council within a year.
Councilor Jim Rowe said the committee also hopes to have some
recommendations at that point. The town has three or four produce
operations, animal husbandry outfits, tree farms and several peripheral
businesses that raise plants, which could be considered farm related.

• Crime in South Portland may be on the rise, but the city’s police
department is still operating with the same number of patrol cars that
were on the streets in the 1970s. Nearly a year has passed since Mayor
Claude Morgan established a Police Department Staffing and Retention
Committee to evaluate the department and make recommendations for
hiring and retaining qualified officers. Ten officers, or 20 percent of
the force, is currently eligible for retirement and that number is
expected to increase to 75 percent by 2012.



December–

• Newly appointed South Portland Mayor James Soule brought some
attention to his inaugural address by calling for Cumberland, York and
Sagadahoc counties to “unite against our common oppressive enemy – The
State of Maine” and form a new state.

“We must open dialogue with our neighbors with the potential conclusion
being the necessity for a resolve to secede from the state of Maine,”
Soule said in a speech during an inaugural ceremony in which city
council and school board members were sworn in to their posts. Soule
said South Portland’s need for more police officers and the defeat of
the high school bond referendum are evidence of “the inequitable and
oppressive redistribution of wealth” by the state. With the Maine Mall
and other regional retail draws, South Portland generates more than $45
million annually in sales tax, he said. There is a “disincentive,” he
said, for communities to bring businesses and higher paying jobs to
town.

• After a 35-year tenure as a full-time fire chief, Cape Elizabeth Fire
Chief Philip McGouldrick announced he planned to retire on Jan. 21.

As chief, McGouldrick is the only full-time employee in Cape
Elizabeth’s all volunteer fire, rescue and water extrication team (WET)
companies. During his tenure, McGouldrick oversaw the department’s
transition from strictly volunteer to a company of paid on-call
firefighters and rescue workers, who respond to calls from their home
and are paid for their time on the job. McGouldrick served as Cape
Elizabeth’s fire chief since 1992 and previously had served as South
Portland’s fire chief from 1972 to 1992. He began his career as a
volunteer firefighter for South Portland in 1957 and became a full-time
firefighter in 1963.

• Cape Elizabeth and South Portland bid adieu to 2007 shrouded in a blanket of snow as winter settles in.