Staff Writer 

When it comes to meeting the needs of taxpayers, officials in Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and Scarborough are starting to think three municipalities may be better suited than one.

“Our responsibility is to ensure we do things in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Some things should be local but others should be shared,” Cape Elizabeth Town Councilor Paul McKenney said. “It will always be a public debate what is shared and I like that, it’s good.”

Officials from all three municipalities met with state legislators last month to discuss how they can work together, although South Portland Mayor Tom Blake said he doesn’t think anyone is quite sure how. Blake said he sees the effort as a common trend as communities continue to deal with the economic downturn, and sometimes regionalizing can be expensive. He said joining the Greater Portland Council of Governments, an organization that focuses on regional cooperation and collaboration, cost the city $25,000.

“And of course there’s the Cumberland County government, which costs us $2.1 million,” Blake said. “There’s a lot of this happening.”

Some Maine communities have already banded together; Biddeford City Manager John Bubier said he and town managers from Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Scarborough and other neighboring communities have been sharing information on a monthly basis for four years. 

“Who comes really depends on the issue,” he said. “We talk about having a transportation center, sharing equipment and the possibility of joint dispatch. They can be tough discussions, but the conversation is always ongoing.”

Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall said he frequently attends the meetings with Bubier and would support a similar initiative with South Portland and Cape Elizabeth town officials.

“It’s as much social as it is anything else,” he said of the gatherings. “We have so much in common with Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, any way we can work together should be explored.” 

Alfred Selectman John Sylvester, chairman of York County-based “12-Town Group” said he primarily considered the group’s regional meetings an opportunity to share information about ongoing issues that affect the region as a whole.

“It really helps to be able to talk to one another,” he said.

McKenney said he imagines a regional group could help the three towns save money by coordinating purchases of equipment that could be shared by each municipality.

“Each community has its own fields to maintain, they all have to be aerated, which takes a lot of heavy equipment. Why not buy one machine and just keep a calendar of what field gets done when?” he asked. “Maybe certain fire vehicles, which are extremely expensive – every community doesn’t necessarily have to have one of everything.”

Blake said he envisions any new regional entity focusing on making it easier for taxpayers to cross city and town borders without sacrificing services. 

He said the group might consider coordinating library hours – currently libraries operate on independent schedules – to ensure residents have access regardless of what day of the week it is.

“All three libraries could have the same library card – right now a South Portland resident can’t walk into Cape Elizabeth’s library, and they should be able to,” he said. “We currently do all of the bus maintenance for Portland, let’s do it with [Cape Elizabeth] and Scarborough, too.”

While Blake said he hasn’t considered how a new regional entity could affect the flow of stimulus dollars, Sylvester said“12-Town Group” discussions could “get more interesting” in the next few months after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) offered to send a staff member to each of the group’s meetings during a conference last week to help prepare them for the arrival of federal stimulus dollars. 

“We haven’t spent any time talking about the stimulus, but I imagine we’re going to spend a lot of time talking and asking questions about it now,” he said. “It was sort of cool, a unique offer.”

Blake said he expects another meeting between the three municipalities will be scheduled in the next few weeks and McKenney said he is looking forward to discussing some regionalization efforts the Greater Portland Council of Governments has been conducting “under the radar” in the next month.