City Council - Regular Meeting

hello and welcome to our Tuesday evening pre pre meeting meeting counselors turn off their cell phones that'd be great madam clerk I think we're heading into executive session thank you mr. mayor executive session item number one executive session to discuss the acquisition or disposition of real estate

of which the premature disclosure of the information would prejudice the competitive bargaining position of the city. Requested action to enter into an executive session pursuant to main revised statutes annotated Title I, Section 4056C, to discuss the acquisition or disposition of real estate, of which the premature disclosure of the information would prejudice the competitive bargaining position of the city.

May I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Seconded by Councillor Martell. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councillor from Ward 1.

Yes, and I'd just like to note that that phone call was from Councillor Longchamps. I think she's on her way.

Ward 3? Yes. Ward 4? Yes. Ward 5? Yes. Ward 6? Yes. Ward 7? Yes. And Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion to pass with a vote of 7-0.

We're heading into executive session, and I anticipate being back in time for our 7 p.m. meeting. Hello, and welcome to our Tuesday evening council meeting. Appreciate you all being here. We're going to kick things off with the Pledge of Allegiance, and Administrator Kainrath has graciously agreed to lead us.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madam Clerk, I think we're ready to begin.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. All roll call votes for this meeting will begin with the Councillor of Ward 1.

I understand we have minutes.

We do. The minutes of July 21st.

May I have a motion, please?

Move to approve as presented.

Second. Second by Councillor Naging. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councillor from Ward 1?

Yes.

Yes. Ward 4? Yes. Ward 6?

Yes, with thanks.

Ward 7? Yes. And Mr. Mayor? Yes. Thank you. And we will note for the record that the Councillor of Ward 5, Councillor Noble, has an excused absence this evening.

Thank you, yes. We are now up to public comment. Any member of the public may make comments regarding issues pertaining to Lewiston City Government. This period is reserved for non-agenda items. Public comment is also allowed during individual agenda items. Please state your name for the record and please indicate if you're a Lewiston resident. Per our council rules, this period is reserved for Lewiston residents only. Because this is the business meeting of the Lewiston City Council, all questions should be directed to the mayor who will ask staff to follow up at a future time. It is illegal for the city council to allow comments related to personnel matters. All personnel complaints should be made directly to the city administration office. Please continue.

Ronnie Parity, Ward 6. I want to thank you for the last meeting you guys had. It was one of the best meetings that I have seen in a long time. And I really want to thank you guys. And Susan, I want to thank you for getting administration and everything all together for this violence. Talking about violence, again, let's stress issues. Let's not do personalities. Again, I think that's the best way to go about things. I'd like to talk about the school. I met a couple times this past summer with Jake Langley, superintendent of schools, and we talked about what the schools could do with the parents, the students, and everything. And we came up with a lot of ideas. I don't know, you know. And so we're sort of working on it. But one thing I would like to push out, I remember when I was on the school board, I used to go to Longley School as a reader. as a volunteer reader for Longley School. I'm challenging all of you to do that. I think the kids need to see successful people and role models out there. Go for an hour a month and read to a student or whatever the principal needs to do. Volunteer in the schools and then you know what's going on when you're voting for the budget. and see what the programs does. I mean, I used to have fun when I used to go in there, you know, on the school board and read into a child and everything. And it was at Longley School, which was a very needy school, as many of you who have been in Lewiston for a long time. And then Peggy Rotundo and I, we used to, when we were on the school board, used to run in the springtime all the art shows, you name it, the Montello, what was that called, Peggy, I don't remember, but anyway, and one time we were following each other around the schools to go to all the shows as a school board member. AND YOU NEED TO GO IN THE CLASSROOM AND SHOW YOURSELF. SHOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. AND THESE KIDS NEED MODEL AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT. AND JAKE SAID HE WOULD WELCOME THAT. IN FACT, I HAVE ALREADY TALKED TO THE PRINCIPAL WHO IS A FRIEND OF MINE ANYWAY AT MCMAHON SCHOOL AND I'M GOING IN AND VOLUNTEERING THIS YEAR TOO. I WANT TO GO BACK INTO THE SCHOOLS AND DO SOMETHING WITH OUR KIDS. So I'm just saying city staff, people, Brian, I think you would be wonderful to go into the schools and talk to the kids and things like that. So I'm just thinking we need to role model and role model correctly, including me. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, members of the city council and public, I thank you for the opportunity to speak here this evening. This week, this past week, I should say, I

Can you move the mic up a little bit just so our audience at home can hear you? Thank you.

I participated in a community meeting that people were having, and it was with their concerns of the flock cameras that the police department has. I am here to speak in support of the flock hammers. And because of the gun violence that has occurred in the downtown area, I think they are a worthy tool for police to use to solve those crimes before someone gets killed. And when people go out into the public there is no expectation of privacy. When you place yourself in the public, there is no privacy. So what the cameras are gathering, such as right here, okay, is we're here in a public meeting, they're gathering everything. And it's a good tool for the police. We arm police officers. We do all kinds of things in support of their jobs. I speak with 33 years of law enforcement experience. And I served in law enforcement to serve people, to help people. And the more communication that takes place between police and the people in the community, people on their beat. I remember one case where I was patrolling on the third shift and there was a car placed there that seemed suspicious to me because there were no homes around there. So I filled out a field interrogation card, which we used to submit at the end of our shift. And as it turns out, there was a burglary there and there was a woman there alone with her baby. And this man broke into her house and had a revolver and placed it in a private part of that person's home. anatomy and would flip the cylinder and pull the trigger. And because of that card, we had the plate number and ran it and sure enough the guy had a record and we were able to clear that case. Thank you.

Councilor Nagy, did you have something?

Just really quickly, I know who the last speaker was. Oh, yes. He did not identify himself, so it might be helpful.

I appreciate that. Thank you for catching that, Councilor Nagy. That was the honorable Mayor Gilbert. We're happy to have you here. Thank you for keeping the three minutes good, sir.

Rick LaChapelle, Ward 4. I come before this council again looking for leadership, and we seem to be lacking leadership. particularly in the aspect of the gun violence and the youth violence that we're having in our city. Last time we met was over at Lewiston High School, and frankly, that meeting was a joke. All we heard was just about every speaker get up saying, we need more money, we need more money, we need more money. The meeting was closed. At the end of the meeting, our illustrious mayor closed saying, We all love Lewiston. Meeting adjourned with no plan, no guidance, no leadership. We need some leadership. I'm begging for leadership now. The state of Maine in the last, we have plenty of money by the way, the state of Maine in the last fiscal budget, my understanding held out $575 million is more than a slush fund. $300 million was put aside for in the event that the federal government withholds money from the state for allowing boys and girls sports. so they can make up the difference. $200 million was for Medicare fraud that they're not following up. This is the, at least it's the information that I get off from the state websites. $75 million for new Mainers. Just imagine what we could have done with $575 million with our DAs in our state of Maine that need that money. We can't afford the DAs, we can't afford jail time. We're having failed leadership, and I know you're going to say you're not responsible for what happens up in Augusta. I say no, you have to know what happened up in Augusta where it affects Lewiston. You should know everything. We should be getting on our state representatives. We happen to have three of them here right now. We need some leadership. Another interesting point, this is almost the year anniversary. Does anybody remember Elizabeth Camachi? She was a visitor to our great city walking right here when somebody jumped the curve and ran her over and killed her right in front of City Hall almost a year ago. Did any one of you show up with flowers or go to a vigil for her? Because this person who killed her wasn't supposed to be in America, wasn't supposed to be here. But yet, our leaders decided to go to Biddeford with flowers and stuff like that. And there's nothing wrong with going to Biddeford to support it, but how about representing our city? Remembering, government always finds money for what it considers important. The only question now is protecting the citizens of Lewiston important enough to put your money behind it. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Sherry Withers. I reside in Ward 1, specifically in Sunnyside. This past weekend, my home was one of two homes that had attempted home invasions. The scary part about my situation was it happened in broad daylight. We had four juveniles, three of them wearing full masks covering their faces, attempt to force their way and enter our house while our 14 year old was outside nearby playing at the park with friends. I do want to add, because I do see comments and judgments online, these were also all four white young men. After these juveniles attempted to push our door in, my husband had to use the full force weight of his body to reclose our door, deadbolt it. At this time, we realized our child was walking home from the park and less than 100 yards from our front door where this was happening. My husband was able to get outside, put himself between these juveniles that were leaving our property and get our child into our house safely. All four youth were apprehended nearby by local police. Luckily a train came through Sunnyside which blocked their exit from leaving. My hope is that you as counselors can help change legislation that can make our court systems in time at Long Creek not a revolving door, asking for the state for more resources for programming to help create third spaces, services that help parents support all of our youth and better build community resources, as well as listening to the new and supporting the new community safety committee, which I have recently been nominated and happy to be serving on. So listen to our research, our action steps that we put forward to you in the future. This is a Lewiston issue, not an us and them issue. It'll take all of us as citizens of the city to make positive change, and that makes all members of our community feel safe and our first voices heard. Thank you for your time.

Hi, I'm Kim from Ward 2. First, I want to say thank you to Mr. Shalane Mayer for having the grace to give me an extra little bit of time last time I was here. That was really sweet. I appreciate that. Ever since that meeting, though, I've just tried to reach out to the heart of the people and kind of get an idea of what's going on and what they're seeing. So I've done a lot of listening. And I'm just here to kind of speak about them a bit, those that can't be here themselves, particularly the pellet gun victims incident that happened in July here in Lewiston, Maine. We really do feel like vandalism is a significant part of what's happening right now. Because I feel that there's been so much vandalism that happened right around the shootings. Just a quick example, two dudes walking down the street threatening to shoot me and my friend and another guy. And a week later, my windshield got smashed out. And then a week later, they came by and shot two people in the head. And then... Three more windshields were smashed out on Pine Street. So I consider these to be unresolved issues I really feel like if they feel confident enough that they can get away with doing something like that They're going to escalate to gun violence and they did I I'm not bringing this up to cause public discord or civil unrest or anything like that I'm really I'm focused on solutions and I'm trying my best to listen and So I'm looking at the police engagement with the, particularly the unhoused community. I personally feel, I know for a fact, that they are some of the most credible witnesses that I have interviewed. And I would really like to say to Chief Conley, to the commander, to the lieutenants, please try a little bit harder to have a more positive interaction with these folks. It would be greatly appreciated. I also feel like Lewiston has funding. Androscoggin County has funding. So let's get to it. Let's help out homeless people. Let's help with the homeless shelter. Let's put some money in severe substance use addiction issues. Let's support our sober houses. Let's do that. If anyone's interested in having further discussion, you know how to reach me. Probably going to have a public meeting for people to discuss their concerns and Thoughts and feelings and what they want to express and what they need Again, thank you for being so kind last week. There's been a lot of really good discussion I have been I read every day thousands of comments and 99% are absolutely beautiful And the people in the homeless community that I have gotten to know are some of the most beautiful amazing people that I have ever met Thank you for the public comment

I'm Martin Chartrand, Ward 3. I just have a quick thing. I was told a while ago that there's the parking ban that you all put up on the top side of Kennedy Park between Walnut Street and Spruce Street. So I know it was to try to respond to issues. I think it's... really uh at the wrong time place though for there's a food pantry there at gallery to grow on tuesdays and fridays and there's also the farmers market there on tuesdays so i think if that band's gonna need to stay in place it should be uh except for tuesdays between noon and seven and fridays between eight and one thanks

Hello, my name is Nathan Pearl, raised and born in Lewiston. Our country has been capable of building skyscrapers since 1885 for 141 years now, yet we're allowing 800,000 plus citizens to suffer unhoused.

Thank you.

Further public comment? Public comment? Yes, please.

Hi, good evening. Jessica Donovan, taxpayer on downtown Lisbon Street. I own and operate a business here in Lewiston and also manage the business operations for a local residential construction company. Through these roles, I have firsthand experience with operating, investing, and building in the community, so I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I'm here with a question and a concern regarding the certificate of occupancy process for new residential construction. Today during the final inspection process for one of our homes we became aware that radon testing was required before a certificate of occupancy could be issued. We were told that this may be related to updated code requirements but I have not yet been able to confirm the specific source or effective date of that requirement. I want to be clear that it's not about questioning the importance of the radon safety. We fully support building safe and healthy homes for Lewiston residents. But my concern is about communication, timing, and consistency. We have built and closed on other homes in Lewiston this year without this requirement being raised during this process. Whether it's a new requirement, a change in enforcement, or an existing requirement that is now being applied differently, learning about it at the final stage of a project creates significant challenges. Because this issue came up at the end of the process, our closing has now been delayed. That delay affects our business operations, the income that we had anticipated from completing the project goes towards our payroll, and our ability to plan financially. We now have an unexpected testing expense, and if the test indicates mitigation is needed, that could add thousands of dollars to the project overall. It also affects one of Lewiston's newest residents, who's now experiencing uncertainty and delay while trying to become part of this community. My question tonight is, can the Council help clarify when this radon testing requirement became part of the certificate of occupancy process, what authority it falls under and how changes or interpretations of building requirements are communicated to local builders? More broadly, I would ask the Council to consider whether there is a formal process for notifying builders and developers when building requirements, inspection expectations or code interpretations change. A proactive communication process would allow builders to understand the expectations clearly, incorporate them into project planning, and avoid unexpected delays and costs at the end of a project. We want to be partners in solving Lewiston's housing and economic challenges, but we do need clear expectations, consistent communications, and predictable process so that we can continue investing. Thank you.

DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, CAN YOU HAND JESSICA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR? YES. CAN YOU HAND JESSICA ONE OF MY CARDS? AND THEN MYSELF AND STAFF WILL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU TOMORROW. THANK YOU. FOR THE PUBLIC COMMENT, PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOW CLOSED.

Hi, my name is Joe Hafford. I live in Ward 3 on Ash Street. I want to talk about the AI cameras, the ongoing drug problems and violence in the city. And I come at this from a slightly different angle. I'm probably the only convicted drug dealer in the room. I was convicted in 2016 in the great state of Arizona. I have since moved to Maine, found sobriety, have reformed my life. So I've got a little bit of a different point of view on this. No surveillance camera, certainly no fancy AI plate reader, no parking spot would have ever stopped me or anyone I knew when I was about that life from doing anything that we did in those days. All that told me is how long I had before the cops would show up in that no parking spot, which direction that camera faced, what I could or couldn't drive if there was a plate reader there, and how to get around it. What works is good old-fashioned police work. What works is the best practices that other cities and other jurisdictions and other municipalities have already gone through. There is no need for this city to take the time and energy and money to reinvent the wheel. We can look to places like Huntington, West Virginia that have faced far greater crises than Lewiston could ever dream and are making real headway against their problems. We can look to other jurisdictions that have already live through this hell so we don't have to go all the way through it ourselves. I would encourage this body to one, yes, obviously vote to fund the police. We need more meat gobs. I would also encourage you to direct the police department and our esteemed city administrator to look for best practices from other cities and other jurisdictions that we can implement here immediately. Thank you for your time.

Public comment is now closed. City Administrator, I believe you have a report.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate it. Starting with our Cart to Curb program. This week, beginning yesterday, Casella began the first delivery of about 22,000 trash and recycling carts around Lewiston. They will be arriving at your homes and residences soon. I want to thank Public Works for holding several of our trash talks, public information sessions, answering the public's questions and concerns. We have some more sessions coming up this Thursday, August 6th at McMahon Elementary School, 5.30 to 7 p.m., as well as on August 12th at Apple Valley Golf Course, again, 5.30 to 7 p.m. We did have over 50 people at our last session, so thank you for all the participation and engagement. We appreciate you coming out. And again, look for more sessions there or other information about the program at louisdomain.gov slash cart to curb. I'm really thrilled to announce our regarding our community ambassadors program. Since unveiling the program last week, we have now signed up 36 volunteers to participate as community ambassadors. Community ambassadors work alongside city staff and community partners to clean and beautify parks, support community events, welcome and assist people. using public spaces, identify maintenance or safety concerns, and help neighborhoods draw attention to areas that need care. We're excited also for our kickoff event ceremony happening next Thursday, August 13th, in Kennedy Park, 1130 to 3 p.m. It'll be sort of a kickoff event. There'll be food and music, and then we're going to start immediately with a cleanup of Kennedy Park. So please join us next Thursday, August 13th, 1133. And I really, again, want to thank these 36 people who have stepped forward just in the past week to come be part of the solution and help us out every day in making lewis a better place so thank you to everyone who signed up so far and we're excited to get going on this program Our Balloon Festival for 2026 is coming up August 21st to 23rd. The theme this year is Red, White, and Balloons to mark America's 250th anniversary. The festival, as you know, is among the state's signature events, bringing over a dozen pilots to Smart Payne Park. I want to thank our generous sponsors. The Balloon Festival continues to have free admission due to their generosity. Each day of the festival, we will have skydivers perform with a giant American flag flown under a parachute, along with special balloons commemorating, again, this year, the 250th anniversary. Full schedule is available at laballoonfestival.org. The Lewiston Historic Preservation Review Board will be holding its 2026 annual awards ceremony on Thursday, August 6, at 3.30 in the council chambers here at City Hall. Projects being honored this year include She Doesn't Like Guthrie's mural at 115 Middle Street, The renovations of the new police station of mill 7 and the new construction of the main mill museum The projects are resulting results of outstanding efforts to preserve protect enhance historic buildings within the community So again, please join us August 6 3 30 here in the council chamber I want to welcome two new police officers to the ranks of the Lewiston Police Department, Michael Bello and Charles Vatican. We wish them much success in their new positions and thank them for their service to the city. You may have noticed some new enhanced signage has gone up in Kennedy Park this past week at all of the entrances, much larger signs, again reminding visitors to please to use the park in an appropriate manner and to discourage negative behaviors. So we welcome all to Kennedy Park, but obviously we want to keep things civil and things looking good there. So thank you to all for your cooperation. The Public Art Committee has been busy. We have two new authorized projects to help clean up graffiti. In our public spaces, the first project is Wings for Change, an ongoing project where local property owners can request to cover graffiti with butterfly wings. Owners should reach out to Melanie Tarian at wickedillustrations at gmail.com if you'd like to participate. The second project is to cover graffiti at Marquette Park. Along with covering the blight, the project would include interactive art to deter further vandalism. Melanie does expect these projects to start sometime later in August. uh lastly i just want to announce uh my next public uh meet and greet session will be uh in ward seven co-hosted with counselor martel we're going to be having it at the claren hotel and conference center 490 pleasant street uh six five to six thirty p.m and of course all those and residents community members and local businesses are welcome and encouraged to attend to share their thoughts views concerns or anything else you'd like to share with us i also also just want to note this is an open invite to the entire council i would love to co-host one with you again in the future and we hope to get to all wards in the city so again please join us on thursday august 20th 5 to 6 30 at the new uh renovated clarion hotel and conference center thank you

Thank you very much, Administrator. We appreciate your service to our city. Madam Clerk, I believe we have a consent agenda.

Yes, we have three items on the consent agenda this evening. Excuse me, item number one, amendment to the traffic schedule to add additional 15-minute parking spots on Pine Street from Wharton Street to Prince Street Alley. Number two, authorization to accept transfer of forfeiture funds. And item number three, order approving the disposition of 35 Beachwood Avenue.

I have a motion, please. So moved. Councillor Chittum? Second. Seconded by Councillor Nagy. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councillor, from word one?

Yes.

Word two? Yes. Word three? Yes. Word four? Yes. Word six? Yes. Word seven? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion passed by vote of seven to zero.

I'm number four.

Item number four, appointment to the Lewiston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Requested action to confirm the mayor's nomination and to appoint the following resident as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Lewiston Housing Authority. Craig Tribuno, 62 Sherbrooke Avenue, term to expire September 17th, 2029 as a citizen representative.

May I have a motion, please? So moved. Councillor Chittum? Second. Signed by Councillor Nagin. I just want to kick things off. Craig has joined us this evening. Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate your willingness to serve our great city. Discussion from the council. Public comment. Back to the council. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Council from word one. Yes. Word two. Yes. Word three. Yes. Word four. Yes. Word six. Yes. Word seven. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion to pass the vote of seven to zero.

Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, item number five.

Number five, public hearing and final passage regarding amendments to the solid waste ordinance to define the automated side load trash collection program. Requested action that the proposed amendments to the city code of ordinances chapter 62 solid waste to define the automated side load trash collection program receive final passage by a roll call vote.

May I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Second by Councillor Najin. Yes. Yes, okay. And we have our good friends here from Public Works. Please kick us off. Introduce yourselves and please kick us off.

Megan Bates, Deputy for Maintenance and Operations, Public Works.

John Kaczynski, Environmental Services Superintendent.

And again, we're here just to finalize the changes to this ordinance. Primarily the changes are for the new car to curb program.

Just gushing from the council. Councilor Chittum.

Yeah, I appreciate incorporating the minor changes that were recommended, the weights and some language. Thank you very much for that.

Public comment. Back to the council. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Council from word one? Yes. Word two? Yes. Word three? Yes. Word four? Yes. Word six? Yes. Word seven? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion passed by vote of seven to zero.

Thank you for both very much. Item number six.

Item number six, public hearing and first and final passage for an extension of the moratorium ordinance regarding rent increases for lots in mobile home parks. There are three items for requested action. The first item is that the proposed moratorium ordinance regarding rent increases for lots in mobile home parks to be effective September 29th, 2026, receive first passage by a roll call vote.

have a motion please so moved uh counselor second uh second by counselor martel and uh we're joined here by uh fine people please introduce yourselves and kick us off i'm jackie sawyer the assistant you're gonna if you can if you don't mind just moving the mic uh just incredibly close to you thank you okay

I'm Jackie Sawyer. I'm the Assistant Community Development Manager and the staff person for the Housing Committee.

John Blaze, Acting Director for Economic and Community Development.

Craig Saddlemeyer, Chair of the Housing Committee.

OK, thank you so much for seeing us tonight. Wanted to give you an update on where we stand with this item. Over the past six months, we've worked very hard to put together a mobile home stabilization lot rent ordinance. The proposal seeks to protect homeowners from excessive rent increases while preserving park owners' ability to maintain their properties, operate successfully, and earn a reasonable return. The draft ordinance establishes a graduated rent increase structure based on a target lot rent derived from market analysis, affordability data, inflation, and comparable local park fees. Following an initial legal review, municipal council determined that the ordinance requires additional revisions, including clarification of language, refinement of enforcement and review procedures, and other changes necessary to strengthen its legal defensibility and implementation. legal counsel recommends extending the current mobile home lot rent moratorium for six months to complete this ordinance legal review is expected to require approximately 40 to 50 billable hours along with continued collaboration between the housing committee city staff and legal counsel Funding for this work has not been budgeted within the code enforcement and planning or economic and community development departments. The current moratorium expires on September 28th. If extended, the housing committee anticipates presenting a finalized ordinance for public hearing within the next two to three months. If the moratorium is not extended, there is some main law that governs increases to mobile home lot rent, but we don't feel that this is adequate for preserving the tenant's rights. The Housing Committee requests that the City Council approve a six-month extension of the lot rent moratorium to allow completion of the ordinance and determine an appropriate funding source for the remaining legal and drafting work.

I can say that I spoke with the administration. We'll work collaboratively to fund any of the legal fees that are required. And we're hoping to work with them and do a lot of legwork. Craig's done a tremendous amount of work already with writing and rewriting. And I think working with legal, we could hopefully shorten up the billable hours portion. Craig, I don't know if you want to say anything.

Yeah, the housing committee has put in a lot of work. Our goal was always to get it in a presentable state to council before the end of the moratorium, because we think that's in the interest of all parties. So we wish we had. had been able to achieve that, but this legal review is important. It's a slightly larger and more technical ordinance than I think is usually the case, and that's why the additional legal review is required. And I guess I'll also just mention that We have been able to, outside of legal counsel, leverage a number of free services in support of this effort. So that includes services from a CPA who's reviewing portions of the ordinance in regards to the application criteria. We've had an IT professional who's been helping to develop a very user-friendly website that the public can use to go and basically understand how the ordinance affects their lot rent. We're trying to make that as user-friendly as possible for the general public. And then, of course, the amount of hours that the committee members have put in themselves to doing this work. uh largely at the service of truly taking in public input both from affected tenants of mobile home parks as well as park owners who have been interested in providing feedback we've valued input from all of those stakeholders substantially and it has informed the ordinance that we delivered it was not simply a copy and paste of what the state's model ordinance was but it was informed by very sincere and good questions that we were challenged with in terms of how this would go. So I think we've actually the last thing I'll say is I think that what has gone into the ordinance is a lot of proactive thinking about who it affects and how it plays out and how it's implemented. And to the extent that other communities have passed much simpler copy and pastes of the model ordinance, I think they have a lot more to do after they pass it to figure out these same things. And we've been trying to do that on the front end. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you to all three of you. Questions, comments from the council? Councillor Chittum, yes.

Thank you. First of all, I want to thank you, the committee, Councillor Roy, for the work that's gone into this, which I think is one of the most complex pieces of municipal legislation I've seen in my career. A lot of work and a lot of thought has gone into it. I am concerned about extending the moratorium and I have a couple of questions. I know that you had asked legal counsel about whether or not a notice of increase that could be submitted to mobile home tenants after the moratorium expires if it's not renewed. What effect does that have because there is the 90-day notice requirement under law? How is that affected? Have you had an answer from legal counsel about that?

Yeah. Yeah, I think we did again. Administration today just approved the review for that for legal counsel. So that is something that we are, you know, looking for an answer for. You know, I'm not an attorney. I'm not Craig's attorney. So we're going to we're going to let them decipher that and and get an answer. But we just got direction today. So that was

That was the first question that we that Craig actually had that was passed over to us and and we just just got that ironed out So so we don't know then what effect this 90-day notice would have and whether or not a mobile home park owner on September 29th could issue that license

No, Councillor.

Okay, thank you. I am very concerned. We have already forestalled any increases of mobile home park owners' income for six months. I'm very concerned about doing that for another six months. Not doing it opens up a window, potentially allowing mobile home park owners to... reap the sky, if you will, should they be desires of doing that. That's not my goal, obviously. But I do feel the pain of not being allowed to adjust incomes to reflect increasing costs. I think the open question of whether or not An increase cannot be effective until at least 90 days after the expiration of the moratorium. The question remains as to whether that, if the new ordinance, this complex piece of legislation is implemented before that 90 day period, what effect does that have? We do not have an answer to that question. That's unfortunate because that would make my decision a lot easier. But I do want to express, I think that the committee has taken all of its comments very seriously. I know that it was represented by people who rent lots in mobile home parks as well as people who own mobile home parks. You've done an excellent job of taking both sides into account. I thank you for that, and Councillor Roy, thank you for your participation in this very meaningful committee. Thank you, I yield the floor.

COUNSELOR ROY. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE WHOLE COMMITTEE. CRAIG, YOUR LEADERSHIP, AND EVERYBODY ON THAT COMMITTEE, LISTENING TO BOTH SIDES OF JUST GETTING THIS RIGHT, I THINK WITHOUT THE HARD WORK OF EVERYBODY ON THAT COMMITTEE, IT WOULDN'T BE AS GOOD AS IT IS, AND I THINK IT'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE EVERYBODY ELSE'S, SO I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.

And I know this moratorium is for the standard six months, but we're not anticipating that this will take that long. And as soon as it is over, we can resend the moratorium. Is that accurate? Yes. Okay, perfect. Further comments, questions from the council? Public comment for this agenda item?

At Rory Ward 6, well, the complexity is, Mr. Mayor, is all due to a policy choice of the committee. The committee in the agenda packet, their memo to the council, has stated that they think this can be done in 90 days. 40 to 50 hours of billboard hours is just, you know, wanting more money for services that aren't needed. Uh, uh, 2000, uh, 2024, the town of order, Orchard beach by citizen referendum has had a permanent ordinance in place Sanford earlier this year, Waterville earlier this year, Mr. Administrator has had a policy. Auburn just had a first reading. This a hundred, a full six month extension is a policy choice by the committee. uh you could just keep this simple as all the other communities have done have a upper limit of five percent or cpi like we do with in the city budget for uh city charter because of the city budget we you're making this too complicated and again there's an analogy parallel to this of The city kicking the can down the road for 40 years, but concerning to a point that I think Councilor Chittum is trying to make here, but kicking the can down the road and recouping costs that have been stagnant. for decades by owners trying to be nice and you know trying to be friendly to everyone but you know things cost money and again this is the same problem i guess you know to this as uh the former counselor about rick rachel was making about you know it's the state budget and having this refund and well, not a refund, but this surplus, which is artificially inflated by not paying hospitals. And then, you know, the whole debate about private equity coming in, which is the same problem you're seeing here. Thank you.

good evening my name is yeah that's the news microphone my name is john gary i'm a resident of ward 6. i'm also a homeowner in fox run mobile home park and i also would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the losing housing committee i have watch the many iterations of the ordinance draft as it's progressed i think it's the best in the state i very much like to see it passed but i also would like to see protections for us until there is a chance for a vote on the ordinance so i just want to say that i'm here to support the extension of the moratorium thank you

Hello, my name is John Horton, Ward 2. Everybody up there knows me. You've all talked with me, the council and also the housing committee. I've been highly involved in this for personal reasons because of one of the owners of Sunset Gardens Mobile Home Park. I think some facts have really come out over the time of this. One of the biggest facts is that this whole process started It was not homegrown. It did not start through tenants. It started through someone in the governor's office sending out that ordinance to every single township in the city. The second part of that is the main Labor Climate Council activists were in here pumping you guys full of a lot of things that were misleading at the beginning, to be very frank. I mean, they even made statements that lot rents were approaching $1,000 in Lewiston. This stuff was false. Most of the arguments that were made originally were false. When you look at and do the research, the targeted rent that they came up with, and Craig and his team did a great job. I was there every meeting but one. Their targeted rent was 503. Only three parks in the entire city are over there, and there are 600, and they are the nicest parks. That's the equivalent of having a high-end rental unit compared to a section eight rental unit. If you're targeting that 503, every other park, eight other parks are below that number. We didn't have a rental problem for lot rent in Lewiston. It's just that simple. I want to see a no on the moratorium extension. I want to see a no on the ordinance. I put a lot of work in to try and make that ordinance as good as it can be. Doesn't mean I want it. Next, we talk about what is a fair rent. I mean, is 500 too much? Is 600 too much? We're not out of margin. When you look at a one-bedroom apartment in Lewiston and it's 1,100 bucks, how is my rent at 384 too much? You know, we got to be fair and we got to think about the facts that have come up. Other facts, we're gonna restrict it to a CPI plus, even with the graduate itself. Just in Lewiston, city tax this year, 11 to 14%. Stormwater went up 20%. Sewer went up 18% last year. Water and sewer went up 11% this year. Fuel costs, everybody's seen that skyrocketing. Everybody's seen labor being forced up. Ever since COVID, labor's jumped up a lot, plus you got the Maine state minimum wage going up every year. Utilities, tell me your electric costs haven't skyrocketed. I don't know how you think any park, it's a small community, how do you think that's gonna survive on CPI increases? And before my time runs out, I'm gonna jump across a whole bunch of other things and come into, I know that council's trying to do a good thing and work with people, but you threw a bomb out there in my personal life because I was supposed to retire and now I can't. i'm working indefinitely for less money because of this thing and if you pass the moratorium you're going 18 months from the last time we gave a rent increase to our people you know this isn't little things this is business and you're really smashing us in the face personally thank you for your time

name is chris siroy i'm john horton's business partner one of the owners of the sunset gardens mobile home parks like a lot of other people i want to commend craig and the housing committee for the work that they've done i think the ordinance that has been crafted It's a step in the right direction, and I know that the intent was good, but I think it ignores a lot of realities. Law rent is only one of many expenses that the residents of a mobile home park face. They have faced increases in food, electricity, fuel, auto expenses, healthcare expenses. And the lot rent, the thing that drove this was when Boa Vida came in and bought three parks and increased the lot rents, I believe, from 450 to 550. Now, granted, that's a sizable jump. However, I mean, if you just took the increases that we've all seen in groceries in the past few years, I would venture to guess that the increase in the lot rents has not been the largest increase that the residents have faced. by restricting the rental increases going forward to a cpi a very small increase each year that does not keep up with the increases in the park expenses you're actually asking the park owner to take an actual pay cut every year to john's point this is not just some side investment of ours this is our livelihood we own and operate five mobile home communities and this is our livelihood If the lot rent increases cannot keep up with expenses, we're actually taking a pay cut every year. And bear in mind that we bear the same increases in groceries, electricity, fuel, insurance, and auto expenses that everyone else does. And right now, the lot rents, most of the lot rents in the Boa Vida parks are at 550. That's 50% of a one-bedroom apartment here in town. Like John said, what's too much? And I guess to John's point, also just a few seconds left, based on this moratorium, we lost the contract to sell the two Sunset Gardens parks. We lost that contract. The only offer that has come in since is 26% lower. That is a 26% hit to our retirement. I would ask any of you who have money invested in a retirement fund, if the government came in and restricted the income of the companies that you're invested in your retirement fund, and you saw your retirement fund decrease by 26%, would you find that acceptable? Thank you.

I'm Dash Padham, Ward 3. I'm also a member of the Housing Committee. I want to point out, first of all, the Housing Committee never took a vote to ask you to extend the moratorium. We had a general consensus that we would wait and see what you do. I would like to point out that, yes, you are elected by your constituents to represent your constituents. But part of your job is to protect the economy and investment and growth of this city. And when you put a moratorium and stop the increases and hurt the income of one sector, you put out a signal to other investors, don't come here because we don't care about business. I would encourage you to consider, instead of extending the moratorium, put a 5% cap on increases until we've had a chance to look at the ordinance that the Housing Committee has worked on. Thank you very much.

Further public comment? Public comment is now closed. Back to the Councillors. Councillor Longchamp.

Thank you, Mayor. I do like that idea. I don't know if that's possible for us to do that, but I will not be supporting this tonight. And I hope that it doesn't pass for the sake of our park owners, people that are doing business here in our city. And while I do understand the intent, I do worry it could discourage future mobile home park development and even incentivize existing parks to redevelop. for other uses and at this time when affordable housing is already very limited i will be voting no on this and i hope my other counselors do too thank you counselor martel did i see your hand yes thank you mr mayor uh councilman longchamp stole my thunder she stole all my talking points but i'm going to reiterate those um

I really believe this ordinance is narrative in ideologically driven action. Mobile home parks represent the most organically affordable housing I believe that we have in Lewiston. This ordinance will certainly have a chilling effect on development and expansion. Lewiston needs both affordable housing and capital investment. And this ordinance discourages both of those things. We are a city that really needs investment in a lot of areas and I think a couple of the public speakers nailed it right on the head. We are telling investors loud and clear that Lewiston is not a conducive place to do business. If we were going to take and impose restrictions that had a 25% hit on the investment in any other industry, we could see a lot of existing investment leave Lewiston. A lot of these mobile park homers are not required to continue to run their land as a mobile home park. self-storage is a really cheap high return low maintenance way to use your land and there's currently no ordinances on that for a single example so I think that while the intention is good the outcome is going to be a net negative for Lewiston uh counselor Chittum yes

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I also will be voting against extending the moratorium. I do believe, I put my faith in the fact that even though there is a 90-day or because of the 90-day window that a mobile home park owner could effectively issue a notice of increase on September 29th. I am very hopeful that this ordinance, which I believe is OVERLY FAIR TO BOTH PARTIES, AND THAT'S A KUDOS AND A CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COMMITTEE. I THINK IT'S BENT OVER BACKWARDS TO RECOGNIZE THE NEEDS OF THE OWNERS AS WELL AS THE NEEDS OF THE TENANTS. AND I DON'T THINK THAT THIS ORDINANCE WILL BE ONEROUS. I DO THINK, HOWEVER, THAT FORESTALLING MOBILE HOME PARK OWNERS FROM TAKING ANY ACTION FOR up to another six months is the wrong approach. So I will be voting against extending the moratorium and I will urge legal counsel and the housing committee to act as rapidly and as expeditiously as possible to get this ordinance back before the council so that we can take action on the hard work that you've done all summer.

Further comments from council? Councillor Nagy, do you have your hand up? I do. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

First and foremost, I do want to thank the Housing Committee. I think the work you've done is excellent. I do also have some serious concerns with extending the moratorium. Don't know if it's realistic or feasible to expect This ordinance to be completed if the moratorium is not extended. That's a concern of mine I do know that The property taxes that everybody is going to be paying are increasing overall. So lot rents are affected by the property tax as well. None of the mobile home parks saw a decrease or an equaling of the value of their properties when we take into account what we think about for our new properties. what we believe our new mill rate's going to be. I would also say this, and this is one of the challenges that I truly have. The vast majority of the folks that are living in mobile home parks are seniors on restricted income, people who are making less money than the AMI, or disabled folks. In many cases, two or even three of those categories. one of the challenges that we have with this ordinance is that it's Restricting income on the mobile home park owner, but it's not actually providing a benefit to the mobile homeowner Ultimately you can get subsidies for apartment rentals for instance and I don't see how those subsidies work for a mobile park excuse me a mobile homeowner who's renting a lot and I think that's a real challenge because ultimately some of these folks are run out of money right and we're asking the mobile home park owners to absorb the the increasing cost but we're not subsidizing the mobile home park owner in order to continue to provide low-income well not excuse me more affordable rental options and so that's a challenge for me as well I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to go with my vote tonight But I need to be clear from the housing committee and the community development staff. Is there a possibility of having this ordinance in a finished piece by the time the current moratorium expires?

So the legal counsel had weighed in, and they looked at it and said that there could be quite a bit of work here in terms of hours and things like that with workload. And they're the ones that suggested that we extend the moratorium. I hear what counsel is saying, and I appreciate what you're all saying. I don't necessarily disagree with anything that you guys are saying. I can say that I would like, if we're going to ask for anything, is that could we have a special meeting before September 29th? Because the first and second meetings of the month of September is very short. If we could extend it two weeks, I think that we could work hard to maybe have a special meeting before the end of the 29th. It's going to be really tight if we try to squeeze it in a regular council meeting. I just want to lay that on the table.

Anything further, Councillor Nagy? Councillor Longchamp?

Thank you, Mayor. One other thing that I didn't bring up was, you know, I would much rather explore solutions that would directly support residents to assist those experiencing financial hardship. We could possibly explore something within our GA's office. So I just wanted to put that out there.

Thank you.

THANK YOU, COUNSELORS, AND THANK YOU TO OUR PRESENTERS HERE. SO THROUGH HAPPENSTANCE, I'LL BE ABLE TO VOTE TONIGHT, AND I HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION, AND IT WAS EYE OPEN TO ME IN MANY WAYS WITH JOHN LAST WEEK, SO THANK YOU, SIR. AND I WANT TO, YOU KNOW, I TALKED TO CRAIG EARLIER TODAY, BE SOME FOLLOW-UP LATER IN THE WEEK. I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS. I'm hopeful that if we extend this moratorium, we'll be able to Rescind it quickly hopefully we will be able to You know wrap up the ordinance, you know, I understand the ordinance can be wrapped up by September 29, but hopefully we can wrap it up very quickly after that and so yeah, I'll be supporting the moratorium and then hopeful that we can get the work done and then I rescind the moratorium as quickly as possible. That would be my goal. Anything further from you three?

Anything, Craig? No.

Yeah, okay. All right. Councillor Longchamps, back to you.

Thank you, Mayor. I didn't mention, thank you so much for all your hard work. We asked you guys to help us and you have done an excellent job. again i will not be supporting this i i don't think that we should really be telling the park owners that we're going to hold off even longer when the reality is expenses aren't holding off. Taxes are going up. The water just went up. I think it's absolutely ridiculous and shameful that we're even doing this. But again, I do feel for the residents, though, that are experiencing any financial burden. we do have assistance within our city and if we don't I think we need to try to figure that out thank you further comments from counselors madam clerk please call the vote counselor from word one

We're voting to extend the moratorium.

Madam Clerk, could you please reread the motion and then call the vote?

Sure. The motion before you is that the proposed moratorium ordinance regarding rent increases for lots and mobile home parks to be effective September 29th, 2026, receive first passage by a roll call vote. Councillor from Ward 1?

No.

Ward 2? No. Ward 3?

Yes.

Ward 4?

No.

Ward 6?

No.

Ward 7?

No. Mr. Mayor?

Yes. Motion passed by, I'm sorry, motion failed by a vote of two to five. thank you madam clerk and I think then that concludes that agenda okay thank you you three I'm number seven item seven public hearing and approval of order authorizing the city administrator to execute a credit enhancement agreement for the Soleil multifamily housing project requested action to adopt the order authorizing the city administrator to execute a credit enhancement agreement for the Soleil multifamily housing project

I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE. SO MOVED. COUNSELOR CHIDDOM. SECOND. SIGNED BY COUNSELOR NAJIN. WELCOME BACK, DIRECTOR BLAY. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. PEN, IF YOU BOTH CAN INTRODUCE YOURSELVES FULLY AND THEN KICK US OFF.

JOHN BLAY, ACTING DIRECTOR, ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

PEN LINDSEY, Director of Development, Lewiston Housing Authority.

Yeah, I'd just like to say that this was a project that we had discussed earlier a lot all of the background information that was provided to council is has remained the same the um the tiff request is is still the same the percentages are still the same everything is uh was found in your packet including this presentation that we're, that Penn is gonna give out right now. So there you go, Penn.

Thanks.

Thank you all for having us. Nice to see you again. So tonight we are requesting a TIF for Soleil Apartments. If you want to go to the next slide. Just a quick overview of Soleil. You'll recall that when we first started talking about this project, it was a two-phase project. And it was a project that we applied to main housing in two separate phases. We're pleased to say that we've been funded on both phases of the project by Main Housing. And so because the funding came in such quick succession, we're now able to move forward as one phase. So all of the units will be built in one phase of construction. What that ends up is a building with 72 residential units planned of those There are all one and two bedroom units primarily one bedroom So 60 of the 72 units are one bedrooms and 12 two bedrooms. There are also three ground floor commercial spaces and I want to talk a little bit about housing need in Lewiston. I think we've talked about this before and it obviously still holds true. I've heard this from others. There's significant waiting lists that are maintained by Lewiston Housing Authority. Our public housing wait list has over 1,600 individuals on it. And our Housing Choice Voucher waitlist has almost 1,500 people on that list. And as you can see from these charts above, overwhelmingly, the units that are requested are for one and two bedrooms. 90% and 73% respectively for those two waiting lists. I want to talk a little bit about the economic impact of housing development. So what this slide gets at is the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities did a report, and the conclusion was for every $1 million spent in capital investments, it generated $1.89 million in economic activity over time, which included construction, property management, social services, and related impacts such as banking and others. We also got data from our contractor, Hebert Construction, who just completed the Wedgwood project. You'll see up here that that project which was slightly larger than what Soleil will be budget of 40 million that resulted in 347 total workers 31 subcontractors 60 full-time jobs during the construction period and an estimate of 4.3 million in direct construction wages and 7.7 million in economic generation for the local community And so, extrapolating from that, the Soleil project would, at a $31 million budget, would have similar impacts to what Wedgwood generated. This is a rendering of the proposed Soleil project. It's at the corner of Ash streets and Bates passion Bates streets in the downtown area There are 72 units as I mentioned those are all on the upper floors the ground floor along a street is three commercial spaces and And I think this is the most impactful slide. So the project is a $31 million project. And I want to point out here how much investment and subsidy is coming into this project. So there is almost $12 million in equity from housing tax credits, low-income housing tax credits. And those are federal. There's another $9 million in state tax credits. There's $400,000 in subsidy coming from Maine Housing. And then we also will be generating debt. And this is where the TIF comes in. Without the TIF, we're at a $1.2 million gap in funds to get the project done. And with the TIF, it does balance and allows us to move forward.

Let me go back to this slide.

I THINK I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, BUT THAT'S THE OVERVIEW. AS JOHN MENTIONED, ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PRESENT TO THE COUNCIL PREVIOUSLY HOLDS TRUE, AND ALL THAT INFORMATION IS IN YOUR PACKET AS WELL.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK ON THIS. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCIL?

Councilor Chittum Thank You mr. Mayor I appreciate the work that Lewiston housing is doing to provide a dent and the needs for housing for the city of Lewiston however in my term on the council we have I failed to do the homework that it was necessary for this but we have issued tips for nothing but housing projects unless I'm sadly mistaken this is a plea to our economic development department department that we start looking at ways to incentivize businesses to come here YOU HAVE POINTED OUT THAT THERE ARE ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO THESE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. MY SENSE IS THAT THOSE ARE TEMPORAL AND THAT THEY END WHEN THE PROJECT IS FINISHED. IT'S WONDERFUL TO HAVE THAT INFUSION OF CASH INTO THE LOCAL ECONOMY, BUT ONCE THE BUILDING IS FINISHED, THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT IS RESIDUAL, MINIMAL, FUNCTIONING STAFF AND SO ON, FULL-TIME JOB CREATION MINIMAL. I would like to see us concentrating our efforts on bringing not housing to Lewiston, but jobs that the people who use those houses and live in those houses can employ. So that's my plea to you. I am not opposed to this TIF, but I would like to see a TIF come before this council that does something other than create housing.

Okay, Councillor, I appreciate that. If we can keep our comments germane to this agenda item, that would be great. Further comments from the council? Councillor Nagy.

So this isn't exactly Germania either, but I'm going to... Well, let's just try. Well, let's just pretend. So what I would say quickly is that affordable housing projects that redevelop corridors downtown... or really anywhere, they're a benefit to the infrastructure of the city. That's one piece. And I would also say that supporting affordable housing projects that accept subsidized rents is exactly the safety valve that we need in a community where we want to see market rate development. um you can't only have market rate development because people have to live somewhere as well that work the jobs that you're looking to to seek so i'll always be a strong supporter of affordable housing units until everybody's housed so thank you councillor martel

Thank you Mr. Mayor. This isn't an apples to apples comparison and my comments are not a reflection of what I think about this project. I just can't help but speak on the, so at best this feels inconsistent and at worst hypocritical but Just the previous agenda item was an action that put a chill, in my opinion, on development and expansion of affordable housing and by the actions that are being endeavored by this council. So to turn right back around and offer these tips for affordable housing just feels hypocritical. So for that reason and that reason alone, I'm not going to be able to support this. Like I said, I know these aren't apples to apples projects, but You know, we're acting so inconsistently as a council on very, both of these endeavor to bring affordable housing to Lewiston, and on one hand, we're taking action that is gonna put a chill on that, and on the other hand, we're acting as though affordable housing is so important that we're gonna give tax rebates to entice more development here. For those reasons alone, I'm not going to be able to support this, but I do wish your project the best of luck.

Further comments from the council? Heading to public comment for this agenda item.

RONNIE PARITY, BOARD 6. I JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU ALL THESE AFFORDABLE HOUSINGS THAT GO IN, WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT? WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT THE KIDS THAT GO INTO THESE PROJECTS? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT IN THE THINKING? RIGHT NOW WE HAVE 6,000 KIDS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING TO PUT IT, BUT JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ABOUT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. THANK YOU.

Public comment is now closed. Councillor Longchamps.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for being here tonight. Those apartments that we're talking about right now, how many bedrooms?

Of the 72, 60 are one-bedroom apartments and 12 are two-bedroom apartments.

So we're most likely not going to have a whole lot of kids, probably.

That's correct.

I do like, I do understand and appreciate Councillor Chittum's response and agree with a lot of it. But I do think affordable housing is very important. I do love the fact though that you guys are now putting commercial spaces on the bottom. I think that really is going to make the difference. So thank you. Thank you.

Back to you, Councillor Nagy. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So two pieces on that. The commercial aspects of the property don't actually receive TIF funding, is that correct? That's correct. So that's fully taxable for what its commercial value is. Secondly, could you speak to the number of seniors that are currently on wait lists for affordable housing and also folks that make the below 50% AMI based on disability? I don't know if you have those numbers, but...

So I don't have the specific number of seniors however What we found is as I mentioned The overwhelming request is for one-bedroom apartments and most of those that are on the waitlist are seniors I just don't have the exact breakdown Okay, thank you.

Sure Anything further from you two No uh i appreciate you being here lucent housing has been a a partner in success for lewiston and uh deeply appreciate your commitment to our city thank you madam clerk please call the vote counselor from word one yes word two yes word three yes word four yes word six yes word seven no mr mayor yes motion passed by vote of six to one have a great night thank you all thanks Item number eight.

Item number eight, public hearing and resolve authorizing a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $200,000 from the salary reserve account to cover the cost of additional police overtime in response to shootings and violent crime and that have been occurring within the city of Lewiston. requested action to approve the resolve authorizing a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $200,000 from the salary reserve account to cover the cost of additional police overtime in response to shootings and violent crime that have been occurring within the city of Lewiston I have a motion please

So moved. Councillor Martell. Second. Second by Councillor Longchamps. Pleased to have our administrator and police chief join us. If you can both fully introduce yourselves and kick us off.

Thank you. Brian Cameron, city administrator.

Carly Connolly, chief of police.

Thank you for having us here this evening. Unfortunately, the city of Lewiston has reached the grim milestone in the first seven months of this year as we have had now 20 shooting events in our city. I don't need to remind everyone that we are a city of 37,000 in central Maine, and we've had 20 shootings in our city this year. i hear it every day i'm sure all of you do as well the people of this city want action they want us to address the violence happening in our city repeatedly And so that's what brings us here tonight. I want to say at the outset though, I've had a lot of conversations. I've heard a lot of feedback. I've met with a lot of members of this community and outside the community. This proposal we're putting before you tonight is not meant to be an all-encompassing global strategy to address address engagement with our youth rec programming prevention uh or many other pieces of this very complex and deep problem it is meant to be something to address the emergent issue in our city right now which is 20 shootings that have happened in the first seven months of this year so please understand this is the beginning not the end of us coming before you with proposals to address what i think is the number one challenge facing us in the city of lewiston we will have more coming forward talking about engagement with our youth rec programming and prevention among other things it has to be a global all-encompassing strategy but this plan tonight being presented here is not that this is to address immediately in the best way that we can with the resources that we have available to us what our residents want action on now, not later, they want action now. So this plan which we're calling Community Engagement and Accountability first starts off with really doubling down on what has worked for us well And that is community policing, getting out into the community on foot patrols, on bike patrols, and also utilizing a mobile resource unit to use in different areas of the city where action is needed or where more resources need to be deployed. So the ask tonight in the first part of this plan is for $200,000 of overtime to our police department to put a lot more foot patrols, bicycle patrols, which we haven't done in a few years, which I think is really important. We're going to get officers engaging with the community, talking to residents, and out there being a consistent and calm presence in the community around the city. That's the $200,000 ask. The second piece of this really is addressing, as we sat down and talked about this, what we're seeing is of those 20 shootings, the majority of them have been juveniles. The majority of those juveniles have been repeat offenders. We have a revolving door happening all the time. That's our biggest challenge. The police are doing their work. They're making arrests. They're solving cases. When it gets to the court system, we see these kids back out on the street in the same environment without programming, without treatment, without any change to their environment in a matter of days or weeks, and the cycle repeats itself. That's what we're dealing with every day. So on that end, in preparation for the next legislative session, and this goes beyond the borders of Lewiston, we want to sit down with our legislative delegation. We want to sit down with others in Augusta. We want to sit down with the new administration in the governor's office and talk about the biggest issue facing the second largest city in the state of Maine. and what we can do to give the court system more tools to retain or detain those repeat violent juvenile offenders. How else can we empower our local DAs to be part of the review process when it comes to release these juveniles? How can we mandate more treatment as part of any conditions of release to make sure we are taking a more global strategy with these kids and how to put them on the right path? And then the other piece, you know, of DA McLean right here would talk about is the issue of competency. We want to talk about a competency restoration program for measures of more accountability. So again, this is a strategy to really talk about what we can do now to address the violence happening in our community now. That's the $200,000. Looking at the legislative session coming up, there's a lot of work I think we could be doing on that level to tighten up the system to stop the revolving door. but the work doesn't stop there i want to say again this is the beginning not the end we need to talk about a whole lot more with engagement in the youth of our community how else we can maybe support them with rec programming what else can we do for prevention there's a lot more we can do but we have to do now is work in the emergent problem the most emergent problem for our city and that's 20 shootings that have happened here in seven months The chief can testify also. We hear every day people want to see some sort of proactive action to address the violence here. That's what brings us here tonight. We hope that we'll have your support for the 200,000. It's going to take a lot of work from all of us and many others to go up to Augusta and really advocate for many of these changes. and we'll have a lot more community conversations and work together, the entire community, to talk about how else can we engage our youth and put them in better places than the same negative environment they're being put out to repeatedly. Chief, anything else you want to?

you did an excellent job at explaining it um yeah i mean not to to repeat what the city administrator is saying but but obviously you know it's this is sort of a two-layered approach right the reality is is as the city administrator mentioned um we've had a serious increase in in shootings and i would say a serious increase in youth involvement and repeated uh youth involvement and so As a police department, we've really been looking at this and really we've looked at it from the level of data-driven. We've looked at who's involved in these shootings, what the patterns are, and then looked at the repeat offender aspect of it. And that's the biggest highlight to us because the reality is when you look at us as a department and you look at the stats, 69% right now I think we're at for shootings that we've solved, which is more than double the national average. But the reality is what we're seeing is these same individuals repeating the same behavior and coming back into the community. And whether it's that they're not being mandated to participate in programs that rehabilitate or they're not just engaging, we're not doing what we need to do for our youth in the long run. And I think that's that second piece of, you know, we have a duty as a police department to provide a level of public safety to the public and the community. And I think that's where that first piece comes. Unfortunately, we're down 12 officers, so we don't have the specific units, the specialized units that are normally full for us that we could say, you go do this, go work on this, do this. Our officers are just handling the regular calls for service. So that's why I think we need the overtime in order to really hyper focus on this situation. But the second piece of this is, you know, we don't want to as an agency sort of just be the Band-Aid in this. We want to get to the root of what the issue is. And that's why we've had, you know, countless conversations with members of the community, parents, members of the legislature, the district attorneys, the members of, you know, DOC that specifically deal with the youth. We're really trying to figure out what the gaps are in the system. And I think that's, you know, as the city administrator mentioned, we don't stop with this $200,000. This is going to be an ongoing thing. We're looking to find a long-term solution here.

Thank you both very much. Thank you for being here. Chief, thank you for your service to our city. How long have you been with the police department?

A little over 25 years.

Thank you very much. We also wanted to recognize we have Lieutenant Mishun, Lieutenant Thies here. And I know the officers are busy. They're going from call to call to call. We are an extremely busy agency here in Lewiston. And I appreciate everyone's service. And I fully support this. We'll be voting for this tonight. We need to have a different August than we had in July and I understand this is the quickest most expedient way to do this Community Patrol, so I appreciate it very much And I know it will the overtime also comes at a cost for each officer and I appreciate their service to our city We're gonna go down the line here one by one kit starting with councillor Martel. I

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to propose an amendment for this so that it can be added and considered during the discussion. I've got copies here that I can pass down, but it's a resolve authorizing an additional $55,000 for force-multiplying technology, specifically automated drone that can dispatch itself depending on well i'll i'll let the chief explain but it's to add 55 000 from the fund balance to the overtime uh for force multiplying technology oh and i i move to make this amendment

do you have copies there is that uh i guess if you wanna do we have a second for this amendment now we have a amendment on the floor did you get that madam clerk i did yes thank you sir okay uh discussion on this amendment uh i guess we'll go first to our administrator and our police chief with their thoughts on this did you get a copy of this yes we've seen it okay Should you have any thoughts?

I can explain a little bit about what the, I believe you're referring to the Skydio first responder drone. We're set to receive one of those right now. I know I've presented on this in the past, but the reality is is that council martel describes it very well it's sort of a personnel or force multiplier the way that these are set up is one would be positioned at the police department and they're designed to be connected to our cad system which is our dispatch system So you can designate them to respond based on types of calls. So for example, if we get a call for a shooting on Bartlett and Walnut, that drone responds immediately. So the reality is that drone will be there and present and have eyes on it and we will be able to see what's going on prior to an officer even being able to respond. So it's a huge benefit in and of itself. I can give an example. We had a robbery at Main Family this summer, and we were fortunate enough to have an officer that was a drone operator. And he happened to be working, and he was able to put it up and get it out there, and it assisted us with finding the suspect. But this takes that officer out of the equation. It almost becomes another officer, per se, and it immediately responds. The other thing that it can do is... You can set it up for let's say we're having issues in a certain area. I'll refer to the back bay Recently, we've had some serious issues in the back bay when we determine the time frames or a specific area that we're having issues We can set that drone to patrol that area for specific times or specific areas and then for example if a shooting or something major would come in that would trigger that drone to respond to that and it would then respond to that. So a second one would definitely help. Like in that scenario, the second one would then respond to the area this one was already in and allow the other one to be in the area to address the other issue.

UH COUNCILOR UH HERMAN THANK YOU AND WE'RE JUST FOR COUNCILOR'S BENEFIT WE'RE JUST DISCUSSING UH THE AMENDMENT YES UM SO THE COUNCIL HASN'T BEEN UH THE COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC HAVEN'T BEEN BRIEFED ON THIS AMENDMENT UH BEFORE A COUPLE MINUTES AGO SO I WAS WONDERING IF WE HAVE COPIES FOR THE PUBLIC and and I also just in the future it would be good if amendments came forward you know before the deadline for the agenda packet so that we all had time to consider them because I'm just seeing this for the first time there was no discussion of this beforehand counselor long champs

Thank you, Mayor. I did do a little research on these drones, and it seems or appears to be that larger cities are using these drones more often than not. Do you have any knowledge of any other larger cities using these drones and maybe how many they have?

Yeah, so it's pretty common all across the country. I think New York has like, don't quote me, like 555 of these. I know like Fairfax, Virginia has several. Las Vegas has several. It's pretty common. Thank you.

That was it. Thank you.

Councillor Nagy.

I would just like to point out to everybody that we were involved in an email request for additional funding that would have been an agenda item from Councillor Martell and so I just want to point that we don't want to bicker back and forth. We were aware of the fact that there would be possibly some additional funds being asked for the police department. Finding out right now what this is, I agree. We didn't know what it was before, obviously. But just decorum for all of us, that's all.

Councillor Chittum. Thank you. I'm more than a little confused. I thought that the Finance Committee had recently approved the purchase of this very drone. Is this a second drone in addition to the self-deploying drone that the Finance Committee has recently approved?

That's my understanding that Councillor Martell is requesting another one. But yes, we will be receiving at least one.

And that's already been approved? Yes. Do you have an arrival date on that?

I think we're looking at three weeks or so. The company was just in this yesterday, actually.

Okay, thank you. I would urge the council to get some experience with the first drone that's already been approved before immediately jumping into a second one. Thank you.

Chancellor Herman? Thank you. Yeah, I do have a little, some questions about the technology. So who's going to fly this?

It flies itself. Is it GPS coordinated? It'll respond.

Okay. I thought that drones typically had to have a pilot, and then the pilot had to be licensed and trained so that they would be able to avoid hazards and things like that.

Yeah, but it literally works on GPS coordinates, so it will self-respond. But an officer can hit the button, basically. We haven't been trained in it yet, but an officer can hit the button to launch it and send it to a specific direction. And if you are qualified, you can take over the flying of it.

And so does that comport with state law and federal law around flying these aircraft?

Yes.

So it does allow for it to be flown without any human interaction?

Yeah, there's nothing illegal with this.

Okay. All right, thanks.

Councillor Longchamp, then back to you, Councillor Martell.

Thank you, Mayor. I think the reason why we're asking for two drones, correct me if I'm wrong, is with the two drones, those two would actually cover the whole city, correctly? Is that correct? Sorry.

Yeah, it definitely increases the coverage to the city.

Thank you.

Councillor Martell.

Thank you. And I don't expect the council to take my word for it, but I did have some conversations with Sergeant Brown, and he did say there will be an officer that has to monitor the drone at all times. He doesn't that officer doesn't have to physically operate it But there will always be an officer at a desk looking at a screen or overseeing the the actions of the drone But I wanted to ask do you know if these drones are Flock capable.

I don't believe so.

Okay And they do they patrol areas or do they only respond to when a call comes in?

So my understanding is they have both. Both are options. So they can just respond to specific calls. So like when I talk about like the CAD or dispatch system, like a call will come in with specific wording. So you can program them for specific types of calls to automatically deploy. But you can also program it to I want it to fly over City Hall every Friday from 3 to 5 if there's an issue there that you want to monitor, that kind of thing.

So you could put in the parameters. So if there's a reported shooting or vehicle theft or something else, it will automatically deploy under those circumstances. But if you want it to deploy to something else, you can also launch it with it, tell it to launch for something that it doesn't naturally automatically launch for. Correct. And then it can also be used to observe over, like you said, City Hall. And do you know how far the range is, where it can see in any direction from where it's hovering?

I'm not sure about that.

Okay. Another thing I would like to point out is that this is only an increase of $55,000. I believe that the $200,000 for the overtime is absolutely warranted and needed. This is just a small increase in the force. I think this is a great force multiplier. This is a small amount of money for what the city spends on a lot of other things that aren't directly related to public safety. And while I know that every dollar counts right now, this seems like a small amount of money to assist our officers. We are still down $12 million. Yes. Okay. So the overtime is great, and I expect that that will have a great effect, but I just think this is another tool for not in a lot of money that is going to help you guys do your job, and it's immediate. From what I understand in conversations, again, that I had with Sergeant Brown, This drone, if it was to be approved tonight, would be operational almost within a week or so of when the first one will be. So this is an immediate help. This isn't four or six months down the road. This is something that will be deployable in the near future and is going to be protecting our streets and the people on those streets. for a very relatively small amount of money. So I definitely would encourage the council to approve this and to show support to our police department in an effort to bring a moniker of public safety to our city.

Thank you, Councillor Martell. Chief Connolly, we already have a drone, correct?

uh so we have other drones and then we have we have more than one right now that that an officer has to physically operate correct um and then the we have one like this that should be coming that just got approved through finance and there it'll be within three to four weeks it should be here

RIGHT. AND I UNDERSTAND THE REASONING TO GIVE THE POLICE EVERYTHING THEY NEED, BUT WHAT THEY NEEDED IS WHAT THEY ASKED FOR. AND SO I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE OFFER A PUBLIC HORSES HERE AND WE OFFER THEM A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, THEY GLADLY TAKE IT. And so I understand that the police are not going to turn down equipment. I understand that completely. I do think we should stick to what was asked for here in the agenda item. And before I go much further, Director Roy, can you please talk about where this money would come from?

So I believe I have not seen the amendment, but I believe he, Councilor Martell, put fund balance. As I am very concerned, we took $1.9 million out of fund balance, brought ourselves down to 9% during the budget. This would bring us down to 8.94%. I'm very concerned we're going for our bond rating call in about three weeks. This does not look good to begin with that we used the 1.9 for operating and now we're taking it down even further. Will not look good for us and could cause us our rating to go down, which would cause our interest rates to go up for our bonds and less bidders to bond on our sale.

Thank you, Director Roy. Councillor Herman.

Thank you. Apologies for all the questions, but this being brought up tonight, I haven't had the chance to look into it. So you said, I heard at one point that this kind of takes the place of an officer, but then I heard later that an officer has to monitor it at all times. So is there, is it both, or...

The officer that would be monitoring it would be the supervisor, like the watch commander, who's always behind a desk monitoring kind of everything that's going on in the field.

So do they, they don't have to operate it, but they have to watch where it's going?

Correct.

Okay. So it does take, it's not completely automated. As far as I understand, it does take human interaction to operate it, or not to physically operate it, but to.

Yeah, they need to monitor it.

Okay. Okay, thanks. That's all I've got right now.

Councillor Longchamps.

Thank you, Mayor. First, I'd like to say thank you to Councilor Martel for bringing this forward. I think our police department, police chief, and our administrator was trying to be conservative on the ask for our taxpayers, and I appreciate that. But the reality is if we don't start putting public safety first, I don't know what else is going to matter, not our schools, not our businesses. Our city is not safe. We are 12 officers down. We are trying like hell to figure out resources and ways to help keep our community safe. So to say that our police department would have asked for more if they needed it. well they need it and you know that mayor that's insulting i would ask that we please and i'm pleading with you guys the reality is is until our city is safer they are going to continue to come up here and ask for different resources different um ways to recruit officers This is going to continue to be an ask. And it's not that they're not doing a good job, because every time a crime happens, you guys are solving them, you're there, you're getting the bad guys. But the reality is, is they need all the resources. I mean, they're not just coming up with, all of a sudden, we want drones because, you know, we'd like to test them out. The reality is, is you know they work. You've done research, or you wouldn't be asking. Not that you're asking, we're asking, but you would not be in favor of it, correct? Correct. So I don't even know why this is a debate. It's 50, how many, how much? 55. $55. Sorry, $55,000. $55,000. And I'm not saying that that's not a lot, because it is. But what our city is experiencing is a lot. Thank you.

Councillor Nagy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So just a few things to cover off really quickly. One is we are down 12 officers. I believe 10 of those officers are fully funded or 12 of those fully funded.

IT'S LIKE FIGURING OUT THE METRICS EVERY TIME I HEAD TO THIS. WE ARE DOWN 12, BUT I THINK WE HAVE FOUR FROZEN.

BASICALLY WE HAVE EIGHT FULLY FUNDED OFFICER POSITIONS THAT ARE NOT FILLING RIGHT NOW. Request for it to come from fund balance I do think is difficult because ultimately we continued like for the extra 55,000 if we continue to spend from fund balance It does put us we're already below the 10% gap There's nothing that has been put forward from the police department since my time at the seat that we've denied And that I'm aware of anyways I fully support funding the police for the work that they need to do. I also think that the $200,000 that we're being asked for right now is actually, it's already in the budget, right? But by us pulling it from that additional account, we are showing that we're supporting this initiative that's in front of us, which is important for us to do. We need to vote to say we support this initiative coming forward. And so when we talk about where money comes from, the $55,000 unfortunately shouldn't come from the fund balance. If it could come from another place, I would support it 100%. But I also know that We're talking about surveillance policies and how we surveil. And I know that there's concern in the community. So I think being clear with how we're functioning with these tools is super important. And I think the last part that I want to throw out there with all of this is that while we're talking about like $55,000 for an additional drone, for instance, It's not necessarily the police department's responsibility for building youth and family supports, but $1,500 for a drop-in basketball program goes a long way too, which keeps some kids from committing crime, just to name that.

Councillor Chittenden, Councillor Martell, and then I'd like to vote on the amendment, Councillors.

Sure. I would simply like to reiterate that we have no experience with this drone. One has already been approved. It's entirely possible for a request like this to come back after we've had experience with a drone that has already been approved.

Councillor Martell.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This city is in the middle of a legitimate public safety crisis. People are getting shot. We're getting shootings happening more than once a week, once a week. It is unsustainable. It is not when, it's not if, it is a matter of when someone gets hit with either one of these targeted or stray bullets. It is time to put public safety first. This is not an exorbitant amount of money in the grand scheme. A few weeks ago, we just approved $30,000 so that we could plant 200 square feet worth of plants, I believe, in front of the main mill, which, okay, that's fine. $30,000 for some plants, $55,000 for something that's going to proactively make our community safer while we're in the middle of a legitimate crisis. This is being pushed back on, I don't understand it. Until this issue is remedied, I don't think we can put too much money or too many resources to it. When someone loses their life, whether that is one of these young youth that has a whole life in front of them, and it gets argued that they were a good kid or they made a mistake, and we put our police in a horrible situation where they're facing essentially a child, but a child with a gun. And the bullets that come from a gun shot by a child are just as lethal as those that come from anyone else. Policing our streets is not an easy job. We are down over a dozen officers. This is a force-multiplying technology that, while we may not be used to our first one yet, is a proven technology all over the country that is being used in cities. It is abhorrent that there's being pushback on this. It is just a matter of time before someone dies. And then maybe we'll do something about it. I'm trying to be proactive about that.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the vote? Mr. Mayor? Yes. Have we gone to public comment? I intend to go to public comment for the main motion.

The public deserves a chance to weigh in on everything that we vote on, including amendments, not only some of the things we vote on.

Understood, Councillor Herriman. We will go to public comment for this amendment. Let's try to keep the comments focused on the amendment, if we could, because we will also go to public comment during the main motion. For the public's benefit, Madam Clerk, can you please reread the motion?

The motion is to amend the original motion by adding in an additional $55,000 to be funded from fund balance for the purchase of an automated drone.

So if we can keep our comments focused on that, that would be great. Thank you.

Clarification. And then you're going to be talking about the 200K, right? correct yeah so though yeah the overall idea there will be a you'll have a second bite of the apple for that thank you for clarifying i'm not going to talk as long so i'm not going to worry about my time melissa dunn community organizer in lewiston um i just would ask people to be aware when somebody might seem like they're putting in amendments for things like this especially the drone and i would ask for the agenda item for any kind of technology to actually be Like a not a amendment, but to be an actual agenda item. Cause there's been times that Lewis and police has gotten things like technology and we haven't had an opportunity to speak on that to approve or disapprove or ask questions or share concerns or educator inform or whatever it might be. So I think it was disingenuous to add the amendment and I would ask for it to be a separate agenda item.

Larry Gilbert, Lewiston resident. I fully support the amendment. I think police need the tools to do their job. We wouldn't expect a carpenter to not have a hammer or saws. Well, police and this new technology helps the police. It's a tool that can be used to save the public. Like Councilor Martel said, it's just a matter of time before someone gets hit. And it's critically important. to give our law enforcement officers the tools that they need to do their job. You know, I only wish that when I was there that we would have had this technology. And in larger cities, they have helicopters, okay? So, you know, I think drones are pretty cheap in comparison to what major cities have, but we have the same types of crimes, but they are proportionate to our population. So I urge you to vote in support of it, thank you.

Further public comment for this amendment?

Yeah, Martin Worthy. I just want to point out that the way this has been presented is very much a black and white narrative. Like if we don't do this, we're against safety or we're against where we're four people dying and it's not a black and white issue and technology doesn't necessarily make us safer.

Further public comment? Public comment is now closed. Back to the council for final thoughts. Councillor Roy.

Thank you. I have three questions. First question is, is when this drone is deployed and somebody is watching it, is it that officer that's watching it that will kind of dispatch other officers or is it that drone that will dispatch when they see something?

So the drone doesn't dispatch based on what it sees. It dispatches based on the call for service and the location that it's at. And then the officer that's reviewing it has the ability, it's my understanding, has the ability to take over if need be. But I guess I could give you an example of in other areas they've used them a lot for suicidal subjects where someone would take over the actual operation for it. Let's say you have somebody in one of our cemeteries. We've had that in the past where somebody's suicidal and we're trying to communicate with them that drone can we can Make that drone obviously fly to an area where we can see the subject we can keep them safe Keep the officers safe who are approaching things like that. So there is an ability to take over But it does automatically deploy to a specific location based on a call.

Okay another question is I Are you in favor of this? Do you feel we need this?

I certainly think a drone would be helpful, a second drone for us. I think we run into challenges where we have seven officers on the road to handle the calls for service that come in. And you look at one example of a shooting where our entire force is down handling that shooting. to include our special assignments, our CID that come in. You know, it really truly is a force multiplier in some regards. It would allow us to do some of the things that we just don't unfortunately have the personnel to do to provide a service for everybody, you know.

Okay. That's a good answer. My final question would be, I do know about a month ago, month and a half ago, we were looking for money for a position. Can we look for money for this instead of taking it out of the fund balance and risking things, our bond rating and all that stuff? Could we look for this, $55,000, like we were a position?

Just a reminder, we removed all capital items out of the budget. So to find $55,000 would be difficult because of the lines. You can't take it from salaries. You'd have to look at other services. So I think it would be very difficult to pull $55,000 out of somebody's budget line.

All right.

Thank you. Councillor Longchamp.

Thank you, Mayor. Sorry, I'm not feeling so well today. But I was just going to ask, if there was a robbery in our city, how many officers would respond to that?

Generally, as many as are available. It obviously depends on the type of robbery. But you'd have at least a minimum of two. And then if any officers are not tied up with other calls for service, they're going to that area as well.

And we usually have how many on?

So in general, seven officers at a time.

Seven officers. So if there was, I'm just using this, a robbery, two or three would show up. If there was a major accident within that time, a few more would go there. And then, God forbid, we have another shooting. Thank you.

Councillor Herman. Thank you. You said that this can be flown manually as well?

That's my understanding.

So it can be or?

You can take over the control of it.

Okay. How many officers are licensed to fly these?

None of our officers are licensed at this point because we don't have it yet. So what happens is the company will come in and do an onboarding and a training and all of that and make sure that everybody's qualified. And only those that are qualified will be allowed to do that.

Okay. Thanks.

Councilor Nagy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So To come back to this point, I fully support whatever is needed to do the job. I would also say that we need to fill those seats. We need more officers. We desperately need to get people into those seats. I'm not in favor of you taking it from the general fund already. We pushed our general fund down to nine percent against the advice of our Director and Really stretched a budget in many different ways I'm we have to be fiscally responsible on some level and I understand that like in making the argument that Public safety, you know throwing all money at public safety somehow makes Us more fiscally attractive. It just doesn't work like ultimately we have to If we can figure out a place where this money comes from to purchase a second drone, I support it. If it comes from the general fund, I can't. I'm not going to support any anything coming out of the general fund whatsoever. And I would also say Until next budget year and I would also say that if we have an emergency that costs us money that comes out of the general fund And so I think it's very important though, even if it's fifty five thousand dollars if it's ten dollars Don't touch the general fund any further than it's already been touched So if we can figure out where this money comes from other than that, I'm all in support Councillor Chittum and then Councillor Martel.

Mr. Mayor. I call the question.

Do we have a second? I Councillor Martell.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would just argue that we stretched the budget and the spending in the general fund because we were irresponsible with our money and spent city money on a lot of things that weren't nearly as important as public safety. And when you say that the fund balance needs to be there if an emergency should happen, emergencies are happening all the time in this city. And that's what this is. This is a response to an emergency. And I would just like to pose a question to the finance director. How much money do we currently have in fund balance?

So as I stated earlier to you on the email, We have, at the end of the fiscal year, because we take the audited number, so it has to be our fiscal year 25, we ended with undesignated $18,716,074. And as a reminder, we took $1,095,000 for the budget. So that brings it down to that 9% of $16 million

16 million 765 921. so we have over 16 million dollars left in the in the general fund correct fund balance sorry correct and your concern your professional opinion is that if we spend 55 000 out of that it may make us look less attractive to our to our uh people buying our bonds

With the issue that we used a million nine during the budget for operating expenses, which is not a good fiscal responsibility for a city to do, to continue to take money from our fund balance for other items makes us look like we're not financially, fiscally responsible.

What is the kind of emergency that would warrant spending money out of the fund balance if this isn't one?

I don't want to engage in this with staff.

Understood. I think I made my point.

Thank you. Thank you, Director Roy. I'm with Councillor Chittum on this. We have one of these coming already. When will this be arriving again, Chief Connolly? I'm sorry, you said two to three weeks?

Should be ready in, yeah, like three to four, I believe.

Or three to four. Okay, so it will be arriving here within a month. We can see how that integrates into our workflow, and then if the chief and department feels we need a second one at that point, then they can come back and ask for one. I'm sure we'll find money for it. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councillor from Ward 1.

And this is to support the amendment?

Correct, yes.

No.

Ward 2? Yes. Ward 3? No. Ward 4?

No.

Ward 6? No. Ward 7?

Yes, and I'm embarrassed to sit up here right now.

Mr. Mayor?

No.

Motion failed by a vote of 2 to 5.

We're now back to the main motion, and we will now go to public comment for the main motion.

Matt Roy, Ward 6. Mr. Mayor, no silicoes during.

Sorry, one second. Thank you. Yeah, please continue. Can you please start over? Can we please restart his clock?

Thank you, Deputy Administrator. Thank you. Now again, Matt Roy, Ward 6. Mayor, Councillors, and City Administrator, apparently there are some cognitive dissidents going on here tonight because as the budget you just approved back in May, total police overtime was approximately $877,000. The motion tonight, well, this motion tonight, I should say, contrary to 95% of what the administrator presented, is about one single thing, taking $200,000, 35 days into the fiscal year 2027, which started July 1st. We're 35 days in. There's $877,000. I actually, this weekend, went back to fiscal year 23, 24, 25, and as of this afternoon, thanks to the finance director, 2026. two things what uh 2023 and 2025 uh police overtime was overspent by on percentage terms 2.4 and 2.1 percent respectively in 23 and 25 fiscal year 24 and 2026 it was underspent and by 23% in 2024, and then this past year by about 118,000, which based on the 860 that was appropriated in fiscal year 26, a 14% underspend. There is money already in the budget, which, like I said, since we're 35 days into the new fiscal year, I'm presuming we haven't spent more than 8.3%, which would be one-twelfth In percentage terms of the budget, the two budget lines that represent police OT. So this motion as presented tonight, the transfer that money at this time is premature, especially based on the last four budgets, either being slightly overspent or depending on how you want to define significant underspent. Thank you.

Hi, everybody. My name is Amran Osman, Ward 3. I was raised here. The city helped shape who I am. So like so many people here, I care about this topic deeply. I know the council has spent months discussing youth violence and public safety. I also know these conversations are difficult because of the fear in our community is very real. Families are worried, parents are worried, young people are worried, and we all want the same thing, to see our children safe. But tonight I want to ask you guys to think about something bigger. I know that we're asking the council to approve $200,000 in police overtime, and I'm not here to oppose that request. Lewiston Police data shows juveniles were involved in 12 of the city's 19 shootings this year. Correct me if I'm wrong. And seven of those 12 involved was a young person already known to the system. Families are scared and enforcement has a role to play. But enforcement alone does not break the cycle and the city's own numbers show that. A young person who is arrested repeatedly is more often a young person who needs intervention and opportunities that reach them before the justice system did. A young person who needed somewhere safe to be at 9 p.m. on a Friday and an adult who talked to them in mental health care that understood them in their trauma before their first arrest. not after. Mayor Sheleen said it himself when the plan was announced for lasting change. However, we need to invest in our youth and community's infrastructure. Community leaders said that same thing in July, calling this a public health crisis as much as a criminal justice one and describing what it actually is, children in fear. We agree with both. I'm asking that the council act on this agreement and not just state it. The reality is simple. If young people have somewhere to go, they will find, if they don't have somewhere to go, they'll find somewhere to be. If we want fewer young people getting caught up in violence, gangs, drugs, or crime, we can not only ask when something happened, we have to ask where they were before it happened. We need enough basketball leagues. We need to ask, were there enough basketball leagues? Were there enough soccer programs? Were there enough youth workers? Were there enough safe community spaces open and after school programs in the evenings? Were there enough mentors? Too often, the answer is no. So we need to start investing in our communities. We need to start investing in our youth. And I know that the investment in the police force is important, but we also need to invest in prevention efforts. And if we're investing in enforcement, we also have to invest in prevention because prevention efforts need to happen prior to youth being incarcerated because our youth are dying and we need to start working with our youth and working with our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Omran. I'm Elizabeth Eames, but I'm here to read a statement from someone who's out of town, out of state, Ifra Saidisa from Ward 2. This is in her voice. When I first heard the name Community Engagement and Accountability, I was excited. I thought, quote, finally, an initiative that invests in our youth and strengthens our community, close quote. Then I read the proposal. After years of going to community listening sessions, I was disappointed that the primary investment is more policing. Our community has consistently called for more opportunities for youth, recreation, access to athletic fields, jobs, mentorship, and intensive support for young people who are suspended, expelled, or returning from detention. The police are doing their job. They investigate crimes, recover firearms, and make arrests, but they cannot treat trauma, reconnect a young person to school, support a struggling family, or coordinate the many agencies involved in a child's life. The majority of our youth are doing the right thing. The revolving door involves only a handful of young people who need intensive intervention, not simply another police response. If it were my decision, I would keep the initiative's name but redefine its mission. Instead of investing $200,000 primarily on police overtime, I would create a director and assistant director of community engagement and accountability, whose job is to ensure no young person falls through the cracks. Their role would be to coordinate school, probation, mental health providers, nonprofits, employers, law enforcement, state agencies, and families so every high-risk youth has a clear plan and every agency follows through. Lewiston doesn't have a shortage of people who care, it has a shortage of coordination. Everyone is working hard, but not always together, leaving families to navigate a fragmented system on their own. Real accountability isn't just about holding young people accountable, it's about holding ourselves accountable for working together. If we want safer neighborhoods, we must invest less in reacting to violence and more in preventing it. No child should fail because the adults responsible for helping them failed to work together. Thank you.

Martin Chartrand, Ward 3. I want to thank the last couple speakers. They said it very well and I'm going to add to that. I'm disappointed in this proposal. I don't think it represents community engagement and accountability. So I would say I'm against it. I think that it comes from an understandable place. We're all scared about the shootings and they've been a collective trauma for us and so. It's understandable to want to respond in fight or flight and put force against it, but it's not something that can be addressed through force. We need those real solutions like community violence intervention and programs for youth. And also another thing that isn't mentioned here, but is according to the Center for Gun Violence, Johns Hopkins, five of the top five solutions for gun violence have nothing to do with police or enforcement. They are gun safety measures, gun control measures. If we're advocating at the state, that's what we need to be advocating for, not for increased sentencing, which is for a handful of youth. That's going to change the outcome for those youth in potentially a more negative way if they don't have support, but it's not going to change the access to guns and the violence in the city. I would ask you to listen to the community leaders that have been up here that we need investment in youth programs, we need investment in mental health services, athletic facilities, and You know, there's the agencies like IFRA and they're just up here. I'm not, they might not ask but they have agencies that do a lot of great work with youth and they could use money too. so the intensive intervention that youth need there's there's models in other cities for something called community violence intervention and it's not police that go into those neighborhoods police are involved in the the planning and the backup but it's uh trained community members who are part of that community And I think if we can do, I hear, yes, we're going to do this now, yet we do more things later. I think if we can do this now, we can do that now. And so it's like call the people together and start to cross those boundaries of not working together and build trust. Thanks.

My name's Melissa Dunn. I'm a community organizer, Lewiston homeowner. I would ask for city councilors to not give funding to the community engagement and accountability to not fund it. It's strange to me that it would be referenced as community engagement and accountability. And then I keep hearing a revolving door and not only the post on Facebook or I think it was somewhere, but hearing it being used in this context. And it's just an off term revolving. to use when we're talking about gun violence. And I don't know if it's dog whistle or what it is, but it just flags for me that maybe the true intent of what the CEA is isn't isn't reflective in the words. I would ask for folks to trust in community to lead. We've done great things around anti-violence efforts, gun violence prevention efforts, getting an afterschool program. And we're able to help support families that have been impacted where a youth is in the criminal system or maybe a youth has a bullet left in their body. and meeting with these folks. And the reality is I'd like to see power holders especially take a little bit more responsibility because we wouldn't be here with the violence there was an intentional impediment to prevention and awareness because our plate in Lewiston is domestic violence and trafficking with the use of gun and I know this as a teen survivor and I know this recently experiencing this repeatedly actually throughout my life with the use of guns and so we wouldn't be here without the efforts of gentrification and active genocide against our community members and I am saddened to hear from power holders that I've been having conversations with that they're actually doing things to create more barriers for youth and families, particularly single mothers, because that's really what the scapegoating is about here. It's about scapegoating the youth and single mothers. And that's been a classist thing that's happened a lot and repeatedly to Lewiston mothers here. but creating more barriers, impeding a use access to community. These are all very dangerous tactics of like mobbing and white people mobbing, like white supremacy made in calls. Please don't find this.

My name is Larry Gilbert and I am a resident of Lewiston, part-time throughout the year, but I'm here to speak in support of this funding. And I have some thoughts with regard to community-oriented policing philosophy being used with this money that will be appropriated hopefully. And that is to... First of all, in these neighborhoods here, are the bicycles being used or are they not? That's a question I have.

We're going to answer. Our presenters will take notes and answer questions when we come back.

Okay, okay, so I would, because I toured the police station when I was back from Florida and I noticed in the storage room that there were a couple of bicycles there that had flat tires. So, you know, that's one means of being there other than in a cruiser with air conditioning or whatever or heat if it's winter. and interaction with the public there. And one of the things I might suggest is to is to canvas the area, knock on doors and ask people who knows best what's going on in their community than the people who live there. And they also may know who The perpetrators are OK, so not only using technology, but using the community interaction. With the people living there, and I think that's critical because that's where the information comes in. Who knows best what's going on in their neighborhood than the people living there? So I would strongly urge. Knocking on doors and. and talking to people there. So hopefully this money would be used for something like this. So I support the appropriation. And so I hope I get that answer to that question. And by the way, I fully support the chief. She does terrific work. I was pleased when she was selected and I hope she continues on. She's been on longer than I was. I was on 25 and she's gone over that.

Thank you. Thank you. Further public comment please.

Ronnie Parity, Ward 6. I agree with this because I worked downtown as a home health nurse and also as a public health nurse, and I loved it when we had community things. That's when we had the bicycle thing that larry talked about and we also had substations and i used the substations a couple times when i felt unsafe downtown and i and i knew the policemen and they would go by and wave and it made me feel good and again we had four bicycle bicycles downtown and we got to know the police i did so i felt safe back then i don't know if i would feel as safe now as i did but i want to bring back to recreation just i know this isn't subject but back when i was my child was in high school and peggy will remember this we had a parent involvement committee at the high school Not a booster, but a parent involvement committee. And we started, we used the gym on a Saturday night for any students, teenagers, to come in and be at the gym, and the parents chaperoned that thing and we work with recreation department that gave us the balls, basketballs and everything. And we did that, the school did that. We need to get the recreation in school because we gave the kids a place to go on Saturday night and it was because the parent involvement committee. Recreation is the way to go. When I grew up in Lewiston, I had so much to do in Lewiston. I mean, I was never bored in Lewiston at all, and I know it was in the old days, and I grew up on Pine Street, so I loved it downtown and everything, and it's too bad we can't get back to that, but I really believe in getting out on the bikes, and maybe that's another price, but we need to get the police out there and really talk to the right now this is the way to go thank you but we need to get recreation and everything else involved the schools thank you

Hi, good evening. I'm Danielle Snow. I grew up here in Lewiston. I'm a downtown business owner, and tonight I'm here to speak as chair of the Downtown Lewiston Association. I want to start by saying that the DLA does support this appropriation, but I do want to add a note of nuance to that support from our members. tonight i'm here because whether a family decides to spend their friday night evening like downtown it comes down in large part to whether or not they feel safe walking to and from their car or work or walking to and from their home safety and the perception of safety is a business issue as well as an overall community issue and it's one that we hear the most about from our members The DLA also has direct evidence that the method being asked for tonight, the more active patrolling of our streets, works in the downtown. Over the past 60 days, we've watched as at Dufresne Plaza and the Oak Street Garage, consistent police presence and foot patrols has changed the space. It's by no means perfect, but it has improved. A spot where people had started to avoid because of excessive gatherings, some violent behavior that was beginning to happen, and active drug use became an area where people felt safe starting to park again and walk through again to visit our businesses. Complaints that our businesses were hearing from customers who were afraid to come into their stores started to decrease. that's not theory that's real actual proof that we're seeing results downtown this is a spot that we can point to where we've seen real improvement through these increased patrols and i want to be clear but i do so i do want to say fund it we want to see it see it have a chance to succeed in other areas of downtown especially where it's needed most But I also want to be really clear, as the proposal itself is, and as we heard Administrator Kenrath say, the presence needs to be only part of the plan, not the whole plan. The city's own document pairs enforcement with accountability, treatment and the harder work upstream. The patrols this funding provides may buy us some time. It might buy us some breathing room, but the patrols do not by themselves solve why a young teenager is carrying a gun. If the council funds this visible half tonight, and I do hope that you do, I will ask that you commit with equal energy to the other half, working with our community organizations on prevention. And one last broader point. This need did not appear overnight. I'd urge the Council to build public safety and the downtown's role in it into a proactive multi year plan so that the next time we're funding this by design and not as an emergency. Thank you.

good evening my name is jen hogan and i am the president and ceo for community credit union located at 144 pine street in lewiston i'd like to start my comments by thanking the lewiston police department our staff has always appreciated the professionalism and responsiveness of the officers who support us whether it's checking on our employees responding to our concerns having conversations with us regarding safety enhancements of our new downtown branch or simply maintaining a visible presence those efforts are making a difference and we are grateful for your service I appreciate the city's willingness to focus attention on public safety through the CEA initiative. Public safety deserves to remain at the forefront of our community conversations, and I commend the city for taking steps to move that discussion forward. I also appreciate hearing our city administrators say that tonight's vote is just one step in a larger initiative. As you continue developing this initiative, I would encourage you to think broad. The challenges we face, gun violence, substance use, mental health, youth engagement, housing instability, and neighborhood safety are interconnected. These challenges were not created by one thing, and they cannot be solved by one or two initiatives alone. The city has an opportunity to bring together residences or residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations, schools, landlords, health care providers and neighborhood leaders to build a truly collaborative approach. We each see different parts of these challenges, and together we can develop solutions that are more comprehensive, sustainable and supported by the full community. Community Credit Union stands ready to be a part of these conversations. In fact, over the last couple of months, we began bringing together local business leaders to discuss how we can work collaboratively, not only with one another, but alongside the city to strengthen Lewiston. I believe the business community can and wants to be a part of the solution. This is not the responsibility of any one organization or any one department. It will take all of us. But I also believe that meaningful collaboration begins with leadership. And the city is uniquely positioned to bring people together around a shared vision for a safer, stronger Lewiston. Thank you for your time, for the service you give to our community, and for your willingness to continue this important work.

Good evening. My name is Julia Harper. I live in Ward 4. And I apologize. I was with my child earlier. I missed the presentation, so I missed a lot of the discussion. But I did read the agenda, and I was here for probably the last 20 minutes. I want to just say that when I saw the CE proposal, I was relieved to finally see a plan in writing for what we're going to, a proposal for what we're going to be doing about the violence and the gun violence that we're seeing. I fully understand the emergency. I also understand the legislative strategies being proposed to close loopholes in the juvenile justice systems that are amendments. We know the system is flawed and it needs amendments. Yeah, I I just want it. It felt important. I want to echo what a lot of speakers have said tonight and what I have heard in years of just living and engaging in this community, which is folks just calling desperately for more investment in our youth and more opportunities for them to. It's basically like those upstream prevention strategies and. You know the reality is that the CEA is reactive and it targets the handful of youth who are already in they have committed serious You know, they're in serious trouble already However, we're not addressing the root causes. We're probably you know, we're not it's not doing things to prevent Safety and crime issues with youth that will persist so yeah, I So one suggestion there could be many I realize that it's not part of the proposal tonight but I really want to call in the city to commit themselves as other speakers have said to prevention strategies and there are there's a model out of DC that the city of DC employs at-risk youth and has a whole like sort of program working with them this could be here locally through the Lewis and rec or ethnic based community organizations or others that are interested to employ at-risk youth and And I'm also I know that the city is struggling financially You know, I I wonder if our philanthropic partners and foundations would step forward and partner to invest in this on an emergency basis and I And so, yes, I'm just calling for after this meeting tonight, thinking of recommitting to and investing in those things. And so that's my main point. And I'll just say if I know I don't have any time another time.

YES, YOU CAN ALWAYS EMAIL COMMENTS TO PUBLIC COMMENT AT LOUISTONMAINE.GOV. FURTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOW CLOSED. HOLD ON, ADMINISTRATOR. I JUST WANT TO ADDRESS SOMETHING REALLY QUICK. COUNSELOR MARTELL, I APPRECIATE YOUR FERVOR AND PASSION AND YOUR FRUSTRATION ABOUT HOW THE LAST VOTE WAS GOING. IF YOU CAN PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN VOTING, YOUR COMMENT LACTA CORUM. THANK YOU.

administrator King wrath yes thank you yeah I just wanted to make sure that we reiterated as I said at the outset we do see this as the first step in a much larger process and what many of the speakers spoke about tonight we completely agree with this is not just an enforcement piece it is going to take a larger conversation programming and prevention are absolutely critical and we look forward to those conversations the next step and what really needs to be a longer-term public safety process to address the issues we have here in Lewiston I also, again, just want to make clear for everyone listening that this $200,000 ask from the salary reserve account is exclusively for foot patrols, bike patrols, and staffing the mobile resource center. So we completely agree that when we talk about community policing, when we talk about officers on the street interacting face-to-face, not behind a cruiser window, with residents, is important. and so this 200 000 ask is completely for foot patrols bike patrols and staffing the mobile unit also couldn't agree more on substations we had that conversation i think that's another longer term strategy as we look for more physical space whether that's leasing or owning space down the road i think that should be another goal we had substations at one time i think a big idea to bring them back in different areas of the city so we completely support uh that piece also so i just want to make sure that was completely clear for the record this is going to be a long process this is the first piece of it we look forward to the conversations the engagement and a lot more to come we have a lot of work to do but we're totally confident we can do it uh chief conley did you want to say anything

I mean, I would certainly echo what the city administrator said. You know, in reference, the only thing I guess I want to highlight is, you know, when you read the packet and you talk about a mobile command unit, that truly is sort of the design that we're, when we talk about substations, that's our goal with this is more to make it a satellite station and put it in various areas where officers are going to be present and available and a resource for the community. It's not designed to be necessarily an enforcement mechanism. It's really trying to kind of model that substation concept that we had for many years throughout the city, and we just don't have that capability right now.

Thank you. And I don't want to put you on the spot now or take time, but if you could get back to the Honorable Larry Gilbert about the condition of the bikes, that would be great.

Yeah, we're certainly going to have to look at the condition of our bikes. It is not something, unfortunately, you know, I know I keep going back to the personnel, but we just don't have the staffing to take an officer and put them on a bike right now unless we're hiring in some sort of detail fashion.

Understood. Thank you. Councillor Roy.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. One of the things that I was thinking about listening to everybody talk, trying to find money because I believe, you know, when you said you need this drone or would like this drone, the second drone, how about the police drug forfeiture fund? Can we take $55,000 out of that? I mean, that seems like a small ask out of that one.

So the challenge with the drug forfeiture money is we use more than is coming in right now. So at the beginning of this budget cycle, I think we had around 600,000. We have budgeted already, which we actually put more in to assist with the budget this year, 300,000. So we're going to be well under, I think it's like under 400,000 or 300,000 And on average, so if you follow that trajectory, if on average every year we use $300,000 and we only get $50,000, we're spending it more than we have it coming in. And I'll point to the example of last year where we had an issue with the guns. That wasn't in the budget. That was, I think, almost $100,000 to replace our guns. I don't think I'd be smart to go below what we're at right now where we've already spent more this year in it.

And thank you for that answer because, again, listening to you being a professional saying about going below that, we have a professional that's saying going below other things, and I'm really, you know, I'm torn between that because I know what you are talking about.

Point of order. Councillor Longchamps, yes.

I apologize. I'm grateful that Mr. Roy is still trying to possibly figure out a way for us to get that second drone, but that's not what we're talking about right now.

yeah understood yes if you could um keep your comments germane council roy that would be great okay well um i will try to keep them to me um so at this point um i would love to see more green space more fields and all that stuff so again trying to find that money appreciate that thank you very much uh counselor longchamps did you have something

Yes, thank you, Mayor. I was just basically going to say that the funds that you guys are asking for, just for the public to hear again, is not the CEA program funding. You're basically asking for overtime funding for the police because we are 12 officers down, correct?

Well, it is part of this plan. And what we're asking for, the $200,000 is part of the CEA. It's basically two pieces. It's the overtime, the community policing, and then the legislative strategy. So it is part of the plan. And the $200,000 is to, again, fund those foot patrols, bike patrols, and the mobile unit.

Thank you. Obviously, you guys know I'm in support of this. Whatever we can do to help keep our city safer, especially in the downtown area where we're really experiencing a lot of the gun violence. I would like to note for the record, Ms. Dunn, the community organizer, um shared with the public that we have plenty of youth programs here available in our city and i would like to invite those organizations to please email us up here or administration because we'd like to hear from you we'd like to hear what your programs offer because our youth are suffering you're absolutely right so if we have plenty of them i'd like to hear from you thank you

uh counselor naijin okay thank you very much mr mayor let's just pull this all back to the to what we're here for right now this proposal i approve what the administrator and the police chief put forward i think this is a great first step um i i also completely accept the fact that we're just taking 200 000 from a discretionary employee funded moving it over No issues there whatsoever. I know that going forward we'll see modifications to this plan as well as addendums to this plan. I mean one of the challenges I think is like a lot of people want to know where the guns are coming from, why kids have guns, you know. The interventions that the foot patrols allow is contact with some of the youth, right? And so that hopefully gets some guns off the streets before shootings happen. I would like to again thank you both for what you put forward here. This is a good first step. I would also like to just note a little bit separately that the neighborhood Sunnyside Back Bay greatly appreciates the responses that have happened over the past weekend and into this week due to the youth violence issues we're seeing in my neighborhood. Thank you.

Further comment? Yes, Councillor Chittum.

Thank you. I have a couple of structural questions. How long is this program, would this $200,000 fund the program? Is this for the remainder of the fiscal year?

Yes.

yeah so it it's roughly the way we we planted ours roughly like a nine month process we followed sort of the same track that we do when we budget um for our foot patrols there's certain times a year where we know we need a heavier presence and then certain times a year where we we limit them

Okay, well, that's effective use of resources, and I applaud you for that. The reason that you're asking for this is because you're down, and I've heard various numbers, but I think the latest number is 12 officers with four positions frozen. So you're actively seeking eight officers. This funding replaces those eight officers. If you could wave your magic wand and have those tomorrow, this would not be necessary. Is that a correct statement?

Well, that would never happen because the reality is, right, like this is more of an immediate issue. And even if we got eight officers tomorrow, there's a whole training process. So, you know, I think there's sort of an urgency to this is how I would see it.

Okay. Are you concerned about burnout? In your police force, they're already understaffed, undermanned, and now you're asking them to work 60, I don't know how many hours, but a number more than the normal duty roster.

Yes, certainly I'm always concerned about burnout. I mean, just the general responsibilities that our police officers have to handle in Lewiston is much different. The calls for service, when you look at 45,000 calls for service, 50,000 depending on the year, you know, and picture that with seven officers on at a time. But what I would say to that is the reality is the officers that we do have in that building, they're incredible. They're hardworking. They're committed to this city. We very rarely have a hard time finding somebody to work overtime when needed. There's times a year, right? Like summer people do want their vacations. They want time with their friends and family and that's understood. Um, you know, and we have to be cognizant of work life balance, but we're, I'm very fortunate. We really have a good group of men and women that are see the issue. They're concerned about it and they want to make a difference.

From everything that I've observed, I can't disagree with you at all. I agree with you wholeheartedly on that. I applaud your employees and the police force. A question for the administrator. This salary reserve line, please refresh my memory, is this a citywide salary reserve account?

yes this is often used for things like um you know if someone leaves paying out unused vacation time or other things that come up throughout the year our finance director can maybe give if you'd like to see a more full explanation on all of the things that we pull out of this line but this was the recommended source this is being paid for salaries for overtime so it seems to be an appropriate use of these funds

Thank you. You anticipated my next question, so I'll jump over that. So this is citywide, but you would be directing it as a supplemental appropriation to the police department, which already has an $800,000 overtime budget. Would it make sense to use that overtime budget first and then later on when we find that this might be necessary to come back and say, We've already exhausted the budgeted overtime, and now we're looking at alternative sources of funding for overtime for the police department.

Yeah, I'll let the Chief speak to this also, but I think some of the concerns as we get into springtime, you know, through different periods of the year, we use more overtime. So Chief, do you want to elaborate on what you're kind of forecasting through the year when you look at your department and staffing?

Yeah, I I think I think the reality is is we we would go over. I mean we budget fairly close to what what we expect to spend every year. So I think you know that's obviously up to the Council, but I think the reality is is we would go over.

okay thank you and my final question is um we have budgeted for eight full-time officers that we don't have so we've had at least a month of salary that has been budgeted but has not been used that money if it's not used during and it won't be used because unless we're paying people more than the starting salary when they come in mid-year Can you explain, either one of you, what happens to that money and why that money can't be used to supplement and get these foot patrols, which I wholeheartedly endorse. I'm just looking at the most fiscally prudent way to fund it. Why can't we use the unexpended salary lines within the police department to pay for this overtime?

Director Roy, do you want to tackle that?

So the funds are being requested to be put aside to be moved to that account just in case. If the funds are not used due to salaries going under, that is moved back to the salary reserve at the end of the year. So there are adjustments done for contracts that are not closed when we start the budget process. The percentage is in there. So there are adjustments that we do for all of the salary and overtime lines. So what's not used goes back into that salary reserve account.

Thank you. So in other words, then, this is a loan from the salary reserve account to the police overtime account?

To cover in case, yes.

Okay. Thank you very much for that concise explanation. I appreciate it.

Councilors, I would like to vote on this, so we're going to wrap it up. Councilor Najin, yes, back to you.

I just wanted to bring up one other point as well. In this plan, we're talking about talking to the delegation next year, and our current delegation has reached out. We have set up some appointments, so I'd like to thank both you and the delegation for doing so, because obviously we can start writing legislation now as well. So, thank you.

Chief, Administrator, thank you both so much. Thank you. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councilor, from word one?

Yes.

Word two? Yes. Word three? Yes. Word four? Yes. Word six? Yes. Word seven? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion passed, a vote of seven to zero.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. I would like to take, we still have quite a bit of agenda left. I would like to take a brief recess at this time. We will reconvene shortly. And we're back. Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, I think we're on item number nine?

Yes, item number nine, amendments to the city's ethics policy, policy manual number 94, requested action to approve the proposed amendments to the ethics policy, city policy manual number 94.

May I have a motion, please? So moved.

Second.

Councillor Martell, seconded by Councillor Longchamps. Councillor Longchamps, you brought this forward, so if you can kick us off, that'd be great.

Thank you very much, Mayor. I would actually ask if we could table this until our next council meeting. I think we need a little more time to look at this. It's really late, and I think this is going to take a little bit of time. Second.

Do we have a second to table? Did you catch all that, Madam Clerk? I did, yes. Okay. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councillor from Ward 1. Yes. Ward 2. Yes. Ward 3. Yes. Ward 4. Yes. Ward 6. Yes. Ward 7. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passed by a vote of 7 to 0.

We're flying now. Item number 10.

Item number 10. Order directing the City Administrator to explore the dissolution of the Lewiston Auburn Railroad Company. Request an action to approve the order directing the City Administrator to explore the dissolution of the Lewiston Auburn Railroad Company.

I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE. SO MOVED. COUNSELOR CHIDDOM. SECOND. SENTENCED BY COUNSELOR MARTELL. DISCUSSION? COUNSELOR NAGY.

PERSONALLY AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE, OBVIOUSLY, BUT CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THIS CORPORATION WAS SET UP IN 1872 AND We're moving forward to possibly dissolve it and spend more money right now. So maybe we either table this to a time indefinite or possibly turn it down.

Thank you, Councilor Nagy, and I want to apologize to Councilor Chittum. I should have recognized you first, but please continue. No apology necessary, Mr. Mayor, thank you.

Yes, I brought this forward because the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Company, as you correctly stated, was created in 1872, and it served initially to bring immigrants to the city of Lewiston so that they could build this great city. That function no longer exists and almost all of the rail activity that occurs now occurs in the city of Auburn. For the public's benefit, the corporation is owned by two entities. 75% of the corporation is owned by the city of Lewiston, 25% is owned by the city of Auburn. I serve as the treasurer of the railroad company I have done for the past three years. The large majority, by far, of the work that is being done is being done in Auburn. There is relatively little benefit to the city of Lewiston as a result of this work. The rail activity exists in Auburn. The corporation has asset values somewhere between six and eight million dollars, mostly held in real estate, some of which is held in Lewiston, the majority of which is active rail line in Auburn. The reason I brought this forward is that the tenor of the corporation seems to be drifting very much toward A well deserved and well earned and well thought out plan to develop an intermodal facility consisting of rail, highway and airline at the airport in Auburn. The benefit to the city of Lewiston is disproportionate to the 75% ownership that it has. My feeling is that the corporation has outlived its usefulness and that the city of Lewiston would be well off examining or exploring ways in which to dissolve it and divide the assets of the corporation in accordance with the ownership shares 75-25. That's why I brought this forward I would hope that the council would authorize the city administrator to begin exploring this possibility and Because our own legal counsel cannot advise us should there be legal questions involved because of a conflict of interest This motion also calls on the council to authorize the administrator to retain special counsel if needed

Councilor Harmon. Thank you. My thoughts are that if we as the city of Lewiston control 75% of this company, why don't we make sure that it's having a benefit to us? And if we dissolve the company, It seems like it's kind of cashing out our IRA early They they hold Their their main purpose is to hold land right now land generally appreciates in value Even though most of the land is in the city of Auburn. It's owned by the railroad company which is controlled 75% by the city of Lewiston and So it just seems like we'd be spending a fair amount of money on legal counsel to dissolve a corporation that should be of benefit to us, and if it's not, we have three-quarters of the power to make it so. So I don't see a reason to rush into this right now, maybe continue having informal conversations about it and Thinking of scenarios of how it could turn out, but I don't support this at this time Concern aging yes back to you.

All right, just as another point when we're discussing resolving a Corporation that was set up in 1872. I'm not quite sure that most of us are completely understand the relationship or what this corporation actually does and i can guarantee you that the public has absolutely no idea um and so if we're making votes on these things that like could potentially damage uh our financial position or ability to access um rail lines all of these other pieces like hey, you know a Workshop at the very least in order to understand what exactly this corporation does and why and Then to have people much smarter than me call me up and say hey Josh. Do you realize what's happening here? Is super important for me, so I just want to point that out as well And again, I would Strongly encourage either tabling to time Long after 2025 or sorry 2026 or Or possibly just voting this is down for now because we are the controlling entity in this Corporation and we could take these steps in the future

Councilor Nagy, thank you for that. I do believe that this is a, you know, perhaps a worthwhile discussion, but in light of a few things, I would love to hear a motion to the table. Councilor Nguyen. I would make a motion to table. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Councilor Martel. Did you catch all that, Madam Clerk? Yes, sir, thank you. You're quick as always. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Mr. Mayor?

Yes. Have we been to public comment on this item? Thank you for that, Councillor Harriman. We are, I would say we normally don't go when we're going to table since it will be coming back anyways, but public comment for those that would like to speak on this. And now we're back. Okay, Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

Councilor, from word one? Yes. Word two? Yes. Word three? Yes. Word four? Yes. Word six? Yes. Word seven? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Motion passed by vote of seven to zero.

Item number 11.

Item 11, order directing the city administrator to request an additional agency liquor store license from the main bureau of alcoholic beverages and lottery operations. This motion was postponed from the previous meeting, so it is now on the floor before you to approve the order directing the city administrator to request an additional agency liquor store license from the main bureau of alcoholic beverages and lottery operations.

I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE. SO MOVED. COUNSELOR CHIDDOM. SECOND. SECOND BY COUNSELOR HERRAM. IN DISCUSSION? COUNSELOR CHIDDOM, YES.

AT COUNSELOR LONGSHAMP'S INSISTENCE, I DID CONTACT THE ATTORNEY WHO INITIALLY CONTACTED ME, AND THE ATTORNEY SPOKE WITH HIS CLIENT, AND THE CLIENT AGREED TO BE REVEALED AS THE HANAFORD STORE, WHICH IS GOING IN ON 20 EAST AVENUE. in the old Sears Mall. I would remind Council that because Hannaford has requested that we ask for an additional license, there's no guarantee that Hannaford would be issued the license by the alcoholic and beverage whatever it is in Augusta. This will be an open window anybody who wants to apply for a license can The process will play out but to answer your question counselor the initial applicant asking for this 11th license for the city of Lewiston is Hannaford supermarket I I support this concern aging Can we move the question?

uh we're gonna head to public comment first uh should there be public comment and we're back madam clerk please call the vote counselor from word one yes word two yes word three yes word four yes word six yes word seven yes mr mayor yes we are now up to the second public sorry yes if i may um administrator i have a sample request that was provided to me by the attorney i'd be happy to share that with you thank you EXCELLENCE, IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE. WE ARE NOW UP TO THE SECOND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, SHOULD THERE BE ANY. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED. WE NOW HAVE REPORTS AND UPDATES AND NEW BUSINESS ALL COMBINED HERE. COUNSELOR CHIDDUM, YES.

I simply want to report that Larry Allen and I met with the Seniors Plus folks today to talk about transit services to the new facility, the new nutrition center on Mollison Way. It was a very productive meeting and I believe that Seniors Plus is extremely happy with the outcome.

Councillor Longchamps.

Thank you, Mayor. I've made a mistake. At the beginning of our council meeting, we voted on three items, one being parking across the street from Webb's Market, which I benefit from, that 15-minute parking, and I voted on it, and I probably shouldn't have. It was brought to my attention very kindly by Councillor Chittum. I didn't even think of it to be honest. So I'm not sure really what I should do except for, you know, obviously apologize and see what I, how to proceed.

You owe us lunch. Madam Clerk, our conflict of interest is very strictly defined as receiving direct financial benefit. Is that not true?

Right, and that's defined in state law. So, I mean, if Councilor Longchamps would like to make a motion to reconsider that action, and then we can re-vote on it, so she would be able to vote on it a second time if she would like to be able to do that.

I guess the point that I'm trying to make, Councillor Longchamps, is that you have broken no rule or law, and I think your acknowledgement is good enough, and we do not need to take time to revote. It's getting late.

Thank you. Councilor Nagin, did you have anything? I just have a couple of things. First is the FERC relicensing process that we're going through. The final comments are due on the 21st of August. I have spoken to the administrator to ask that we have a public hearing for the next meeting in order to go over that information. I'm going to be forwarding out the current responses from Brookfield and the FERC Relicensing Authority as well as from both the Auburn and Lewiston staff that have been working in order to get some concessions through the FERC Relicensing to the counselors as well as hopefully we can make it available to the public as well so that we can make sure that we get as much feedback as possible because this last COMMENT PERIOD WILL BE THE LAST TIME WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS FOR 40 TO 50 YEARS. AND ULTIMATELY WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE EVERYTHING THAT WE WOULD WANT, I WOULD THINK. AND I THINK THAT UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE A SMALL WINDOW IN ORDER TO GET THAT.

AND THE SECOND PIECE IS JUST... CAN I SAY SOMETHING ON THAT BEFORE YOU MOVE? PLEASE DO. DIRECTOR GANYA IS RUNNING POINT ON THAT FOR US, RIGHT? or do you uh it it's uh it's pretty much shelly norton it's it's uh yeah it's planning um it was former director dave hediger and now shelley norton has taken that over oh so shelley i'm sorry planner norton is running point on that correct uh planner norton with uh support from uh director connor and director gagne uh okay my apologies to planner norton if she's watching uh okay sorry i just want to clarify please continue counselor and agent

And just the second piece is, obviously, there is a bunch of kerfuffle concerning some things that were going on in Sunnyside Back Bay this weekend, as well as last weekend. There has been a great police response. I'm very thankful we were able to pick up a few of these youths that were intimidating my neighbors and trying to break into homes. But we still have a... HIGH LEVEL OF PROPERTY CRIME THAT IS OCCURRING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND SO WHAT I'M ASKING IS, AND THIS SHOULD APPLY FOR EVERYBODY IN THE CITY, WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING, PLEASE CALL THE POLICE. DON'T THINK IT'S NO BIG DEAL IF SOMEBODY BREAKS INTO YOUR CAR. The idea is when you report these incidents to the police, they're aware of them and so that they can actually respond in ways that maybe prevent somebody else's car from being broken into or somebody else's swimming pool from being cut or somebody else's front door from getting kicked in. So it's really important that you engage with the police and report when you know that a crime has occurred. um that's one and then two uh from 11 to 1 every saturday this month i will be at sunnyside park trying to organize my neighbors a little bit so that we can have support for each other because i watch your backyard you watch mine basically is the way it works thank you very much

council roy did you have something thank you a couple of things i i really liked the fact that uh councillor chittum brought up you know trying to get businesses um back to lewiston that um using a tiff and that will bring uh workers back to the office to really thrive our downtown area with you know filling the restaurants and all that stuff it was really really great at one time and i'd like to see that again so i'm glad that you made that comment tonight another thing too is we're brought there was something brought to our attention in an email about some of our businesses that or some of our our nonprofits that work with youth to give them things to do some of them are not they don't have the funding to stay alive. So I think really, we really need to, with your plan, Administrator Kainrath, that we really look at these businesses and try to help them stay committed to helping our teens and getting them involved in maybe mentorship programs and all that good stuff. ALSO, IF WE COULD WORK WITH THE REC DEPARTMENT TO OPEN UP GRASS FIELDS, NOT THE TURF FIELDS, BUT THE GRASS FIELDS WHERE WE CAN GET MORE KIDS TO UTILIZE THOSE FIELDS, BASEBALL, SOCCER, FOOTBALL, STUFF LIKE THAT, I REALLY THINK THAT IS GOING TO BENEFIT OUR KIDS IN A LOT OF WAYS TOO. ONE LAST THING. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO PUBLIC WORKS OR SEE IF WE CAN DO THIS. I KNOW OVER THE YEARS, WELL, PROBABLY FOR THE LAST 25, 30 YEARS, THE INTERSECTION AT SABATTA STREET AND RIDO. I was down in that area last week. There was a really bad accident right there at that intersection. I would like to know if we could get maybe a traffic study there. I would also like to know how many accidents were in that area over the last couple of years, only because YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE HAVE A LIGHT UP AT NORTH TEMPLE, BUT I'M TELLING YOU, DURING THE SCHOOL SEASON, FOR NINE MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR, TRYING TO GET OUT OF THERE IN THE MORNINGS TO GO TO WORK, TO GO TO SCHOOL, STUFF LIKE THAT, IT IS REALLY INTENSE. THERE'S SO MUCH TRAFFIC OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT HAVE GROWN IN THAT AREA THAT IT'S REALLY A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION. SO I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAYBE COME UP WITH AN IDEA TO WORK ON THAT. THANK YOU.

Uh, thank you. Anything from anybody else before we head to executive? Councillor Nagy, back to you.

Um, the only piece I would like to touch on really quickly is we voted not to extend the moratorium, but we did not, um, suggest that the housing committee should not continue to work on, uh, the, um, the ordinance. And so I think that should be made clear to the housing committee.

um yeah i think it's clear they're gonna okay yeah we're they're good craig's on it uh we love you craig uh okay anything else i'm clerk i hear we or i see we have executive sessions we do uh two executive sessions before you ex uh item 15 and item 16. item 15

Executive session to discuss labor union negotiations regarding the Maine State Employees Association. Requested action to enter into an executive session pursuant to Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Title I, Section 4056D, to discuss labor negotiations regarding the Maine State Employees Association Local 1989. And executive session pursuant to Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Title I, Section 4056A, to discuss a personnel matter. Requested action to enter into an executive session pursuant to Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Title I, SECTION 4056A TO DISCUSS A PERSONNEL MATTER.

I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE. SO MOVED. COUNSELOR NAJIN, FOLLOWED BY COUNSELOR CHIDDOM. MADAM CLERK, PLEASE CALL THE VOTE.

COUNSELOR, FOR WORD ONE? YES. WORD TWO? YES. WORD THREE? YES. WORD FOUR? YES. WORD SIX? YES. WORD SEVEN? YES. MR. MAYOR?

YES.

MOTION PASSED. I VOTE IF SEMEN IS IN.

THANK YOU TO OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE, AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT HOME, AND GET OUT AND ENJOY THE BALLOON FESTIVAL. HAVE A GREAT NIGHT.