WATERVILLE — City councilors Tuesday will consider prohibiting on-street parking overnight on most roads from Dec. 1 to April 30 and approving a lease with Alfond Youth & Community Center so the center may build an ice rink.
The Waterville City Council meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Mid-Day Cafe in the Mid-Maine Technical Center at Waterville Senior High School.
Councilors voted 5-1 on Nov. 4 to approve the winter parking ban and will consider taking a final vote Tuesday. Overnight parking would be allowed in both the city-owned municipal parking lot downtown known as The Concourse, and at the city-owned Head of Falls lot.
Matt Skehan, director of the city’s Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments, recommended changing a city ordinance dealing with streets and sidewalks to prohibit parking on streets from midnight to 6 a.m., from Dec. 1 to April 30.
He and police Chief Joseph Massey told the council Nov. 4 that crews from the Public Works Department must call police if they cannot plow efficiently and safely because of parked vehicles. An officer must come to ticket vehicles, and city crews must wait for them to be towed before they can plow.
Skehan said it is inefficient for the Public Works Department to work a storm when there are cars on the street. Three years ago, such a ban was in effect, but the city decided to change the rules to allow people to park on the street when there were no storms. Massey said more people just got so used to parking on the streets that they wouldn’t even pay attention to the storms.
Councilor Claude Francke, D-Ward 6, said he thought the ban was a bad idea that would not serve the public. He was the lone dissenter in a 5-1 vote to approve the ban.
Councilors Tuesday will consider taking a final vote to lease city-owned property at 132 North St. to the Alfond Youth & Community Center so it can build an indoor community ice rink. The lease approval would enable the youth center to conduct a capital campaign to raise funds for the project, projected to be more than $4 million. The council took a first vote to approve leasing the land Oct. 6.
The council also is scheduled to consider appointing Rebecca Green, a Democrat, to the Ward 4 council seat vacated by incumbent Sydney Mayhew, a Republican, after Green defeated him in the Nov. 3 election. She would normally have taken office in January. The council also will consider appointing Rod Labbe to the Planning Board to fill a seat vacated by Cathy Weeks, who resigned recently.
Councilors plan to consider authorizing the city to buy seven ballistic barriers from Hesco Easton Inc. for $32,963. They would be used at the police firearms training range on West River Road.
They also will consider taking a final vote to sell Lot 40 in the Airport Road Subdivision to Pine Tree Waste Services for $137,760. The council took a first vote Nov. 4 to approve the request.
Councilors are slated to consider referring to the Planning Board for public hearing and recommendation a proposal to rezone part of Airport Road from Airport District to Airport Industrial District to enable HEP Energy to build a solar farm there. The land is on the east side of Robert LaFleur Municipal Airport and abuts the west side of the former Runser property at 41 Webb Road.
In another airport-related matter, John Bartley will request the city lease to him Lot 15 at the airport so he may erect an aircraft hangar there, not to exceed 2,000 square feet in size.
Richard Breton of L/A Properties LLC is expected to request the council rezone 2 acres at 435 West River Road from Residential-B to Rural Residential so that he may build an access road for the expansion of Countryside Mobile Home Park that would reportedly minimize wetland disturbance and tree clearing. The council Tuesday may take only one of two needed votes to approve the request.
Councilors also are scheduled to consider taking the first of two needed votes to accept $86,675 in reimbursement funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the city’s Emergency Operations Center disaster relief related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The council will be asked to authorize City Manager Michael Roy to hire a consultant for $5,000 to provide help and advice regarding the city’s purchase of electricity and the question of New Energy Billing Credits.
Councilors also will be asked to issue a license to a registered marijuana caregiver, identified only as Caregiver 5, as well as issue a marijuana retail license to HIVE Medicinal at 210 College Ave.
Drip City Arcade Bar at 99 West River Road will request food and liquor licenses, and St. Mark’s Espiscopal Church at 60 Eustis Parkway is requesting a food license.
Councilors plan to consider approving a resolution that provides for canvassing of votes and determination of the results of the Nov. 3 municipal election. They also will consider taking final votes to sell 70 Violette Ave. to Run Yuan Inc. for $99,500 and 3 Abbott St. for $44,000 to Hassan Alavarabalnabi. The city had foreclosed on both properties for nonpayment of taxes.
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