Follow the Leader

Storms of the century (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T19:21:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

If a rising tide lifts all boats, it also may lift local governments to prepare for projected sea level increases within the next century.

Last month, councilors in Scarborough joined counterparts in Biddeford and Saco to create a study group funded in part by a state grant to examine the effects of rising ocean levels.

It is called the Sea Level Adaptation Working Group, or SLAWG. The acronym makes officials wince, but the possible effects officials will study could be very costly.

Peter Slovinsky, a marine geologist with the Maine Department of Conservation has presented a scenario that shows possible inundation of dry areas and increased flooding caused by storm tides in the 21^st century. His projections are based on data from the Portland tide gauge that monitors sea activity from a spot on the Maine State Pier in Portland.

Slovinsky’s research is not necessarily new, said Saco City Administrator Rick Michaud and Old Orchard Beach Town Planner Gary Lamb. But the work is the impetus for collaboration between town officials and the state to study how to combat higher sea levels without adversely effect neighboring towns.

Participating towns will contribute a combined $25,000 in money and labor to initiate the study. They also are working with a $25,000 grant obtained from the State Planning Office by Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

Lamb said he hopes Old Orchard Beach councilors will consider the issue at the March 15 council meeting. If there is no room on the agenda, he hopes the topic can be taken up next month.

Slovinsky used data since 1912 to project potential inundation that would cover train tracks used by the Amtrak Downeaster, wetlands behind Route 9 between Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough and areas of Higgins Beach.

Tides from storms such as the one that struck Feb. 24 would swamp areas that now stay relatively dry – and flood evacuation routes, Lamb said.

“Go back to the (2007) Patriot’s Day storm – a 2-foot sea level increase would create a high tide typically like that,” Lamb said.

J.T. Lockman, a planning director with the planning commission, said using tide gauge data and state projections is essential as it removes arguments about global warming and climate change.

“No one has said the tide gauge is wrong,” Lockman said.

The planning commission provides economic development, transportation and resource protection planning assistance to towns in York County, helping towns join together to obtain federal and state grants. Because Scarborough is in Cumberland County, the Greater Portland Council of Governments also will help administer the grant, Lockman said.

Biddeford City Manager John Bubier noted the city lacks the open beach areas prevalent in Old Orchard Beach and Saco, but said it was essential to join in the study.

Study results could provide input for any future state road work on Route 9 as it passes the Fortunes Rocks area, Bubier said.

The total effect of what higher sea levels would mean for residential building codes or additional infrastructure such as pumping stations for storm water cannot be determined until the study is completed.

Michaud and Lamb each cited Goosefare Brook at the southern end of Old Orchard Beach as an area where an increase in sea levels could create more residential flooding in the Ocean Park and Kinney Shores areas.

While Lamb sees the possible need for more storm water pumping stations, Michaud said it will be critical to determine where utilities and roads are built.

“If the infrastructure is going to be there in a hundred years, it needs to be in a sustainable place,” he said.

Some solutions cited by Slovinsky to the Scarborough Town Council last month are relatively simple. More sand and more beach grasses to anchor the sand will help. Other remedies could involve adding or widening storm flow culverts, raising roads and requiring homes to have first floors above the tide line in affected areas.

Lockman said the next step is creating a committee of two officials from each participating town and establishing the scope of the study.

Study results will also help determine how and where public money is spent in the future, Bubier said.

“We have a common need here – it makes sense to approach it once instead of four times in four different ways,” Michaud said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

More state aid will sway budget choices (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T19:17:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

The road between introducing and voting on a budget is long.

Sometimes the road takes unexpected turns, as happened last week when Maine Department of Education officials announced local schools will receive $561,000 more in state subsidies than anticipated next year.

The announcement means the overall state subsidy will be reduced by about $1.46million instead of $2.03 million. How the restored subsidy will affect the proposed fiscal year 2011 school budget will not be fully known until the March 18second reading of the budget, said Board of Education Chairman Brian Dell’Olio.

The second reading will be followed by a board vote on the budget. If passed, the budget will be forwarded to the Town Council April 7.

Until last week’s announcement, Dell’Olio and the board had been considering public comments on a proposed fiscal year 2011 budget reducing spending from the current $35.19 million to $34.41 million. The proposed 2011 budget asks taxpayers to pay an additional $1.6 million in property taxes.

Districts throughout the state became the beneficiaries of revised revenue forecasts by state officials and more federal Medicaid money, Gov. John Baldacci announced last week. The revenue forecasts add $50.9 million and $27.8 million more in Medicaid money is available.

The extra money allows Baldacci to restore $37 million in health and human service said and $20 million in education aid for K-12 students he ordered cut to help close a $438 million budget gap, he said. Changes in the funding must be approved by the Legislature, which is seeking to close a $360 million state budget gap.

A vote on the budget drafted by finance committee members comes after two public hearings and two forums since its first reading Feb. 24.

The proposed budget reduces spending by about $786,000 and cuts about 43 school department positions.

Program reductions include foreign language instruction in grades three through five and the scope of middle school health education.

The current budget also calls for $250,000 in revenue to be generated from student activities fees, including athletics.

As the board considers what revisions might be made to the budget before it is presented to the Town Council, Scarborough resident Christine Kukka said she hopes board and town council members will consider results from a survey she helped develop.

Kukka,an organizer of Saving Excellence in Scarborough Schools, launched an online survey last month asking residents about school and municipal budget priorities that drew responses from 326 adults and 232 students, she said.

About57 percent of adults responding identified themselves as parents, and 50 percent of those answering the question said they are residents, Kukka said.

Kukka said she wanted to hear from adults and students as she pushes for wider town discussion of how all town services can be delivered more efficiently and where education fits in town priorities.

Adult respondents answered 14 questions on a scale of 1 to 5 from “strongly disagree”to “strongly agree.”

Ina yes or no question, 74 percent favored increasing property taxes to offset any proposed cuts to education or municipal services. The levels of suggested increase varied, but Kukka said they averaged $366 a year or 6 percent to 8percent above the current rate of $12.15 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Kukka said she found just as interesting were written responses to four questions that asked which town services are essential, which might be cut and how to make the cuts.

Kukka said the student responses were gratifying because they were so numerous. She credited students using a Facebook page to draw attention to the survey site.

The results, which Kukka also hopes will be considered by town councilors before they are presented the school budget April 7, are available atsessscarborough.wikispaces.com.

Partial restoration of state subsidies will not affect the $1.13 million curtailment from the fiscal year 2010 state subsidy of $7.04 million, and the fiscal year2012 outlook is bleak, said Department of Education Director of Finance and Operations Jim Rier.

Federal stimulus funds will not be available to bolster general purpose aid for fiscal year 2012, Rier said.

The restored funds surprised him after revenue forecasts had come up short over the least couple years, he said.

“Iwould have thought it was getting worse. But as concerned as we are with 2011,we are more concerned about 2012,” Rier said.

Staffwriter David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

Road crews tackle potholes in spring rite

2010-03-12T19:14:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

Potholes and maple syrup may be sure signs of spring. The odor of heated asphalt is however, much more pungent than boiling sap.

While drivers can find themselves doing a pockmarked polka to avoid gaping holes or foot-long cavities in the pavement, resident Mike Casey said he finds Scarborough roads to be in better shape than neighboring ones.

Casey’s assessment may be a relief to Public Works Director Mike Shaw and Maine Department of Transportation Superintendent of Operations Tim Cusick, as each said this is the time of year crews are busy patching the gouges, cracks, chips and humps that are as imminent as robins.

Casey, who lives in Oak Hill, said a stretch of Burnham Road in West Scarborough caught his attention as he drove to Fuller Farms on Broadturn Road.

“I’ve been on smoother airplane rides,” he said.

It might seem Cusick has the upper hand in the fight against potholes; he is responsible for maintaining 44 miles of roads in town as part of the 2,500 miles he supervises in MDOT Region 1. The region, one of five in the state, stretches from Kittery to Topsham to Stow, a town north of Fryeburg on the New Hampshire border.

But the 112 miles of town-owned roads Shaw oversees are usually of better quality – less traveled by heavy vehicles and often better designed because they are newer, he said.

“Volume is a big issue – the more you have, the more it pounds the surface,” Cusick said.

As described by Shaw, Cusick and the DOT Web site, potholes are born when water seeps under hard top surface and between the gravel or clay that forms the base of the road. When the water freezes, it expands and pushes up the road surface. When the ice melts, a hollowed area under the hard top develops and the surface caves in under the weight of traffic.

Determining maintenance responsibility is made through what are called “compacts” between state and local towns for major roads such as Route 114. Where population density is lighter, the state maintains the road, although there may be separate arrangements for winter plowing, Cusick said.

But lower population density along a road does not always translate into lighter traffic levels, especially on major routes that have been used for generations, if not centuries.

“Some of these roads are carriage trails that became dirt roads and then town roads,” Shaw said.

The newer town roads, including residential streets that see little traffic from heavier vehicles, are often better designed for drainage and have a sturdier base, he said.

Shaw said he also has an advantage combating potholes and other road damage because the town bought a pavement recycling trailer about three years ago.

By buying and storing asphalt through winter, then heating it in the trailer, Shaw said crews can fix a road once and for about half the cost of materials.

The alternative is called “cold patch,” using patching material that has lower asphalt content to patch a hole or gouge and then using asphalt to make the repair permanent in the spring or summer.

Cusick said his crews use cold patch, which Shaw estimated can cost $110 a ton right now, because the weather is not warm enough for asphalt manufacturers to resume production.

The cold patch solution can be heated, but a bigger repair will still needed later in the season, Cusick said.

At the same time, Cusick is hampered from making basic road repairs because of state budget troubles, he said.

Customers who stopped at Eight Corners Market this week did generally agree with Mike Casey that Scarborough roads were in good shape compared to other towns.

Richard Dyer, a contractor and remodeler working throughout the Portland area, said portions of Broadturn Road are not good and any roads with heavy truck traffic are showing signs of wear.

Mike Fitzgibbons, a mechanical contractor who travels through the area, praised the roads with one caveat: “Spring isn’t here yet,” he said.

Complaints about a pothole or other road damages may be made by calling the Public Works Department at 730-4400.

Shaw said callers do not need to worry about which department maintains the road; information will be passed on to the DOT office if needed.

The DOT office may be reached at 885-7000, and on weekends at 624-3339.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

Mary’s Walk features stories of inspiration (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T19:04:00Z

By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

A year ago, Louise Hurlbutt sat in a hospital isolation unit, holding a team hat in her hands while friends walked to raise money in her honor.

This year, Hurlbutt, 67, will speak about her experiences with breast cancer before taking to the road in the 12^th annual Mary’s Walk in Saco. By her side will be friend and fellow Kennebunk business owner Bonnie Clement, who is undergoing treatment for stage 2 breast cancer.

Hurlbutt, who owns Hurlbutt Designs in Kennebunk’s Lower Village, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stage 2 breast cancer last year, on the same day her sister was diagnosed with cancer. Clement, 57, was diagnosed in August with the same form of cancer and both women underwent treatment that included surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and an experimental drug. Using the drug elevated their cure rate to 85 percent, Hurlbutt said.

“We are very fortunate this is our diagnosis,” she said. “We’ve been able to hold on to hope, to say we can do this.”

Hurlbutt and Clement said they want to help others by sharing their stories of battling cancer. Emphasizing the importance of early detection through digital mammograms and raising money for research are essential to finding a cure for cancer and saving lives, they said.

Team Hurlbutt was the top fundraising team for last year’s event and brought in $13,900.

All money from Mary’s Walk and the Kerrymen Pub Road Race benefits the Maine Cancer Foundation in Portland. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Thornton Academy with registration and a community gathering for life featuring Gov. John Baldacci and Hurlbutt.

Mary’s Walk is named for Mary Jude Kerry Libby of Saco who died of cancer on March 7, 1997. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $1.2 million for cancer research in Maine.

Keeping research money in Maine is an important aspect of the event, said Peter King, manager of special events for the cancer foundation.

“The community really rallies around family and friends to support the mission of the Maine Cancer Foundation,” he said. “It’s local people supporting local research.”

In addition to supporting local research, the community turned out in force to support Hurlbutt and Clement. Hurlbutt said that kind of support is needed as patients navigate through a period that is emotionally and physically draining.

“You ride these waves up and down of emotion,” she said.

Though often left exhausted by treatments, Hurlbutt said she chose to embrace the gifts she was given with her cancer diagnosis. After her first treatment, she came home to find an e-mail from her son with a photo of his newly shaved head. Her son also moved his wife and baby daughter to Maine for three months so Hurlbutt could spend time with them during her treatment. Her daughter drove from New York City to Maine for each of her mother’s chemotherapy treatments.

Throughout the past year, Clement and Hurlbutt have found inspiration in stories they hear of other people fighting cancer.

“It’s grace and gratitude I want to give back to people,” Hurlbutt said. “Hope has to be the guide for you, you can’t give up hope. Today we’re walking for everyone who has cancer.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.

Police Notes (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T19:03:00Z

Hoofing it

A call March 1 about a suspicious person walking on Pine Point Road near theN ature Center at Scarborough Marsh led police giving the person a ride to the Grand Beach Inn.

Always like this?

A driver was given a warning for erratic operation March 1 after a complaint about weaving on Gorham Road and crossing a traffic island on Payne Road. Th edriver was not intoxicated.

It’s mine

Police determined an unoccupied vehicle reported March 2 near Wentworth Intermediate School belonged to a Community Services employee.

On the hook

Police investigating a fraud complaint at Maietta Towing on March 1 learned a customer using an invalid credit card to pay fees when picking up their vehicle agreed to pay the outstanding charges.

Don’t e-mail either

Two former employees of Portland Pie Co. were told by police March 4 not to make threatening phone calls to the business or its employees. They had been identified through voicemails and were determined to be intoxicated when they called.

Oops

The driver of a car that struck another vehicle at Holmes and Mitchell Hill roads March 6 was unaware of the minor collision and very apologetic when stopped by police after the accident.

Working fine

Reports that the traffic light at Southboro Drive and Payne Road had malfunctioned March 3 turned out to be unfounded.

Not the place

Neighbors doing yard work March 7 asked police to warn a driver on Wildrose Lane to stop speeding on the road.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

Letter: Benefit of mild winter? (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T19:00:00Z

To the editor:

Granted winter isn’t over yet, but I’m thinking there must be thousands of unused dollars set aside for snow removal this season that could be redirected to the school system.

Certainly there is enough to pay the salary of a teacher or two who might otherwise be laid off. I don’t know how the system works and perhaps this isn’t possible, but it’s certainly worth a thought.

John Coleman

Scarborough

Letter: Warm thanks to library (Printed March 12, 2010)

2010-03-12T18:41:00Z

To the editor:

Recently the Scarborough Library asked patrons for blankets for those in need. It was a huge success with more than 100 blankets, shawls and throws collected. The timing was perfect and our clients were extremely grateful.

We have seen a tremendous increase in visitors to our Thursday morning cupboard. Just in this past February we saw a 36 percent increase over last year. Many of the new clients are out of work.

Keeping enough food on hand is a challenge enough without addressing the other needs a client may have. We cannot thank Nancy Crowell, her staff and Scarborough patrons for their caring and generosity. You kept many warm during our cold months.

South Portland Food Cupboard is in the basement of St. John the Evangelist Church, on Route 1. We are open on Thursday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30. You can call us at 874-0379.

Sybil Riemensnider

Director, South Portland Food Cupboard

Girls rule (Printed March 5, 2010)

2010-03-05T18:57:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

A day after school was canceled due to flooded roads, the Scarborough High School girls basketball team swamped Skowhegan High School 52-32 to win the state Class A championship.

The Red Storm surge at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland began early as the team led 19-3 after the first period.Scarborough capped the game with a 13-2 run.

The win was balanced as seniors Christy Manning, Brittany Ross and Ellie Morin each scored 12 points. Senior forward Sarah Moody scored nine – all on three-point shots.

Red Storm defenders held the Indians without afield goal for about eight minutes in the first half. Scarborough led 25-15 at halftime and the Indians drew to within seven points before a Red Storm flurry in the fourth period.

Coach Jim Seavey said it was as close as the team got to perfection all season.

“They have been resilient, they believe in each other and the system. They couldn’t have done it any better right from the opening tip,” Seavey said. The team overcame the broken wrist sustained by senior guard Jenn Colpitts in the Western Conference tournament and the loss of two other featured players during a 22-0 season.

Without Colpitts, who also missed the Western Conference semi-final and final games, Seavey said he asked the team to spread the work load.

“Everyone had to step up and get an extra rebound,make an extra pass, get an extra steal, and that’s exactly what we did,” Seavey said. “We never want to put the pressure all on one kid, we want to do it as a team.”

Scarborough defeated a common opponent for the gold ball trophy.

Since last June, the girls have beaten the Indians for championships in softball, field hockey and basketball.

Senior guard Heather Carrier played for all three teams, and enjoyed the streak while enduring only one loss in the three seasons.

Ross and Morin formed the core of the field hockey team with Carrier. Ross tied the field hockey game with a second half goal while Morin won it on a tipped shot in overtime. The win ended an eight-year run for Skowhegan as field hockey champions.

While the three celebrated multiple championships, senior forward Christy Manning added to her family’s glory. Her mother, the former Lisa Blais, played on four championship teams at Westbrook High School in the late 1970s.

Morin, who sank a three-point buzzer beater as the first period came to a close, said the early lead was a huge surprise to her.

“I looked at the scoreboard and said ‘what the heck?’ We had just played Deering and the whole game was intense,” Morin said of the come-from-behind win Feb. 20 that put Scarborough into the state championship.

“Skowhegan is an amazing team, they are athletic and they are all competitors,” Ross said.

Carrier, who spent much of the game in foul trouble before fouling out with one minute and 43 seconds left in the game, said she knew Skowhegan players badly wanted the win.

But so did Carrier, Ross, Manning and others who have played together for at least six years, Carrier said.

Manning said her team was more frustrated than worried as Skowhegan chipped away at the Red Storm lead.

“We weren’t getting as many open looks. We weren’t moving the ball around and kind of forcing things,” said Manning, who was named a semi-finalist for the annual Miss Basketball award given by the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches. Results will be announced March 12.

Seavey said sticking to the game plan and contributions from younger players were critical for victory.

“We wanted to take advantage of our size,” Seavey said, noting Manning’s outside play depleted Skowhegan’s inner defensive strategy because of the need to guard her. Meanwhile, 6-foot-2-inch sophomore Brittany Bona added four points and provided rebounding strength.

“Bona was huge, she’s bided her time and bided her time and today she got to step into the spotlight,” Seavey said.

After the nets were cut down and the Civic Center lights were dimmed, Carrier, Ross and Morin reflected on winning multiple championships. Ross and Morin said climbing the mountain in field hockey was more difficult, and Carrier said the team aspects of basketball made the championship the most rewarding.

Morin added her summation.

“To win two in a row as a senior – not many people do that, you know? You can’t stop smiling,” she said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at282-4337, ext. 219

Upset at cuts, parents crowd school meeting (Printed March 5, 2010)

2010-03-05T18:42:00Z

Editor’s note: The printed version of this article included inaccurate information regarding Superintendent David Doyle’s salary. The reduction in administrative salaries from $168,000 to $150,000 mentioned also includes a portion of Assistant Superintendent Jo Anne Sizemore’s salary. The error has been corrected in this version.

By David Harry

Staff Writer

Vowing to pay more in taxes and urging the board to reconsider its priorities, more than 150 people flocked to Town Hall last Thursday to comment on the proposed fiscal year 2011 school budget.

While Board of Education Chairman Brian Dell’Olio said the proposed $34.41 million budget “does its best to keep the impact minimal and programs intact,” speakers lined up for more than two hours to deliver countering opinions. The current budget, which includes adult education programs, is $35.19 million.

Maureen Desveaux cited strengths of academic and athletic programs and said she worried about the future quality of schools for her three children.

“We got all this by doing what we are trying to cut now,” she said. She added her first-, third- and fifth-grade children should benefit from programs she supported before she had school-age children.

The budget calls for a spending reduction of almost $786,000 and increases the local property tax levy from $26.7 million to $28.39 million.

If no municipal surplus is used to offset the tax levy, the 6.36 percent increase would increase taxes 48 cents per $1,000 of property value, Dell’Olio said. Properties currently are assessed at $12.15 per $1,000 of value and the possible increase would add $96 in property taxes to a home valued at $200,000.

The possible property tax increase, like the budget, remains preliminary, Dell’Olio said. Finance committee members built the budget anticipating a $20 million increase in town property values this year. That figure is reasonable, said Town Manager Tom Hall, but the full valuation compiled by Town Assessor Paul Lesperance will not be completed until summer.

School spending must be cut because the town lost more than $2 million in state aid and lacks a surplus to fund next year’s programs, said Bob Mitchell, chairman of the school board’s finance committee. Maintaining the status quo would lead to a 10.25 percent increase in the tax rate, he said.

“The bottom line is 10 percent is unreasonable,” Mitchell said.

The budget combines elements of two scenarios presented the finance committee earlier this month. One called for reducing spending to $34.62 million and the other for a reduction to $34.05 million.

The budget as currently proposed would lead to job reductions. Among the 43 positions slated for elimination are the equivalent of more than 23 teachers, 11 educational technicians, two bus drivers and three secretaries. Although upper-level French courses at Scarborough High School will be kept, introductory classes at Wentworth Intermediate School would be eliminated.

The proposed elimination of high school video production courses and cuts to the middle school health education program drew sharp criticism from students James Sunshine and Emma Cooper.

Sunshine called the production course one of the best electives offered at the high school because it involves technological learning that translates into real world job skills. Sunshine used his own work producing cable and streaming broadcasts of council meetings as an example of course benefits.

Cooper, an eighth-grader at Scarborough Middle School, said deferring knowledge about substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases taught in the health program could be harmful.

“Some won’t learn the repercussions of their actions until high school and it may be too late,” she warned.

Caterina McLean, a 2009 Scarborough High School graduate attending Chicago University, sent her opinions in a letter read at the hearing by her mother, Jean-Marie Caterina.

In the letter, McLean attributed her success as a student to the depth of offerings throughout the schools and said it was impossible to cut one area without adversely affecting others.

Resident Tim Coombs presented his view of preserving education as investment, while another resident, Jeff Porter, asked the board to reconsider cutting staff over supplies and new buses.

Superintendent David Doyle’s request as part of his new contract reduces the combined amount of his and Assistant Superintendent Jo Anne Sizemore pay from $168,000 to $150,000.

A second public hearing took place Thursday, after the Leader deadline.

A public forum for students and parents in sixth through 12th grade will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the cafeteria at Scarborough Middle School. A forum for ealier grades will be 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the same location. A second reading and vote on the budget is scheduled for March 18.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

Town seeks Eastern Trail bridge funding (Printed March 5, 2010)

2010-03-05T18:39:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

From Eastern Road, hikers and bike riders can enjoy a curving trail with views of the Nonesuch River as it winds through upper reaches of Scarborough Marsh.

Crossing the river is a different matter. Scarborough has asked for $1 million in federal transportation money to help reconstruct an old railroad bridge that would help provide one of the last links along the trail.

Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall has asked Congresswoman Chellie Pingree to include an “earmark” to pay for the bridge and complete the Scarborough portion of Eastern Trail. He is working with the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System, a regional collaboration of 16 towns that secures state and federal transportation funding.

Stone foundations and concrete abutments still stand where trail and river meet, but boulders now block a roughly 20-foot drop to the river. On the north side of the bridge, brush and trees have rooted in the railroad bed that could become at least part of final links for a 62-mile trail from Kittery to Bug Light in South Portland.

The earmark request faces long odds of acceptance, according to statistics provided by Willy Ritch, communications director for Pingree, a Democrat.

Pingree has received 133 earmark requests since last October to be included in eight appropriation bills. Ritch said the request for bridge and trail money is one of 21 to be considered as part of next year’s federal budget in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.

The bill is part of the federal budget that goes into effect Oct. 1.

While the requests are plentiful, available slots for earmarks Pingree can request have decreased almost by half, from seven to four, said Ritch.

Hall said how the trail will extend in South Portland after a new bridge is built has not been decided.

“I was hesitant to put this forward because there are so many unanswered questions,” he said.

While the trail would continue north on the former railroad roadbed once across the Nonesuch River, private property and pedestrian access concerns along Pleasant Hill Road complicate a potential route.

One choice could set a path along a Central Maine Power right of way. The trail would cross active rail lines owned by Guilford Transportation and used by the Amtrak Downeaster and freight trains.

A second choice would cross private land and use Pleasant Hill Road for part of the trail, a route that concerns Hall because of traffic flow and a narrow bridge over active train tracks.

Also undecided is how the trail will be routed north of Pleasant Hill and what Public Works officials unofficially call Prout’s Pond.

Possible routes are along Pond View Drive or along the other side, which would mean less vehicle traffic but more work to create the trail, Hall said.

Eventually, any completed trail will link to the South Portland Greenbelt walkway at the Wainright Recreation Complex off Highland Avenue and bordering the Scarborough town line, according to preliminary plans.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219

Alleged ATM thief back behind bars (Printed March 5, 2010)

2010-03-05T18:38:00Z

By David Harry

Staff Writer

The Old Orchard Beach man charged withtheft of an automated teller machine in Scarborough last November is again in jail after his arrest in Biddeford last week.

Brian Andrews, 32, appeared in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland Tuesday before his return to jail, where he is being held without bail for violating conditions of his release, according to jail officials.

According to Biddeford Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk, Andrews was arrested on outstanding warrants issued in Cumberland County. Police logs show he was arrested at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 23 on King Street.

Police said Andrews possessed a usable amount of marijuana, violating his conditions of release. When arrested, Fisk said Andrews tried to pose as his younger brother.

He was taken to York County Jail in Alfred and then transferred to Cumberland County Jail in Portland on Feb. 25, a York County Jail official said.

Cumberland County Jail officials confirmed Andrews has been held without bail since Feb. 25 because of the bail conditions violation.

Andrews was indicted in January by a Cumberland County grand jury on charges he used a stolen pickup truck to drag an ATM from the store late at night on Nov. 29 before leading Scarborough police on a high speed chase down Gorham and Black Point roads.

Andrews also is charged with ramming a police cruiser at the start of the chase. He was arrested after he crashed the truck near the Prouts Neck Yacht Club in Scarborough.

Court records show officers followed footprints across a beach and discovered Andrews hiding behind rocks and in the water.

Andrews has a list of convictions on burglary, forgery, theft and assault charges dating to 2000, according to the same court records.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219