Welcome and good evening.

This is a regular meeting of the Bangor City Council.

Today is Monday, August 11, 2025.

It is 7 PM.

You're watching us online.

You might notice that we are in our newly remodeled council chambers back at 73 Harlow Street and with new mics and a new camera system, so we all look fantastic.

We begin our meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I'd like to ask City Clerk, Lisa Goodwin, to lead us in the pledge.

Okay, very good.

Public comment, whether in person or via Zoom requires you to state your name and whether you are a resident of Bangor.

The City Council has adopted a public comment policy that we will adhere to that governs topics, comments considered out of order, offensive, or confidential, and a time limit of 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting, with the ability of the chair to reopen public comment at the conclusion of the regular business meeting.

Each person is limited to three minutes during the public comment period.

The public comment period is intended for City Council members to listen, not to respond or debate with persons during public comment, although we may ask questions.

On the success side, the council has made significant strides on its year of housing initiative, recognizing the city's critical need for affordable homes.

The council also approved a higher number of new housing units than in the previous three years combined.

A notable achievement was the use of pandemic recovery funds to prepare a city owned parcel on Grandview Avenue for up to 75 new workforce housing units.

A project now, a project now in a development agreement.

The council has also made progress in reducing the number of vacant properties and has supported projects like the conversion of the former pride Pine Tree Inn into supportive housing.

This focus on housing is a clear and commendable effort to address a pressing community need.

I thank you for that.

However, the council also has faced its shared criticism and challenges.

The prominent issue that I see has been the ongoing delay in the opening of Teresa's place, the supportive housing facility at the former Pine Tree Inn.

Despite a ribbon cutting ceremony months ago, the building remains empty.

The delays, which are largely due to complex federal inspection requirements and waiting for final approvals, have caused frustration for the dozen of dozens of applicants, many of whom are experienced chronic homelessness, and the community at large.

While the city council has provided funding and support, the fact that this critical housing restore resources still not operational highlights a significant failure in the execution and coordination of the project, leaving ruler vulnerable residents in limbo.

Furthermore, the city council's financial decisions have drawn scrutiny, particularly regarding property taxes and the use of budget surpluses or special accounts.

Some have argued that with increasing state revenue sharing, the council has not done enough to provide property tax relief for residents, instead, opting to build up city reserves.

This has led to an ongoing debate about physical accountability and the balance between maintaining services and easing the tax burden on homeowners.

In summary, this has been a year or eight months of mixed results for the Bangor City Council.

We've seen proactive and successful policymaking on housing development, yet we've also witnessed frustration, delays, and a lack of timely action on key projects like Theresa's place.

As we move forward, the community will be watching to see if the council can build on its success while learning from its failures to ensure that progress is not just planned but fully realized.

And I love it in here.

It's nice.

Thank you.

Seems to be working well.

The AC feels wonderful given the dangerous heat warnings we are experiencing today.

However, Bangor's most vulnerable residents, our unhoused neighbors have limited options to seek the same refuge from the heat.

With winter rapidly approaching, the urgency to protect all residents from climate extremes intensifies.

It's alarming that Bangor Area Homeless Shelter won't be opening a warming shelter, a warming center this winter.

As the state RFP closes August 29th for warming center funding, what is Bangor's immediate plan to offset this critical loss and prevent deaths from exposure this winter?

We cannot allow preventable deaths due to systemic inaction.

It's painful to witness nearly a hundred unhoused individuals congregating downtown, suffering in plain sight.

These are our neighbors, continually shuffled around the city, like those displaced from the Hope House encampment this spring with unfulfilled housing promises.

You're noticing a theme tonight here.

This constant displacement and lack of genuine solutions only prolongs suffering.

Where is the city's concrete plan to create housing for chronically unhoused people?

I want to acknowledge efforts to adjust zoning and create pre-approved housing designs as positive steps to encourage housing construction.

However, a recent BDN article, which I've attached with my comments tonight, confirmed that developers aren't interested in building truly affordable housing due to lack of profit.

The article stated it is impossible to make units affordable for those earning less than 35,000 annually.

Despite our housing study identifying a need for 700 units in the city.

Furthermore, abhorrent national trends like recent actions in Washington, D.C., where federal law enforcement are ordering unhoused individuals to move out immediately, exemplify a punitive approach.

This focus on removal from site over genuine support sets a dangerous precedent.

Underscoring our city's need to champion compassionate, effective strategies for human lives.

Bangor is better than that.

So I asked the city council directly.

What is Bangor's short and long-term plan to ensure no one dies on our streets from exposure and then everyone has housing?

We must shift from poorly managing this crisis to solving it with genuine compassion.

We need concrete action like affordable housing bond, leveraging CDBG funds, seeking matching grants from state and low state and federal governments, or providing tax incentives for landowners to donate space for housing construction with transparent timelines and a true commitment to this humanitarian crisis.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.