Thank you.

Good evening.

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Bangor City Council.

It is January 12th.

It is now 7 p.m.

And we are wanting to start promptly so we can work through our agenda judiciously.

We start all meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Sonia.

Okay.

This is the portion of the meeting set aside for general public comment directly related to city business for matters that do not appear on this evening's agenda.

Public comment requires a person 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.

Statements during public comment should respect the dignity and seriousness of the proceeding, and individuals will be restricted to speaking once.

Obscene, truly threatening, or overly repetitive comments will be deemed out of order and will be interrupted and removed.

Topics that are considered out of order also include matters that are in litigation, individual employees or employee groups discussing matters for which complaint or grievance procedures are in place, personal disputes between the speaker and another resident, not germane to city business, support for or opposition to any candidate for a political office, and personal complaints pertaining to individual city employees.

There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker, and the total time allowed for general public comment regarding city business will be limited to no more than one hour.

The public comment period is for city council members to listen and not to respond or debate with persons.

If you do not live in Bangor or own property in Bangor, please allow those who do to have the opportunity to speak first.

If you'd like to offer comment on any item directly related to city business not appearing on the regular agenda, you may approach the podium.

Alternatively, counselors may be reached via email at counselors at Bangor Main.gov.

A link to the adopted public comment policy can be found on the city's website, public comment policy.

However, this cannot be another bloated tax force that produces nothing but a report that gathers dust.

For this to work, it must follow three strict rules of engagement.

First, keep it small.

We do not need a dozen different opinions in the room.

We need a core group of three to five people.

Second, set a fast deadline.

While we sit in this climate controlled room, they are fighting for their lives, and we must ask act with a speed that reflects that reality.

Third, you must commit to total implementation.

You must obey the committee's suggestions no matter how painful or inconvenient they may seem to city staff.

If this committee determines that the best solution is to take over a city-owned building and relocate municipal departments to make room for 24-hour indoor space, then do it.

Our city departments are staffed by professionals who are more than capable of adjusting to new office layouts or temporary locations.

They are resilient.

The people sleeping in the coal do not have the same luxury of resilience left.

We need an indoor space available 24 hours a day to keep everyone safe, the unhoused and the public alike.

I will be following up with an email in the next week or two detailing the specific financial benefits of this approach, showing how a centralized indoor space actually saves the city a tremendous amount of money on emergency services and cleanup.

Stop managing the problem and let's start solving it.

Find your chair, set the deadline, and be prepared to move whatever mountains or departments are necessary to save lives.

And um, I really do want to thank you for doing that.

I think it's a big move.

I think that uh this problem can actually be fixed now, and just uh be flexible, you know, or keep an open mind.

And uh that's all I have to say.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else.

Good evening.

Um, my name is Nathaniel Fields.

I'm a resident of Bugsport, Maine.

I'm a father, a veteran, and the founder of No More Homeless Fathers Project, a newly 501c3.

When we talk about homelessness, we often talk about accountments, shelters and numbers, but we rarely talk about men and fathers.

Men are who are working, trying, loving their children, showing up, but who are one miss paycheck, one custody battle, one injury, or one mental health crisis away from losing everything.

Nationally, nearly nearly 70% of people experiencing homelessness are men.

In Maine, men make up the clear majority of the single adult homelessness population.

Many of them are fathers.

That means homelessness is not just a housing issue.

It's a men and fathers issue, and therefore a single stability, public safety, and long-term fiscal issue.

When a father becomes homeless, it doesn't just affect him.

It destabilizes his children, schooling, mental health, and safety, and increases the likelihood of foster care, court involvement, emergency room use, and long-term public assistance.

The public pays for that collapse for decades.

Encampments are not the root problem.

They're the visible symptom of a deeper breakdown and stability, mental health, routine, and connection, especially for men and fathers who are losing daily access to their children and their sense of purpose.

This is why our work focuses on prevention, not just crisis response.

The No More Homeless Fathers Project provides housing stabilization, employment pathways, mental health, legal navigation for custody and cuss and child support and family reunification support.

At the core is men and fathers anonymous, a structured accountability and brotherhood model that builds discipline, routine, and peer responsibility.

Isolation is one of the strongest predictors of homelessness, relapse, accountability and community interrupt that cycle.

This is cheaper than foster care, cheaper than incarceration, cheaper than repeated shelter, ER, and court involvement.

This is about a compassionate and physically responsible.

My act tonight is this.

I'm requesting a formal working session with the council and the city's housing, public health and social service leadership to explore a pilot partnership between Bangor and the No More Homeless Fathers Project.

Specifically, I'm asking for the opportunity to formally present our full program and our outcome models.

Identification of city-owned or partner space for men and fathers accountability and support groups, coordination with housing workforce, and family court partners, and consideration of a five of a pilot funding allocation and the range of 50,000 to 150,000 through ARPA, CBD, CDBG, or local stabilization funds to launch a men and fathers uh stabilized with the homelessness prevention strategy.

This pilot will focus on men and fathers at the tipping point before tents become permanent, before children end up in foster care, before courts and hospitals become the default safety net.

Strong men build strong families.

Sir, that was the time.

Your time is only three minutes.

Would you leave your um contact information before you leave?

Yes.

Good evening.

My name's Michael Norton.

Uh I'm at 83 Elm Street, Bangor, Maine.

Fortunately, I have the next three months' rent paid off.

So other than being out of money, I'm okay with that.

Since it's winter time.

I think this year it's not unreasonable to imagine two or more people having a conversation that goes something like this.

Wow, I can't believe cancer is no longer on this planet for anyone.

Whoa, me neither.

What are we going to do?

I have a Parkinson's disease class.

I'm trying to get to universities to teach medical schools and professionals how to convey the cure for Parkinson's disease this year.

But one of the takeaways they have from that class is that there is a key finding in that discovery that's related to cancer and cancer treatment.

The human body has 30 trillion cells working in each and every one of us.

7 trillion of those, or 23%, are dedicated every second and every moment.

We're alive to water management and water productivity.

The rest of the human body is what?

It's water.

77%.

70 to 7% is water at any given tidal moment.

Second day, week, month, year.

And when the schools can incorporate a perspective of magnetism in their curriculum, they'll be able to beat both for everyone.

I spoke for an hour today with a human resources representative at the Ohio State University.

A wonderful person.

She introduced me to contact information for a doctor with a 27-page curriculum vitae.

A 27-page resume.

But he's been to universities of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

He's on the diagnostic radiology board, and he was a resident for that department.

He works with oncology.

He works with the James Center, which is in OSU at OSU for comprehensive cancer care.

It's just unbelievable to me because I don't play football, and neither does he, I don't think.

I didn't see it on the resume, but 27-page resume.

I don't know anyone who's ever had to be faced with 27-page resume.

I think they want me to ask him and them, do you need more continuing education in your school?

So that's their play option today, but whatever.

If a referee is playing cancer care for patients, and it's the football field as an analogy.

The human blood has a compounded rate of resonance.

Every day and every time we live, unlike the daily clock.

And if you put the ball down, Raf on the field, the players are ready to play.

You can't put it down without this class.

You're just throwing it off away from the sure.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of council.

Uh, it's good to see you.

I haven't been around a little bit, but if some of you might remember, uh again, Steve Santiago, formerly uh food and medicine.

Um I was here frequently discussing transportation for all in our community connector service within the area.

I'm here again for that reason.

It's uh again, I'm not affiliated with food and medicine any longer, but the important, but the subject is still important to me.

I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the passing of Jim Fogg, a city employee of 22 years.

Jim served as a Bangor community connected driver for for those 22 years and was an ATU 74 team member for just as long.

Passengers and drivers alike will miss him.

John Lee, another driver for the community connector, previously stated within the transportation community, WWJD stood for what would Jim do.

So was his patience and compassion for those he served.

He was so um he was soft-spoken and well respected within the community.

Jim was 66 when he passed last Tuesday.

Uh, he survived by his mother, father, sister, and a young lady named Amber, who he considered like a daughter.

I'd like to use my remaining time as a moment of silence to respect his life and his services, and to also think about uh our other city employees.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Seeing none, we'll go to whoop, somebody's coming.

Good afternoon.

My name's David Lyons.

I'm not from Bangor, so I wanted to wait till the end.

But I just wanted to thank you guys for what you're doing for the homeless and the committee and all that stuff.

And it was a pleasure to hear what was going on on Tuesday.

I'm standing here as part of Reach Ministries today to just lay it out.

You guys use the word experts a lot on the Tuesday's meeting.

And I was homeless 13 years, and the rehabilitation for homeless is a beautiful thing, but from lived experience, the gap between a homeless drug addict to a full-term program with no drugs upturns these people's lives in a way that it's too much.

Only one out of 10 survive.

So today I'd like to propose an idea that I've seen has worked.

The state of Texas is already doing it.

There's another gentleman in uh Canada that I've just heard is starting this.

It's a 30-day transitionary program that allows homeless people to camp and have miniature homes where you take them out of the addiction, but you still let them kind of live what they're comfortable in.

And that 30 days helps them to transition out of addiction and teach them community, but at the same time, it gives you 30 days to get to personally know who you're trying to help.

A lot of homeless that do get the resources they need, when they go into a rehab, they go in to options, let's say, things like that.

The person at the desk that is sitting there helping the homeless actually doesn't know the person that they're trying to help.

And a relationship for myself personally, because this was my story.

That's what helped me to actually change my life.

So being able to have a 30-day transitionary program allows them to change part of their life at once while you get to know them well enough to know what program works best for them.

I went through a faith-based program myself, and there's so many different kinds.

There's the one I went to, 168 acres out in the woods.

There's another one in uh New York, city-based for everybody's different that's homeless.

It's not just homeless is the issue.

It's people need to understand people.

And doing this transitionary program would allow the gap between recovery and homelessness to be a little easier, where hopefully the transition actually works.

So that's my proposal today, and I just want to thank you guys for giving us the opportunity to get up here and speak.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Seeing none, we will go to those that are on Zoom.

Richard Ward can you hear me?

Hello.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

All right, thank you.

Uh Richard Ward, Bangor resident.

Uh I had some a few different topics I wanted to cover.

First, this is uh for the members of the city council, fellow citizens, and anyone else brave enough to listen.

I speak today as a free American demanding accountability from the government that's forgotten its place.

You built a fortress of hypocrisy here in Bangor.

Silencing voices that dare challenge your echo chamber.

You censor speech, shut down debates, and label anything you don't like as hate speech while preaching tolerance.

It's laughable, pathetic even.

How dare you claim to champion diversity while stomping on the very beliefs that built this nation?

I call on you right now to acknowledge what you're doing.

Violating constitutional rights.

The first amendment isn't a suggestion, it's the law.

We have the unable right to speak freely and to petition our government to address our grievances.

Yet here we are, acting like tyrants, blocking citizens from addressing you because your truth make them uncomfortable.

Admit it, you're trampling the constitution to protect fragile eagles, egos.

And let's talk about the real threats in our town and our society and our country.

Left is violence.

It's not conservatives out there burning cities or assaulting police.

No, it's called progressives who resort to violence when words fail them.

We see it and we are done pretending it's mostly peaceful.

Take ice, for example.

Those hearers on the front lines protecting our borders from chaos.

Remember that Drang woman who tried to mow down an ice officer with her car?

She got what was coming.

A swift dose of justice and self-defense.

Praise are all you want in your safe spaces.

But that's what happens when you attack law enforcement.

Reality hits back harder than your virtue signals.

My message to law enforcement.

Enforce the laws as you do for your job.

Either step aside and let real patriots restore law.

Mr.

Lord, you are out of order.

I didn't hear what she said.

Okay, Philip Hassler.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yep, I'm here.

Can you hear me?

Go ahead.

Um, yeah, quickly, could I get a reason why the first uh zoom caller was out of order?

He's bringing in topics that if you had read the um or listened at the beginning, we read what was going to be accepted and what wasn't.

Umce that line is crossed, I will as chair gallow him out of order or anyone else that's doing the same thing.

And once he's out of order, he's off the Zoom.

Um, I I not to get into a back and forth, but uh I'm curious.

If the council changed over and uh new members came in, then would the appropriate topics then change?

Is this a fluid concept that uh depending on who is here tonight?

That's what we can talk about, or is there something set in stone?

It seemed kind of vague.

I read that too, and I was just left with.

I mean, I thought this was the moment that the public got to come in and speak and not be judged by what they were said or what they had said.

Am I incorrect?

What was read at the beginning is the public comment policy that has been adopted by the city council, all the topics uh listed there that are gonna be considered out of order.

Um it does not matter who's in the chambers.

I heard I heard somebody speaking about First Amendment issues, and I know recently we had an issue where you guys shut down Zoom because you didn't like what was said, and then it has to come back, and now it seems like you're still saying it all depends on whether you guys like what the public has to say.

And that's what I'm confused about because I don't want to, you know, I'd like to have my opportunity to speak as a Bangor resident of eight years and eight months, but um I'm up against like these arbitrary uh rules.

I don't I feel like it's it's hard to navigate.

So maybe I just proceed.

Uh hopefully that you know, as an American citizen, the the ideas that I have, um, whether you agree with them or not, you'll allow me the space to put them forward.

So okay, with that being said, uh, I'm here tonight to talk about the outrageous decision to shut down public comments over Zoom just because some words got a little too spicy for your delicate ears.

Uh you've caved as a censorship mob, silencing voices under the guise of protecting us from disruptive behavior.

But let's be real.

This is about you squashing speech.

Sorry, my phone uh screen went blank there.

Uh your squashing speech that you don't like, uh squashing speech that is offensive, squashing speech that challenges your comfy little echo chamber.

You know, freedom of speech isn't just polite and the politically correct.

The first amendment protects even the ugliest words as long as they are legal.

Um, offense isn't a crime, it's a choice.

If someone drops a slur or rants like a lunatic on Zoom, that's their right in a public forum.

Mute them if you must, but banning the whole platform, that's cowardice.

And you guys showed your hand there that you are cowards when it comes to time is up, Mr.

Asler.

Mr.

Lance.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Yeah.

Hello.

Uh restricting virtual public comments is silencing unpopular speech.

That's viewpoint discrimination.

This meeting's public comment period is a limited public form in such a form the city may impose reasonable time, place, and manner rules, but it may not engage in viewpoint discrimination.

That is settled constitutional law.

Supreme Court held in Rosenberger versus University of Virginia that the viewpoint discrimination is per se unconstitutional.

And Mattal versus TAM, the court stated plainly that speech that offends that offense is protected.

Government officials may not silence speech simply because it's uncomfortable, harsh, or unpopular.

No matter what you guys think on your board, you can't do that.

Public comments exist for political criticism.

Citizens have the right to criticize public officials, government policy, foreign governments, and political movements.

New York Times versus Sullivan court held that even sharp and damaging criticism of public officials lies at the core of the First Amendment.

Citizens may also speak about true historical and criminal facts concerning public officials.

Truthful statements about a council member's public record or criminal conviction are protected political speech and may not be censored simply because they are embarrassing or harmful.

The city may regulate conduct, not content.

Under Brandenburger versus Ohio, speech may be restricted only if it is intended and likely to cause imminent lawless action.

Mere offense, anger, or controversy is not a disruption.

Courts also reject the heckler's veto and Bible believers versus Wayne County.

The court held that government must protect speakers rather than silence them because others might react negatively.

Courts have also made clear that manner of expression does not remove political protection.

Political speech does not lose protection because it's profane, crude, or offensive.

And Cohen versus California, the Supreme Court protected vulgar political expression.

I am speaking calmly within time and without threats.

I ask that the same rules be applied to other viewpoints to be applied here.

Um any interruption during this final segment segment, absent uh actual disruption will demonstrate viewpoint discrimination uh under the First Amendment.

Thank you.

Public should know about Angela Walker, then Angela Humphrey.

Um that's it.

Taylor Ann Vaughn.

Hi, my name is Taylor Ann Vaughn, and I am a resident of Bangor.

Um my goodness, some of these comments.

I'm not gonna say that I necessarily agree with every comment made, but I do think it's important to listen because we are residents, we are citizens.

I actually came today to talk about the ICE protests going on right now.

But I find that the issues that we have are much deeper than that when our own citizens can't even have a voice.

I mean, that is disgusting.

I am all for every single illegal immigrant being put back where they came from because they are not here legally, but we have legal citizens here just wanting to be heard in their own community by people elected in a position that their entire job is to listen.

Maybe 10% can be signed this paper and act on what they have listened to and make the best decision for their people based on that.

But every single thing that you do relies on listening to us.

There's what six, seven of you?

How many of us?

I find it abhorrent that you think is appropriate to cut off anyone's speech.

We have the right to three minutes, and that's not asking for anything.

It is pathetic that we have to sign up to speak in our community and be heard in our community.

The fact that we are not capable of coming in, raising our hand and just being heard is disgusting.

You set up all these extra barriers, Roger, got it.

But the people who have done this and have done everything they're supposed to do can't even be heard by the people they elected in.

Despicable.

You think you do.

And it is pathetic when you you try to flex something that you don't have.

A bunch of boomers out here trying to tell us what is and is not appropriate.

We have the right to free speech, and every single supreme court justice that has ruled upon free speech has said so.

As long as you are not inciting violence or saying fire in a crowd.

You are allowed to your words.

I don't care if you like them.

I don't care if you find it offensive.

I don't care if you find it so offensive that it I don't know, incites enough violence for you to commit murder and then be written off as though it was nothing, and then I don't know, be elected in the city council.

Even that's that's enough, Taylor, and we're done.

Okay.

I think we've had enough Zoom exposure for one evening.

Okay, Madam Clerk, if we could go to the consent agenda, please.

Minutes of Bangor City Council regular meeting of December 22nd, 2025.

26-061 order authorizing the execution of a municipal quit claim deed for real estate located at 541 Condescake Avenue, 26-062 order, appointing constables for the year 2026, 26-063 order accepting the 2025 annual report from Historic Preservation Commission, 26-064 order, accepting the 2025 annual report from the planning board, 26-065 order, accepting the 2025 annual report from the Punjabiwak Marsh Bangor Mall Management Commission.

I move approval of the council's consent agenda.

Second.

Seeing none, the consent agenda has passed it.

There are no referrals.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair, I move council order 26-050.

Second.

Second.

It has been moved and seconded to move this council order 26-050 to the meeting of January 26.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none, is there any objection?

Seeing none, the order will have passage to move this to the January 26th City Council meeting at 7 p.m.

Madam Clerk.

26-058 ordinance amending the land development code section one size 165-1-3 definitions to remove Ohio Street and State Street from the minor arterial street definition and add Ohio Street to the major arterial definition.

Councilor Carson.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair, I move council ordinance 26-058.

Second, Madam Chair, I move to postpone consideration of council ordinance 26-058 to the regularly scheduled city council meeting on January 26th, 2026 at 7 p.m.

And refer discussion of council ordinance 26-058 to the business and economic development committee.

Second.

At their next meeting.

Okay.

It is an ordinance.

We'll need a roll call vote.

Madam Clerk.

Councilor Beck.

Clarification this is just a vote to do the referral, not the actual past the ordinance.

Right.

This is moving it to the referral.

Yes.

Council Carson?

Yes.

Yes.

Councillor Falloon?

Yes.

Council of Fish.

Yes.

Council Mallor.

Yes.

Council Walker?

Yes.

Council Haas.

Yes.

Yes, 09.

Okay.

Ordinance 26-058 has passage to be referred to the meeting of January 26th and the Business Economic Development Committee.

Unfinished business.

We have uh 26-059 resolve appropriating an amount not to exceed $900,000 from the airport unappropriated fund balance to fund the phase one design of the fuel farm facility.

Council of Fish.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair, I'd like to move resolve 26-059.

Second.

This resolve will appropriate up to $900,000 from the airport unappropriated fund balance account to fund the phase one design of the fuel farm facility.

The current fuel farm is originally 1968 surplus military transfer and consists of three storage tanks connected by a pipeline with a storage capacity of 3 million gallons.

The facilities age, remote configuration, and the pipeline, which crosses Maine Avenue at three different separate locations, create growing operational regulatory and liability challenges.

The FAA approved airport master plan calls for the relocation and construction of a new fueling facility that meets the current industry standards.

Preliminary proposals placed phase one of a two-phase design and engineering process at approximately $900,000.

This item was received and recommended for passage by the Business and Economic Development Committee at the December 15th, 2025 meeting.

Okay, resolve 26-059 has been moved and seconded.

Is there any discussion?

Are there any objections?

Seeing none, resolve 26-059 has passage.

New business, Madam Clerk.

Public hearing application for special amusement license of 471 Stillwater Avenue LLC.

Doing business as smoke and steel 471 Stillwater Avenue.

Council LeBeck.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair, I move that we open the public hearing for the application for special amusement license of 471 Stillwater LLC doing business as smoke and steel 471 Stillwater Avenue.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

The public hearing is open.

See no one approach.

I move that we close the public hearing.

Second.

Seeing no objection, the public hearing is closed.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that we approve the application for a special amusement license of 471 Stillwater LLC doing business as smoke and steel 471 Stillwater Avenue.

Second.

Is there any further discussion or objections?

Seeing none, the application has passage.

Madam Clerk.

26-066 order authorizing an update to the community connector fair structure.

Council of Beck.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair, I move passage of order number 26066.

Second.

This order will authorize an update to the existing fare structure for the community connector to include an increase per ride of 50 cents from $1.50 to $2.

Replace traditional monthly passes with fare capping, eliminate the need for paper transfer tickets, and create mobile fare options.

The community connector, in conjunction with the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System, recently completed a fare study that included public outreach.

The community connector has not increased fare in over a decade, despite increasing costs and value added via new vehicles, brand new transit center, and technology improvements.

The recommended fair structure and payment modernization strategy will improve equity, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability while aligning community connectors' fair policy with current service investments and wider expectations.

It is anticipated that the update to the fair structure will take approximately a year to implement.

This item was reviewed and recommended for approval at the government operations committee meeting on January 5th, 2026.

Order 26-066 was moved and uh seconded.

Is there any further discussion?

Madam Chair.

I just want to point out that when we had the discussion about it, would point out that the cost for the technology was covered by grants.

Um so for those watching from home, it was not a tax expenditure.

It was a taken care of by a grant.

Any other discussion?

Any objections.

Seeing none.

Order 26-066 as a passage.

That brings us to the end of the agenda for this evening.

Counselor Flynn.

Wow, that happened so much more quickly that I wasn't prepared to say anything.

So I'll just say uh thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight and have a great night.

Good night, Bangor.

Um, I just want to say um I'm glad that our Zoom public comment comment section is back, and I'm hoping that we can get back to regular business.

Um I also am uh sending condolences out to um the community connectors um bus driver that we lost, Jim and his family.

And I will see you guys next time.

Thanks.

Counselor Mallor.

Good night.

Council Fish.

Good night, Bangor.

Councilor Carson.

Good night, Bangor.

Council Beck.

Uh, just want to say, you know, much was made tonight during public comment about free speech.

And to that end, I wanted to point out that there was two protests in Bangor this week where a lot of free speech was taking place.

And one of the things that uh I remark about it is people came from all over the state to participate.

And I'm proud to live in a community where we are seen as welcoming uh to free speech, that people would want to come here to express their opinions and in this case their displeasures.

Um I just wanted to reiterate the fact that you know free speech is alive and well in Bangor, and I'm uh a happy participant in it.

So thank you for the opportunity.

And good night, Bangor.

Councilor Dean.

Good evening, Bangor.

And to those of you still in the audience, I just want to thank you for your respectful and insightful comments.

And with that, I will say goodnight, Bangor.

Okay, thank you all for attending and participating.

And no big news file.