Biddeford City Council Meeting - August 18, 2026

The Biddeford City Council met in person at City Hall Council Chambers and remotely via Teams on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at 6:00 PM. All council members were present except for the vacant Ward 4 seat. There were no agenda adjustments. The council confirmed appointments, approved minutes and an executive-session rule amendment, waived a special event fee, heard extensive public comment about the Mechanics Park memorial and federal immigration enforcement, received staff and committee reports, heard remarks from the Council President and Mayor, and entered executive session.

Consent Calendar

• Mayoral appointments to citizen committees: Paulitarian (Ward 7), Frederick Oliver (Ward 7), and Eric Gates (Ward 3) to the Veterans Committee; confirmed unanimously.
• Councilor appointments: Pat Boston (Ward 1) to the Finance Committee; Jacob Pearson (Ward 6) to the Capital Projects and Operations Committee; and Council President Roger Beaupre (Ward 3) as a non-voting member of the Veterans Committee; confirmed unanimously.
• City Council minutes from August 4, 2026, approved unanimously.
• Second reading of 2026.98, an amendment to Council Rules regarding executive session, approved unanimously.

Orders of the Day

• Under 2026.116, the council approved a special event fee waiver for the second annual Recovery Revival, organized by the Biddeford Community Recovery Center. Chet Adams, board president, described the event as a community gathering for people in recovery, treatment providers, and advocates, with food, games, and speakers including the Mayor. He also shared the goal of building a recovery community center in Biddeford. The waiver covered a $100 fee; the organization committed to cleaning up the park, and city officials said there would be no impact on city services. The waiver was approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• First public comment period, with a 3-minute limit per speaker: Kathy Griffin (Ward 7) thanked the Mayor for his grace and eloquence under pressure. Evan Lockwood (Ward 5) opposed automated license plate recognition/Flock cameras, citing civil-rights violations, errors, and misuse elsewhere; said he received a hostile response from the chief of police after emailing opposition; urged the council to pass an ordinance against such cameras; and objected to the city citing a woman at Mechanics Park who is maintaining a memorial protest. Elena Betts (Ward 5) criticized the Council President for mispronouncing Johan Sebastian Duran Carraro's name and for discussing removal of the Mechanics Park memorial and protesters; asked whether council members had visited the park; asserted the community wants the memorials to remain; and called a potential memorial ordinance a First Amendment violation. Kelsey Cummings (Ward 5) said the memorial protests are peaceful, called code enforcement priorities disrespectful, and urged the city to release a permanent memorial plan approved by the family or create a plaque/mosaic. Gerard Okana (Ward 5) supported the previous speakers, rejected claims that people at the park are homeless, and said families and children are present.
• Second public comment period, with a 5-minute limit per speaker: John Collins (Ward 6) demanded accountability, asking why the state attorney general had not issued an arrest warrant for the ICE agent who killed Johan, and urged the city to sue the federal government, DHS, and ICE for damages. He said he feared a federal agent could kill with no accountability. Tate Duby (Ward 1) opposed citing or trespassing protesters for having a temporary shelter/canopy at the park, calling it politically motivated intimidation and a waste of resources. Catherine Crowley (Ward 4) supported Katie at the park, thanked councilors for meetings, requested better public communication before and after council meetings, and asked the council to discuss the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition's policy recommendations. Lauren Wilbur (Ward 5), who lives across from Mechanics Park, said the park felt more welcoming because of the memorial community, called the people there 'true heroes,' and described efforts to cite them as shameful.

Discussion Items

• City Manager Report: Memorial items at Mechanics Park will be moved to the MacArthur Library archives to preserve them for the family; Jersey barriers will be removed the next morning. Summer recreation camp ends this week, and the community center will close for annual maintenance. The manager gave a beach-guarding schedule, including all beaches unguarded from August 31 to September 3 and guarded weekends at Rotary Park and Bath House Beach, with Fortunes Rock Beach unguarded. The fiscal year 2024 audit update was postponed because the auditor had not responded; the manager planned updates on the FY24/FY25 audits at the next meeting. For the City Theater ramp, lead testing was required before sandblasting, primer must be applied within 72 hours after sandblasting, and the engineer was confident the ramp can be reused with bracing and welding, causing delays. In response to a councilor's question, the manager said replacing the ramp was not priced and rehab was assumed to be quicker.
• Committee Updates: Councilor Kurtz reported that the Citizens Advisory Committee will meet Wednesday, August 26, to vote on budget recommendations based on a community survey, followed by a 30-day public comment period. A CDBG presentation is requested for the September 1 council agenda, with a public hearing targeted for October 6. Councilor Woods reported that the Public Arts Commission met and discussed integrating memorials into the public arts master plan; the meeting was recorded and available online.
• Other Business: Councilor Boston praised the congressional hearing in Biddeford, noting it is available on Rep. Pingree's website and that the Mayor's comments made him proud. Councilor Kurtz thanked Heart of Biddeford for Fringe Fest and River Jam, congratulated Port Property on opening Lofts North, and said the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition was the first organization to respond to his request for action items. Councilor Woods echoed thanks, called the hearing intense, noted Johan's father's testimony, and read from a comment card about local time and money being spent to support terrified neighbors.
• Council President Remarks: Beaupre apologized for mispronouncing Duran Carraro's name at the previous meeting and said he is not afraid to be corrected after 42 years as police chief. He said the federal response to the killing left Biddeford 'holding the bag,' citing roughly $35,000 in police overtime so far, and proposed that the city manager calculate all city costs and send a reimbursement request to Sen. Collins's office; he was not asking for a vote. He said he did not believe there is a plan to use Flock cameras in Biddeford, noted the state legislature may regulate them, and contrasted privacy concerns with cameras in stores and on the turnpike. He also described work with the Public Arts Commission to streamline public art approval; language would be introduced at the policy committee on August 24.
• Mayor Remarks: The Mayor thanked Reps. Pingree, Thompson, Clark, and Carver and the school department for hosting the congressional hearing. He acknowledged criticism that the hearing was partisan, but defended his participation as nonpartisan, saying he would have attended if Republicans or a federal agency had invited him. He said he remains in contact with the Guerrero family and the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, and has asked the city solicitor to prepare a public legal memorandum on local options regarding federal immigration enforcement before the next council meeting. On Flock cameras, he said Biddeford does not have them and, as far as he is aware, has no intention to use them, and he will ask the legal team and policy committee to consider stronger ordinance language. He also discussed the Lester B. Orcutt workshop, noting one neighbor had already removed rocks from the right-of-way and announcing a site walk on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. For the city manager search, applications close in one week, and he plans a special council meeting on September 3 at 5:30 p.m. to review applications in executive session. He closed with community updates on back-to-school safety, the August 21 football community event at Waterhouse Field, and the Vacationland Film Festival at City Theater.

Executive Session

• The council unanimously voted to enter executive session under MRS 405(6)(A) for a personnel matter, on a motion by the Council President seconded by Councilor Lassard. No votes were taken after returning because the meeting did not reconvene.

Key Outcomes

• All votes taken were unanimous: appointments confirmed; minutes approved; executive-session rule amendment approved; Recovery Revival fee waiver approved; and motion to enter executive session approved.
• The Council President recommended that the city manager tally city costs from the federal enforcement incident and seek reimbursement from Sen. Collins's office; no vote was taken.
• The Mayor asked the city solicitor to prepare a legal memorandum on federal immigration enforcement options and scheduled a special council meeting for September 3 to review city manager applications.
• The Public Arts Commission will continue work on memorial policy, with language to be considered by the policy committee on August 24.
• Council took no formal action on Flock cameras, but the Mayor said the city does not have them and would ask legal and policy committees to review possible ordinance language.
• The city will proceed with moving Mechanics Park memorial items to the library archives, removing Jersey barriers, and continuing planning for the Recovery Revival event.