Saco City Council Meeting – September 8, 2025
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Saco City Council Meeting – September 8, 2025
The Saco City Council met on Monday, September 8, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. to address routine approvals, several action items, and a lengthy discussion on proposed updates to the Administrative Code. The meeting included public tributes, unanimous passage of consent items and most action items, and a 6-1 vote to table the first reading of the Administrative Code update for further revisions.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the August 25, 2025 meeting (7-0).
- Confirmed the mayor's appointments and reappointments to the Park and Recreation Advisory Committee, Arts Commission, Planning Board, and Coastal Waters Commission (7-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Chris Delano (111 Elm Street) and Beth Johnston (62 Pleasant Street) both spoke in appreciation of Tom Hardy, a departing member of the Historic Preservation Commission, praising his conscientious and balanced approach.
Discussion Items
- Pepperell Park Ad Hoc Redesign Committee Amendment (Action Item A): Councillor Hewitt moved to add one alternate member to the committee. Passed 7-0.
- Budget Amendment for Beach Management Plan (Action Item B): Councillor Berman moved to appropriate $46,000 from unassigned fund balance for inventory analysis and initial outreach. Councillor Johnston expressed reservations about using unassigned fund balance but voted yes after the interim administrator confirmed the fund balance was sufficient. The city will apply for a $75,000 Community Resilience Partnership grant. Passed 7-0.
- Lease Amendment with BSOOB Transit (Action Item C): Councillor Hatch moved to incorporate a decommissioning plan for EV chargers into the lease. Passed 7-0.
- Technical Design and Construction Standards Manual Update (Action Item D): Final reading approving updates to the manual, including pump station details, lighting standards, and traffic signal standards. Councillors Berman and Johnston thanked staff. Passed 7-0.
- Proposed Updates to Administrative Code, Chapter 4, Article 5 (Action Item E): Councillor Johnston introduced the first reading. Extensive discussion followed:
- Councillor Berman asked about the distinction between department and division and noted missing roles in the organizational chart. The interim administrator agreed to update the chart.
- Councillor Gunn suggested stylistic edits (use of "theirs") and adding language that the mayor appoints the city administrator with council approval.
- Councillor Johnston proposed numerous changes, including requiring council confirmation for several department heads, moving the harbormaster appointment authority, adding a review period for the city solicitor, and creating a student advisory member for the Parks and Rec board. She also suggested tabling the public hearing to allow a more holistic review of Chapter 4.
- Councillor Hatch preferred tabling the entire item to incorporate all feedback into a redlined version.
- Councillor Gunn advocated for passing the first reading and holding a workshop afterward.
- Councillor Berman moved to table the item, seconded by Councillor Hatch. The motion passed 6-1 (Councillor Johnston opposed).
Key Outcomes
- All action items except the Administrative Code update were approved unanimously.
- The Administrative Code update (Item E) was tabled by a 6-1 vote to allow staff to incorporate comments from multiple councilors and return with a revised version.
- The council entered executive session at 7:30 p.m. under MRSA Title 1, §405(6)(A) for personnel matters related to the city administrator search, and exited at 8:00 p.m. with no report.
- The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Socco City Council meeting for Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Would like to make note of all counselors present this evening with interim city manager Emily Cole Prescott. And would you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. Thank you. That now takes us to item four this evening, and that is general, and there is nothing under that for there tonight. Item number five is committee correspondence to council. Are there any council members wishing to speak? Councillor Edwards. Thank you, Mayor. I have uh several things to speak about. One for age friend uh age friendly Sacco. Uh they are making progress on selecting their executive director. The board will be meeting with the finalists this week. So that's that's some good progress, so we'll probably hear about that very soon. Sacco Main Street, there's a couple of things this Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a tail wagging fun day for Bark in the Park. There will be, and that'll be at the Fairfield School. Uh there will be vendors, food trucks, a K9 demo, and a pup costume contest. So that should be uh very great, and people will have a good time. I would also encourage everyone to take a walk through Riverfront Park, Sacco Main Street and volunteers added flowers and a fantastic mural to a beautiful place during the Labor Day weekend. Several visitors were excited about the additions. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Councilor Gunn. Uh thank you, Madam Mayor. Um in uh Historic Preservation Commission news. I want to take a privilege and uh take a moment to thank uh Thomas Hardy, who has been a long time uh member of the commission. Uh Tom is uh unfortunately moving down the road a little bit, and uh we're gonna miss him tremendously. He's been with the commission now for uh quite a number of years. Um very much a conscientious, uh hardworking member of the commission that uh perfectly balanced um the needs to uh maintain the aesthetic qualities of the downtown with personal property rights. It's it's definitely a hard line to walk sometimes, and he hit it perfectly. And as HPC has expanded its portfolio to uh uh to um consider and uh look into historic preservation itself uh with it with the living history project and things of that nature. He's been a very enthusiastic uh member of the commission, and I will say uh in terms of you know being conscientious. Uh when we were coming out of COVID, uh we had a couple of meetings where it was difficult to get a quorum, and even those meetings where we kind of had to shrug our shoulders and say, uh, we gotta do this another time because we can't get people to show up. He always was there, always enthusiastic, always ready to offer his input. Um, just an all-around great fella, and uh we're gonna miss him tremendously, and uh hopefully he's out there watching. Uh Tom, we'll see you when you get back, whenever that may be. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, not seeing anyone. Moving on to item number six this evening, that is public comment. If there are any members of the public wishing to speak, please step forward to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and you will have three minutes to address the council. Hi everyone, um, my name is Chris Delano. I live at uh 111 Elm Street, and I'm here to just uh kind of celebrate Tom Hardy as well. Um I'm a uh member of the historic commission and also a neighbor to Tom and um uh he always look for good people who are honest and see kind of the big picture in decisions. Um is is that kind of guy, uh, and I think he just deserves to be celebrated and acknowledged, and Joe, I thank you for doing so. Thank you.
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