Saco City Council Meeting: December 15, 2025 – Moratorium Extended
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Saco City Council Meeting – December 15, 2025
The Saco City Council met on December 15, 2025, to address a packed agenda including a proposed extension of an emergency moratorium on mobile home park lot rent increases, consent items, public hearings, and two new business items. A large crowd of Blue Haven Mobile Home Park residents testified in favor of a longer moratorium, citing transparency, safety, and financial hardship concerns. The council ultimately voted unanimously to extend the moratorium by 60 days (to February 13, 2026) and moved several other items forward.
Consent Calendar
- Notice of Election for Ward 3 Special General Election (January 13, 2026): Moved to action item for discussion. Council noted the requirement to post the notice publicly. Approved unanimously (6-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kathy Dobbins (28 Meserve Circle): Requested a 60-day extension of the emergency moratorium and a 180-day moratorium. Cited threats, inaccurate information, lack of transparency from park ownership, and the park's potential sale. Mentioned Maine laws LD 1723 and LD 1016 and the first right of refusal.
- Sarah Giles Gardner (address not stated): Emphasized the need for a 180-day moratorium to clarify contradictory statements from park ownership. Demanded transparent documentation of expenses and compliance with rent regulations. Noted discrepancies in payment receipts.
- Brian LaRoche (19 Meserve Circle): Supported a 60-to-180-day moratorium, citing lack of transparency on a comparative study used to justify increases, impact on fixed-income residents (41% of Saco households struggle), and the need for time to review legal frameworks.
- Rodney Champagne (17 Clayton Drive): Doubted park ownership's claims of providing low-cost housing; noted lot rents at $750 plus fees, safety concerns from dead trees, and threats of no repairs if residents push back.
- Barb Thomas (address in park): Called for a 60-day moratorium and possibly 100 days. Stated ownership identity has been withheld, communication is poor, and rent has increased $30–$40 annually since 2020, with a proposed $145 increase.
- Kate St. James (6 Meserve Circle): Lives on Social Security alone; proposed increase would consume two-thirds of her income. Calculated lot rent revenue far exceeds taxes. Described safety and maintenance neglect.
- Susan Lalaman (20 Meserve Circle): Raised safety concerns about a threatening neighbor and lack of management response despite multiple police calls.
- Lisa DeRosher (18 Pine Haven Street): Noted that a $650 lot rent would create a second mortgage for many retirees. Pleaded for council to hear residents' voices.
- Hope Lambert (14 Pheasant Road): Described community bonds and fear of losing neighbors. The $145 increase would force hard choices; asked about LD 1829 and LD 1850 implications.
- Donna Stevens (32 Pinehaven Street): Works full-time and can afford the increase, but collected signatures from struggling neighbors. Identified park ownership as BRT Foundation (a nonprofit LLC). Noted a proposed settlement from park ownership (50% credit for one year) but expressed skepticism.
- Robert Henry (24 Pheasant Road): Appreciated council involvement; said town hall revealed new information to park management. Supported extension for further understanding.
- Terry Denham (30 Pheasant Road): Concerned that additional costs (e.g., city sewer) would be passed on to fixed-income residents. Rent has increased four times in four years.
- Kelly Archer (185 Bradley Street): Asked for public hearing materials to include all written comments (as planning board does). Requested city website list all staff contacts. Suggested council amend the moratorium to start from December 26 and extend beyond 40 days if possible.
- Phil Hatch (19 Evergreen Drive): Supported the moratorium extension but focused on new business item A (grievance committee). Reminded council the grievance was accepted a year ago; urged focus on addressing it, warned of conflicts of interest and taxpayer liability.
Discussion Items
- Emergency Moratorium on Mobile Home Park Lot Rent Increases (Item D): Councilor Johnston proposed a 40-day extension (to January 24, 2026). Discussion revealed residents had received a settlement offer from park ownership (50% credit for one year) with a deadline of January 31. Councilor Johnston amended to a 60-day extension to February 13, 2026, citing resident desire for more negotiation time and council's ability to repeal the moratorium earlier. Amendment passed 6-0; main motion passed 6-0.
- Public Hearing – Administrative Code Updates (Chapter 4, Article 5) (Item E): Kelly Archer proposed adding a general statement of public purpose and benefit. Phil Hatch supported her language. Councilor Johnston expressed support. Public hearing closed; second reading scheduled for January 5, 2026. Vote: 6-0.
- New Business A – Citizens Grievance Review Committee Recommendations: Councilor Johnston reviewed recommendations, including formalizing planning board application process (exhibit 4), prohibiting attorneys from representing board if firm member serves, limiting real estate professionals to one per board, and restricting real estate/construction members from chair/vice-chair roles. He offered alternatives: an 8-member board with non-voting chair, council liaison as chair, or mayor appointment of chair. Councilor Hewitt cautioned against singling out professions, noting existing conflict-of-interest rules. Councilor Gale had questions. No vote; Administrator Prescott will bring back more information.
- New Business B – CAD RMS Project MOU: Police Chief Clemens explained the countywide upgrade to a Motorola computer-aided dispatch/records management system. Saco and Biddeford are preparing a joint MOU. Costs are not due until system is operational (18-month implementation). Councilors expressed support; MOU to return in January.
Key Outcomes
- Vote: Unanimously (6-0) approved a 60-day emergency moratorium on mobile home park lot rent increases, effective until February 13, 2026.
- Vote: Unanimously (6-0) approved consent item (notice of election for Ward 3) after moving to action.
- Votes: Unanimously (6-0) approved special entertainment permit renewals for Townhouse Pub and Pacifico Restaurant.
- Vote: Unanimously (6-0) closed public hearing on administrative code updates; second reading set for January 5, 2026.
- Next Steps: Council will continue discussion on grievance committee recommendations; CAD RMS MOU to be brought back in January; parliamentarian election scheduled for January 5, 2026.
- Executive Session: Council entered executive session (6-0) to consult with attorney on Lucia Kimball Health Trust Matter, then adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Like a let the record reflect that all members are present this evening, including City Administrator Prescott. And would you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you, everyone. Moving on to item number four this evening. There is nothing under general. Item five is committee correspondence to council. Are there any committee members wishing to speak Council Redwards? Thank you, Mayor. Um Sacco Main Street. I'm thanking everyone and thanking the council on their behalf for a wonderful event uh and a wonderful day last Saturday culminating with the Festival of Lights. It was pretty good, even though it was cold. Hopefully the warmth and love shared by Sacco residents and other visitors warmed it up a little bit, plus some hot cocoa. So thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else? Okay, not seeing anyone seeking recognition. Moving on to item number six, that is public comment tonight. I will go by the list where you have signed up first, and if you have not signed up, we will get to you after. And for the sake of time this evening, where we do have a very large crowd, I am going to stick to the three-minute mark. Um you will speak for three minutes. We will not be going over again so that everyone on the list and not on the list has an opportunity to speak. So first off, tonight we do have Kathy Dobbin. Please state your name and record for the address, and you will have three minutes. Hello, thank you for having us. I'm Kathy Dobbins. I live at 28 Meserve Circle, and I'm here tonight to ask you to extend the current emergency moratorium another 60 days and begin looking at the process of enacting 180-day moratorium. The reason behind this request from the residents is that we had a notice taped to our door November 21st and had a town hall meeting with the uh park ownership on December 9th. You have a transcript of that meeting that I sent to everybody, and along with a packet of information we gave you, including the letters and all of the correspondence we've had with park ownership and the inconsistencies we're finding. The letter that we received raised some serious issues. The first being threats and intimidation, inaccurate and misleading information, and lack of transparency. So when I say threats and imitation imitation imitation, the rent increase is paused. The letter contained failed threats that if we continued down this road, that improvement in main maintenance would not be done. It hasn't been done in five years. Where is our lot rent going? They are a nonprofit. They have not provided any documentations to the reason for this rent increase, other than it was the law, and then they started to represent the new laws in Maine, mainly LD 1723 and LD 1016. And their whole hung up hang up on 1016 is the $10,000 per lot rent on sales for an equity firms over 50 million dollars. That only applies if they're selling. Three or four weeks before we got our letter for lot rent increases. Maine has a first right of refusal law. We have not been notified that the park is up for sale at all. New Hampshire just got their notice last week, and they're meeting with ownership tomorrow to discuss that notice. And they listed on the website, which I provided you a copy of their portfolio that they know Maine and New Hampshire both have first right of refusal laws. So I urge you to look into extending the current moratorium to protect residents while we get clarification on if we are for sale and make sure the inaccuracy stop so that even if the 60 days go as in effects 180 days is what we need because we have thought legal counsel and we are in the process of obtaining legal counsel to represent us in mediation going forward. Thank you. Thank you. Folks, I will ask that we do keep the auditorium quiet, please. Thank you. Uh next on the list we do have Sarah Gardner. Okay.
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