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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-15 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER 1 S, 2025 Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM Chaired by Council Chair Fournier Councilors Absent:None Meeting adjourned at 8:18 PM PROCLAMATION.• Proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month PUBLIC COMMENT Richard Ward spoke in favor of finding solutions for the unhoused Scott Pardy was in favor of a low-barrier City shelter and supportive housing. Suzanne Kelly was concerned that there are not enough warming shelters in the City and a solution was needed now. CONSENT AGENDA ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR *Explanatory Note:All items listed in the Consent Agenda are considered routine and are proposed for adoption by the City Council by one motion without discussion or deliberation.Any member of the public may request that the Council remove an item from the Consent Agenda for discussion. An item will only be removed if a City Councilor requests its removal to New Business. MINUTES OF: Bangor City Council Meetings of September 22, 2025, Government Operations Committee Meetings of September 3, 2025 and September I S,2025 Action: Approved 25-284 ORDER Authorizing the Award of Two Contracts for Boiler DEANE Replacement, Conversion,and Feed Tank Replacement at the Bangor Inter�ational Airport Action: Passed 25-285 ORDER Authorizing Waiving the Bid Process for the Control BECK System Upgrade Phase Cfor the Department of Water Quality Action: Passed 25-286 ORDER Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into an Option DEANE Agreement with the Bangor Housing Development Corporation for the Purchase of Property off Maine Avenue in theAmount of$120,000 Action: Passed 25-287 ORDER Authorizing a Contract with Lakeside Concrete Cutting and FISH Abatement Professionals in the amount of$SSS,600 for the � Demolition and Removal of the Alert Building at the Bangor International Airport Action: Passed Page 1 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER 1 S, 2025 CONSENT AGENDA ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-288 ORDER Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Lease BECK Agreement with Societe Internationale De Telecommunications Aeronautiques on 188 Maine Avenue at Bangor International Airport Action: Passed 25-289 ORDER Authorizing the Submission of a Grant Application to the HAWES Maine Semiquincentennial Commission in the Amount of $I0,000 Action: Passed 25-290 ORDER Accepting the Gifl of Holiday Decorations from the HAWES Downtown Bangor Partnership, to be Erected by City Staff for the Holiday Season Action: Passed 25-291 ORDER Accepting the Donation of Signage To Be Placed in City DEANE Parks and Rights oj Ways for the Purpose of Direction and Information as Part of the Greater Bangor Region Tourist and Visitor Initiative Action: Passed 25-292 RESOLVE Ratifying StaffAction to Apply for a Grantfrom Firehouse HAWES Subs for a Multi-User Headset System for the Fire Department in the Amount of$I0,000 Action: Passed REFERRALS TO COMMITTEE AND FIRST READING ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-293 ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 165-11,Appeals, to Remove Appeal MALLAR Fees for Disability Variances and Fair Housing Act Reasonable Acco�nmodations Action: First Reading 25-294 ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 165,Land Development Code,District MALLAR Map to Re-zone a Property Located at 69 Perry Rd from Industry and Service District(I&S) and Contract Urban Industry District(UID)to Non-Contract Urban Industry District(UID) Action: First Reading and Referral to Planning Board Meeting on October 21, 2025 Page 2 MINUTES OFREGULAR MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER I5, 2025 REFERRALS TO COMMITTEE AND FIRST READING ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-295 ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 165,Land Development Code,District FISH Map to Re-zone a Portion of the Property Located at 1009 Ohio St from Neighborhood Service District(NSD)to Government&Institutional Service District(G&ISD) Action: First Reading and Referral to Planning Board Meeting on October 2l,2025 25-296 ORDINANCE Authorizing modifications to City Code of Ordinance MALLAR Chapter l65 to Allow City Departments to Review Projects Requiring Storrrewater Law Permits(First Reading and Referral to Planning Board Meeting on October 2I,2025) Action: First Reading and Referral to Planning Board Meeting on October 21,2025 25-297 RESOLVE Authorizing the City Manager to Accept and Appropriate BECK $156,970.96 from Maine Department of Health and Human Services as a General Assistance Orte-Time Payment to Municipalities Action: First Reading UNFINISHED BUSINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-281 RESOLVE Accepting&Appropriate up to$730,000 in Grant Funds DEANE from Maine Deparlment of Health and Human Services for the Purpose of Funding Bangor Public Health and Community Services Infrastructure Needs Action: Motion inade and seconded for Passage Passed NEW BUSINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEM NO. COUNCILOR PUBLIC HEARING: Application for Special Amusement License Renewal of Penn HAWES Entertainment,Inc. d/b/a Hollywood Casino Hotel 8r Raceway, S00 Main Street Action: Motion made and seconded to Open Public Hearing Public Hearing Opened Motion made and seconded to Close Public Hearing Public Hearing Closed Motion made and seconded for Approval Approved Page 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING BANGOR CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER 1 S, 2025 NEW BUSINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR PUBLIC HEARING: Application for Special Amusement License Renewal of Giri HAWES Bangor Holiday Inc., d/b/a Holiday Inn 404 Odlin Road Action: Motion made and seconded to Open Public Hearing Public Hearing Opened Motion made and seconded to Close Public Hearing Public Hearing Closed Motion made and seconded for Approval Approved NEW BUSINESS ASSIGNED TO ITEMNO. COUNCILOR 25-298 ORDER Authorizing Naming the Golf Course Clubhouse "John TREMBLE Frawley Clubhouse"in Honor of Former City Engineer John Frawley Action: Motion made and seconded for Passage Passed 25-299 OXDER Appointing Nominees to Various Boards, Commissions and MALLAR . Committees Action: Motion made and seconded for Passage Passed 25-300 RESOLVE Reaffir�ning Safety, Trust, and Communiry Priorities in BECK Local Enjorcement Policies Hilari Simmons,Justin Cartier and Richard Ward spoke against the resolve. Samantha Duplisea,Maryann Larson,Michael Whitman, Brendan Davison,M. Smith for Rose Pompey,Scott Pardy, Tristen Friend, Clare Mundell, Gabrielle Wiley,Marwa Hassanien,Mitchell Cooper,Larry Dansinger and Shane Boyce spoke in favor with some feeling it was too watered down. Action: Motion made and seconded for Passage Doubted Vote:3-S Councilors Voting Yes:Beck,Deane,Leonard Councilors Voting No:Fish,Hawes,Mallar, Tremble, Fournier Motion Failed ATTEST.• Lisa J. Good in; C, City Clerk Page 4 i� , i 'l.� - ,� _�, :�,: - ` ,� Fresh Start, Inc. 207-481-8�01 l00 Center St �reshstartreoovery-maine.org Bangor, Maine 04401 � My name is Scott Pardy and I live in Bangor I am here tonight to speak about the escalating public health and safety crisis that we all see on the streets of Bangor: homelessness driven by Substance Use Disorder. We are not just talking about poverty; we are talking about addiction. The data is clear, locally and nationally: the vast majority of chronic homelessness is a direct result of untreated SUD. Furthermore,the overwhelming majority of people cycling through our county jail are incarcerated because of crimes committed to sustain an addiction. Our current approach is failing because it addresses the symptom, not the cause. The Bangor Police Department is doing the best it can,but they are, quite frankly,hamstrung. They can no longer arrest and detain individuals for public drug use or other low-level offenses like disor- derly conduct,which is the exact category where we encounter our unhoused population struggling with addiction. Diversion is the state-mandated goal, yet without accessible, adequate shelters and high-barrier treatment, diversion simply means displacement. The problem is not disappearing; it is just moving from the streets to our parks and riverbanks. I took the time to write each of you a detailed letter outlining the immediate actions necessary to ad- dress this. I am sure that in the crush of city business,many of you did not have a chance to read it. I respect your busy schedules,but I implore you: please treat that letter not as constituent mail, but as an urgent report on our city's physical and fiscal health. The core solution, which is detailed in that document, is establishing a functional, low-barrier ciiy homeless shelter with integrated supportive services. And here is the fiscal reality: building a safe, supportive place for these citizens is not an expense,but an investment. Studies show that Housing First models can be net zero cost. For every dollar we invest in supportive housing, we recoup more in savings from reduced reliance on emergency room visits, fewer police hours spent on low-level calls,and reduced costs of incarceration. We cannot arrest our way out of a public health crisis,but we can house and treat our way out of a fiscal one. I will be back over the next several weeks to address this council on specific components of this � plan. Before my next appearance, I respectfully request that every member reads my letter in full. The time for observation is over;the time for action is now. Thank you. , �s -�aa Good evening, my name is Brendan Davison, I live in West Side Village in Bangor, and I rise this evening in support of the Resolve: Reaffirming Safety, Trust, and Community Priorities in Local Enforcement Policies. In April, I addressed the cifiy council on this topic, noting that this is not merely a moral or political question but a practical one. Cooperation agreements with federal immigration agencies are funded directly by municipal budgets and are not reimbursed by Federal agencies. If we enter into such an agreement, the overtime, training, administrative costs, legal fees, and potential liabilities from wrongful detention lawsuits all come directly out of Bangor's budget. We cannot afford to divert our resources away from the needs of this community, like housing, substance use response, social services, and the actual public safety needs of our community. Moreover, this is an issue of accountability and trust. Many Bangor residents are already anxious and afraid in the wake of immigration raids that have taken place in this community. That fear has eroded public trust in both law enforcement and local government. If we want to rebuild that trust, we must ensure transparency and stricfi oversight of any potential cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. We face major challenges as a city, and we need to prioritize using our resources on policies that keep our city safe, strong, and welcoming. Please vote yes fio safeguard our resources, to promote transparency and accountability, and to restore trust in the communifiy. Finally, while I chose to focus more on the practical side of this, this is a moral issue as, and I would like to briefly speak about this from my own perspective, because while I was born in this country, like many of us, my family does not originate here. My family came here from Ireland three generations ago, And an Irish American, I carry the memory, however distant, of people who came to this country fleeing famine, occupation, and poverty. People who were once called vermin. Papists. Drunks. Threats to American society. Those who were met with signs saying "No Irish need apply." Because of thafi memory, I am reminded of the words of the Irish revolutionary James Connolly, who said "Let no Irishman throw a stone at the foreigner, for he may hit his own clansman." I'm certain there are others in this room and on this council who are also Irish Americans, Gael- Mheiriceanaigh, and so I want to call you to remember your ancestors, our ancestors our community, and when they came to this country, and think for a moment about your ancestors and their experience that they went through and the experience that our own immigrant neighbors here and now are going through as we speak. Go raibh maith agaibh, agus go maire ar bpobal le cheile i siochain is i gceartas. Votail Ta, le do thoil. lill�� j��i�u ,��� ��,��..�� n�i��l�,�itni��i�l/,1/Ilil'rl:�� Ill���i����i�i(,I Ili I Ili ;1111�.�� .�r;u� , ,� ,� , .{, I;I/Inr�l�il��l�.i'.I� I�)�I'.�,� , � ��i�!'I'.'1 I�.i���. I nt ? �S-3o� Gwen E Higgins Cedar Street Bangor ME 04401 Response in favor of the resolve "Reaffirmine Safetv.Trust.and Community Priorities in Local Law Enforcement Policies" Opening up the city of Bangor law enforcement to a working relationship with ICE would be a betrayal to the safety and privacy not only of the people of Bangor, but the many people from outside the city who trust us every time they come here for work, school, care, or leisure. Aside from the egregious violence we have witnessed coming out of cities across the country at the hands of ill-trained ICE agents who act with seeming immunity, ICE is a privacy nightmare. ICE officers are being equipped with surveillance and tracking equipment designed to be used in military operations. Phone location tracking,facial recognition, social media skimming,AI investigations. Billions of dollars spent on technology, much of which is produced and owned by foreign entities.The fourth amendment protects people within America—be they citizens or not—from illegal search and seizure. That protection however, is not a wall defending people. It is a route for recourse once people have had their rights violated. Privacy is a fragile concept that cannot be repaired with a lawsuit once violated. If it's gone, it's gone. Beyond that, hiding behind masks and chaos in all levels of government, ICE officers' actions are going ignored or are purported to be falling in some legal grey area where violators of rights are not being held responsible for their transgressions. The US federal government has at its disposal technology to use photos and videos of people on the streets to track and identify them with AI technology.This puts your privacy not only at risk of being violated by the US government but by anyone who breaches their security.Technologies originally procured for identifying trafficking victims are being exploited by the current administration to identify whoever the hell they want.That could be a criminal,that could be an immigrant,that could be someone who speaks poorly about the government online,that could be anyone for any reason.That could be you. DHHS has determined it wants to spend billions of our tax dollars on surveilling and tracking and harassing everyday people in the streets and online,violating privacy and exposing people to having their personal data stolen by bad actors.The city of Bangor does not need to leave the door open to assisting them without careful examination of the potential harms. Do not ease their ability to expand this campaign by having our police forces cooperate and assist. If they want to turn our city into a panopticon,they can do it themselves.The goal of the city should be to protect the people of the city, not offer them up to an increasingly violent and invasive arm of the federal government whose behaviors are so willfully cruel and reprehensible they have decided as a collective to hide their identities.