2026-09-09 - Business and Economic Development Committee

00:06Good evening everyone. Welcome to

00:08another regularly scheduled meeting of

00:10the business economic development

00:11committee meeting. I am the chair

00:13councelor Leonard. Uh committee members

00:16are councilors Fish, Malor, Balloon and

00:20Arson. We are also joined by councilors

00:23Paws, Beck, Walker and Dei. And uh we

00:29are also joined by community economic

00:32director an

00:35uh

00:37hopefully third times the charm. Uh

00:40we're going to have a presentation from

00:41the University of Maine Orno students on

00:44their assigned economic development

00:46projects. Uh Ann, I'll let you take your

00:48order for students.

00:49>> Yeah. Um actually biga um Hernandez

00:52Smith the economic development officer

00:54has been working with um these folks

00:57from University Maine and she's going to

00:59lead the discussion.

01:00>> Yes. Free time is FREE TIME IS A CHARM.

01:03Good evening everyone. So I am very

01:06honored, excited, privileged to um share

01:09with you our experience with our second

01:12economic development um internship

01:14program. So, as you know, last

01:17had an economic uh development program

01:20um that included both Hust students and

01:21humane students. This year, we hosted

01:24three humane students. Um and I wanted

01:29we talked a lot about workforce

01:30development and the intention to really

01:34understand our future leaders and what

01:36it is that they want and desire. So, in

01:39the in this program, it's three pillars.

01:41First pill pill pillar is to be able to

01:43give them a municipal government

01:45experience. [clears throat] One that's

01:47not about just administrative but really

01:49about real life projects that we're

01:50working on. Two is to be creative in the

01:54fact that we're an economic development

01:55team of two people. And so in order to

01:58move our work forward because our work

02:01is multiaceted um it's important to get

02:04to be creative and extend our team and

02:05we do that with our interns. And then

02:08three, as I had mentioned before, really

02:10understanding as we are, you know, gone,

02:12gone are the days where folks are in

02:15positions for 30 and 40 years, we need

02:17to have a plan of succession. And so in

02:20that, it's important to understand the

02:22needs and desires of our future leaders

02:25and see how we can accommodate and

02:27really meet in the middle to have kind

02:29of a a a recruitment pipeline of folks

02:32who want to work for municipal

02:33government. With that said, I first want

02:36to introduce Veronica Belogana, who I

02:39want to officially introduce, I believe,

02:41who is our economic development

02:43specialist. Um, Veronica will say a few

02:45words about the program and her

02:47experience with it, and then we'll

02:49actually have um our interns present.

02:52>> Hello. So, I joined the city almost

02:55three months ago, and I will say having

02:57the interns and their resources

02:58available to me as I really started to

03:00get into this role has been invaluable

03:03because, as she said, we're a twoperson

03:05team. It really is a lot of work for

03:07everyone administratively, you know,

03:09knowledge transfer, everything to get

03:11someone else up to speed onto everything

03:13we're doing here.

03:16I'm very excited to be the presentation.

03:18It has really smoothed my transition

03:21over to city hall and I hope you enjoy.

03:25>> And so I want to introduce So we had

03:27three interns this year from the UMing

03:29School of Policy and International

03:31Relations. Ella Prescott who can't be

03:33with us today. She had a family

03:35emergency. We have Isabella

03:38uh with us as well as Ashley who is um

03:41joining us from Portland I believe. Um

03:44and so they're going to present kind of

03:45what they worked on and we'll have

03:47discussion and you guys can definitely

03:49ask questions but um this is definitely

03:52meant to be um an engagement with our

03:55future leaders.

03:58>> All right. Well, once we're going to get

03:59the presentation up there, I'll begin.

04:00But hi everyone, my name is Sabella. I

04:02was very privileged to work as an intern

04:04with Pigita and the economic development

04:05team this past summer. And it was an

04:07eight-week program that I learned a lot

04:09from. And I think developmentally it

04:12taught me a lot both about like

04:13professionalism but also about beta

04:15which I think is what we're all here

04:17today for. And so I don't know if we're

04:20going to push up I hope but

04:23>> do we have

04:23>> if not I can just riff I will just go

04:27>> I give a presentation.

04:28>> Oh we sent it to the email.

04:30>> Did you I can pull it up.

04:32>> Okay great. Thank you.

04:36>> We can just wait or you can whatever you

04:38want. I mean, I can do whatever we need

04:40to do.

04:42>> Economic developers are always prepared.

04:45>> I came with my little script, so I can I

04:47can do whatever we need.

04:54>> So, it was the three of us. It was El

04:56Prescott, it was Ashley, and it was

04:57myself. And we worked together with

04:59eight to 10 weeks, depending on kind of

05:01what projects we were on. And we all

05:03worked independently on different

05:04projects, but also collaborated on a lot

05:06of this work. and progressed both as

05:09young professionals but al also as

05:11Bangor kind of community members which

05:14we'll get into. All right. So team big

05:15test W that stands for V build inspire

05:18grow with a little bit of whimsy. We'll

05:19get to the whimsy later. That's the

05:20exciting part. But for now, we've kind

05:22of just the orientation of this project

05:25is we're going to start with the

05:26projects we worked on, what we brought

05:27to Bangor, what we brought to you guys

05:28as the like in the developmental team,

05:31how we progressed as individuals,

05:33professionals, and students. And

05:35finally, kind of our takeaways and what

05:36we think we can offer you. Just intern

05:40advice might not be worth much, but

05:41hopefully our insights provide at least

05:42a little bit of where we are perspective

05:44wise. We could go to the next slide.

05:47So Bangor the Banganger central kitchen

05:50the BCK was one of our main projects

05:53that we had helped to be with internally

05:55and our goals surrounding the Banganger

05:56central kitchen to understand and help

05:58develop the project. This was this

06:00included like developing operator pay

06:01structure reaching out to external

06:03groups kind of getting a better feel on

06:05what this project meant and what we

06:06could do for it. Um I personally helped

06:08kind of build and construct the RP for

06:11the central kitchen and it's like very

06:13based kind of foundation which was an

06:15exciting piece of work. I had never

06:16worked with that kind of legal writing

06:18before. So it was a little challenging

06:20and step by step be helped with a lot of

06:22the guidance but I really enjoyed

06:24digging into the details of that

06:26project, building it, editing it. It was

06:28a little bit of my work maybe you know

06:30some first project I worked on where I

06:31was really like this and that and I was

06:34so happy to be a part of it.

06:35>> Um can interject for it. So with the

06:38Bango Central Kitchen, what Isabella is

06:40referring to, let me first caveat that

06:42any materials that were developed from

06:45our interns are not yet official. These

06:47are in uh these are documents that we're

06:49internally reviewing and trying to

06:52understand when it is appropriate to

06:54make them official. So they will

06:56definitely

06:57future. What Isabella was um referring

07:00to regarding the RFP is that as you know

07:03the central kitchen is a project um and

07:05we're currently in negotiation approved

07:07by the bed committee. However, what

07:09she's talking about is the operator RFP.

07:12As we know we're building a building,

07:14but that building needs an operator. And

07:16so that RFP is currently drafted for an

07:19operator.

07:20>> And all of this work was the materials

07:22we had previously. And as she says, none

07:24of this is officially yet. I just

07:26happened to work in the internals and

07:27was very quickly to do so. Um, beyond

07:29the collaborative research I did with El

07:31Prescott, who reached out to a bunch of

07:33external resources and really kind of

07:34got a better understanding of how an

07:36operator should run this project, um, I

07:38also kind of just dove into those

07:40nitty-gritty legal aspects. And I

07:42learned a lot about technical writing in

07:44the process. That's kind of a

07:45professional development experience

07:47which I do think it is important to talk

07:49about what I took away and how you all

07:50contributed

07:52meaning to or not and I appreciate it.

07:54And now we're going to go to our next

07:56slide where I think Ada will take us

07:57through what she worked on in Foreign

07:59Trade Zone 58.

08:00>> Yes. Okay. I hope everyone can hear me.

08:03Okay. U my name is Ashley Wilson. So um

08:06I thought I'd just reintroduce myself

08:07since I will kind of be talking for the

08:10next few minutes at you guys. Um, so

08:12first I'm going to be kicking off with

08:13the work and the task that I completed

08:15with foreign trade zone 58. Um, and for

08:18those of you who might be slightly

08:19unfamiliar with that, it is a 5count um,

08:22federally designated zone which gives

08:24operators um, sort of cost advantages to

08:27import and export um, goods. And this

08:29includes the ability to um, also defer

08:32custom duties. It has quite a few um,

08:34different multifaceted things to it, but

08:35that was um, something I found to be

08:37interesting. Um so within that um I kind

08:40of took the existing documents and many

08:43[clears throat] of which were outdated

08:44and my job was kind of to modernize them

08:46to be able to use them to their full

08:48potential. Um and considering the fact

08:51that the zone hasn't really been active

08:52for a little bit of time now. Um I found

08:54it and as a team we found it imperative

08:56that um the FTZ58

08:59um along with its new marketing um that

09:01you can find on LinkedIn um there was

09:04documentation um to be able to reflect

09:06that. So kind of on the slide you can

09:08see here I included some snippets um or

09:11just general screenshots of the

09:13different documents that I completed. Um

09:16so I completed the zone schedule which I

09:18updated from 2014 which was pretty cool.

09:20Um and the associated operator

09:22agreement. Um and then something that

09:24was kind of outside that I created on my

09:26own was a one-page brief which kind of

09:29makes the zone and the things about it a

09:31little bit more accessible and

09:32understandable um to those who are

09:34encountering it for the first time. Um,

09:36and that last piece there was the

09:37concurrence letter, which kind of

09:39[snorts]

09:39streamlines and shortens the amount of

09:41time needed to um, request a designation

09:44location for FTZ58.

09:47So, I found this um, to be pretty

09:49interesting to be able to draft,

09:50analyze, and kind of take a federally

09:53public-f facing document um, while

09:55remaining compliant with the regulations

09:58and being able to kind of put my own

10:00spin on it and um, do what I could do

10:03with that. Um, and given like all the

10:05work that I was able to complete, being

10:06able to then synthesize that into one um

10:09a one pager refresher doc I think was

10:11pretty cool. Uh, just to be able to

10:13prioritize actual language that people

10:15would need for the day-to-day processes

10:17with FTC58. Um, so that's all I have

10:19with that. So if we could move on to the

10:21next slide, that'd be great. Um, and

10:23this is the tax increment financing and

10:25credit enhancement agreement. So, these

10:27two tools, I won't lie to you, they were

10:29pretty intimidating when I was first um

10:32getting to know them, but um I have a

10:35similar style here with the screenshots

10:36of the deliverables that I was able to

10:38create with this. Um I think it would be

10:40a little bit much for me to deep dive

10:41into what specifically these tools are,

10:43but um if Pikita sees it fit, I can

10:45totally do that. Um, so for this I kind

10:48of did a similar thing with FTZ58 where

10:50I took those policy and processes

10:52documents. Um, and I helped modernize

10:54them and make them a bit more

10:56accessible. Um, and with that I kind of

10:59went about it in two different

11:00directions. Um, and it was documents to

11:02help applicants and then documents to be

11:04able to help the reviewers and staff.

11:06Um, so again, while remaining um in line

11:10with those policy regulations, I also

11:12just like wanted to try my hand at a

11:14reddraft of the Tiffen Ca policy

11:16document. Um, which was pretty cool. I

11:20mean, I've noted that like what was

11:21really important to me this summer was

11:23making things a bit more digestible for

11:25a general audience. So, I think I was

11:26able to capture that with um the draft I

11:28created. So um for those applicant

11:31things I created I did another cheat

11:33sheet um which was again another

11:34synthesization of the super long um

11:37policy doc and application and I kind of

11:40created that to be like a second time

11:41over because again this is a super long

11:43and intensive process. So if there's

11:44something where you can kind of see

11:45those checklists on what you need um I

11:48thought that would definitely help with

11:50the intimidation factor of something

11:52like this um in a slightly different

11:54fashion. the reviewer guide. It's a bit

11:56longer, but I went um I wanted to take a

11:58bit more time to look at the math that

12:00was into it, uh the workflow and the

12:02decision framework um and try to put

12:04that all in one place for someone who's

12:05looking at an application like this. So,

12:08again, a similar takeaway. Um I think

12:10these were quite a few complicated

12:13documents that I was taking a look at

12:14and I was trying to make it workable for

12:16a non-expert audience, which was me at

12:18the beginning of the summer. Um, and

12:20again, putting this all in one place and

12:22comforting applicants because we're

12:24trying to increase the amount of people

12:25interested in something like this. So,

12:27making it more digestible. Um, I think

12:31it's pretty cool. So, I keep saying

12:33everything's pretty cool. Um, so if we

12:36can move on to the next slide there. Um,

12:38and this will be the last.

12:39>> Going to build on what you said Ashley

12:40with guide. Something that we really

12:43wanted to emphasize in with our

12:45internship was easing the process of

12:47transition not just between like interns

12:50but also for new hires and the process

12:53that it takes because starting fresh

12:54with every new document and or starting

12:57fresh as you enter into workspace can be

12:58very intimidating. So creating those

13:01shortcuts when you can not just for ease

13:04but for efficiency. These are places

13:06where instead of starting from scratch,

13:07you have something to build off of,

13:08whether it be a checklist like what

13:09Ashley built or what we're going to talk

13:11here in internal development. This was

13:12something we really wanted to do both

13:14for big but also for like this internal

13:16synthesis because having those guides

13:19allows you to catch people up to what

13:22you're doing without having to sit down

13:23and have a lot of nitty-gritty meetings

13:25and questions because all your answers

13:26are right there. And so with that, we're

13:28going to go into the next kind of big

13:30projects that we went into. And I'll

13:31actually I'm sorry for interrupting you.

13:32I'll let you take this next one. Oh, not

13:34at all. It gave me a little break from

13:36all the talking I was doing. Um, so

13:38moving into internal development. Um, as

13:40you can see, this is kind of split up

13:41into two different things cuz I'll take

13:43that first half and then I'll move it

13:44back to Isabella. So, um, the project

13:47dashboard, we ended up using Aauna, um,

13:50which is an online platform for this.

13:52Um, and the goal of the platform or the

13:53dashboard was to kind of be an

13:55inspirational and organizational tool

13:57that reflected similarly to an economic

14:00development organization. Um so with

14:03Bangor's team being only two people um

14:05it's definitely a bit more difficult to

14:07have the bandwidth of um an economic

14:10development team that's you know in

14:12bigger and larger uh cities. So on this

14:15dashboard it was kind of meant to be a

14:17place to track and coordinate the work

14:19that was currently happening but also

14:21kind of create this sort of drawing

14:22board aspect um so you can reach these

14:25new spheres of influence um on a more

14:27manageable scale. So myself with the

14:30help of Bita we created eight different

14:32buckets for programming that kind of

14:34gives like a common language for what

14:36can be slash what should be uh done to

14:39reach their goals of say higher output

14:42of programs participating in more

14:43conferences and promoting what the team

14:45is up to. So the main goal was ensuring

14:48that this kind of what Isabelle had kind

14:50of touched on but this can be something

14:52that is used beyond the term of this

14:55summer internship. This can be something

14:56that's used by the team um if there are

14:58other interns in the future. It's meant

15:00to be a living and breathing document um

15:03that can be used for the long term with

15:04a strong foundation um starting the

15:07summer. So I'll hand it back to

15:08>> we have an update for you and I'm going

15:10to hand it over to Veronica. So since

15:12you left um we have actually discovered

15:15a new tool. So we took your structure

15:17and all of the buckets and the buckets

15:19what we it was important right as an

15:21economic developer it's important that

15:24we manage ourselves and operate as an

15:27economic development organization right

15:29ensuring that we touch on all the facets

15:31of what we're supposed to do. So those

15:33are the buckets including business

15:35attraction, business attention, um

15:37retention, workforce development,

15:39foreign trade zone, um redevelopment,

15:42all those things to ensure in a view

15:45we're doing the work that we're supposed

15:47to be doing and to be able to organize

15:49that work. I'll hand it over to Veronica

15:51for the update on Asana.

15:54So the update with Pan is that we're

15:56using Microsoft instead which Ashley we

16:00use all of the framework exactly as you

16:02put it up for the record. um but sort of

16:05taking the time and do a deeper research

16:07of what resources are already available

16:09to us because there are subscription

16:11platforms of course we can use but if we

16:13look inwardly obviously um the city of

16:16Bangor uses Microsoft suite and I

16:18figured that if we have something

16:19similar already available to us that's

16:21already compliant and works seamlessly

16:24with tools we use such as Excel and

16:26Outlook it was a much more streamlined

16:28decision for us and me and Vikita use

16:30the planner that Ashley set up for us

16:32every single day and It's been a great

16:34tool to sort of ease our communication

16:36as we go in and out of the office to

16:38different events and yeah

16:43>> that's wonderful. I think Ashley touched

16:45on a very important thing that we as

16:46interns really wanted to bring to this

16:47table and it was that we didn't just

16:49want to walk in and walk out having

16:51contributed nothing. [snorts] I mean

16:53obviously we were interns we were going

16:54to be put to work. We were going to do

16:55something but we wanted to do something

16:58something that would be built on. And so

16:59in that kind of thinking about that

17:01long-term workplace development, the

17:02team and I decided that a very valuable

17:04initiative to take. This was not kind of

17:07immediately thought of. This was what we

17:08developed later was an onboarding guide.

17:10This would be a transitional piece of

17:12information internally that would

17:13provide the public resources you need.

17:15It would compile the conferences. You

17:17might want to go to background

17:18information. You may want to have

17:20definitions, contacts, these things that

17:22you usually have to scrape by and ask

17:24questions for those first one to two,

17:27five weeks of being somewhere all in a

17:30document that you could go through,

17:32scroll, control F, find the thing you

17:34need to look for, and there's the

17:35information about it. Quick summaries of

17:37our current projects, who you need to

17:38talk to regarding those projects. This

17:40these are helpful tools that are used in

17:44all sorts of different sectors to ease

17:45that transition into a new position, a

17:48new internship and can be used by future

17:50interns, employees, etc. And it was

17:52important for me as I establish this to

17:54make it something very digestible. That

17:56being said, it was several several pages

17:59smiley.

18:00>> But I also think it's very worthwhile to

18:02collect all this information

18:04>> in in one little place. It's nice, it's

18:06easy, it's efficient, and that's really

18:08it was a fun project to work on. And I

18:10hope that it's going to be very helpful

18:12>> and it continues to be live right. So

18:14this is specific to operating

18:16[clears throat]

18:17in the economic development division. So

18:19everything related to economic

18:21development who are our partners if we

18:23we are um editing a lease who who needs

18:26to review that lease all you know things

18:29internally because a lot of times we

18:31have to wait for those relationships.

18:34But having a group of um having a place

18:36where you know where your partners are,

18:38you know workflow, you know process can

18:40really help expedite your onboarding.

18:44>> So I think with that we can move on to

18:46city properties and leases. Now this was

18:48something that unfortunately l worked on

18:50in detail. So she's not here. I'm going

18:52to present it for you. Sorry L. I'm

18:53going to do my best. So working with

18:55city partners, a large aspect of this

18:56work revolved around the management of

18:58city properties to include banning of

18:59properties. partners that worked with

19:01the city had space changes, gate

19:02extensions, and pricing alteration that

19:04reflected through multiple amendments

19:06and new lease drafts. So, the focus of

19:08this area for her included making these

19:10amendments, but then also creating a

19:13plug-and-play sort of document,

19:14something where as different addendums

19:17or changes,

19:19maybe once more someone could come in

19:21without significant background knowledge

19:24and work with it again without taking

19:26that basis of having to build from the

19:28ground up. You have a document, you have

19:29the things highlighted, you know you

19:31need to change initiating better

19:33workflow, better workflow and efficiency

19:36which is Thank you, El.

19:38>> Yeah, I just to say of course, right,

19:41like these are internal documents with

19:42our customers. So, if you can imagine

19:46the full breath of economic development,

19:48it takes a long time to look at a lease

19:51and revise and edit and think through

19:53it. So to have that extra help of having

19:56an intern look at it first, then send it

19:58to us, give us recommendations, let's

20:00discuss this, not only are we giving

20:03them the experience, right, of like,

20:05okay, it's like proper editing and

20:07format and negotiation, but it's a real

20:10live lease so that we ultimately follow

20:12through. So I I can't tell you how much

20:14um hours it saves, right? So for an

20:17intern to look at that, give us

20:19recommendations and then us send it in

20:22our normal workflow to our legal

20:24department saved a tremendous amount of

20:26time with something very administrative.

20:29And it was important, right? Like that

20:32the experience that we gave our interns

20:34was both administrative. Let's not lie,

20:37right? Economic development can be very

20:40um very attractive in terms of big

20:43projects, but it's not only that. is a

20:45significant [clears throat] part of

20:46administration and we want to be able to

20:48give a realistic experience.

20:52And with that, we kind of very briefly

20:55wrapped up all the work we did in those

20:56eight weeks because we want to get get

20:58you through as fast as possible. And

20:59we're going to go to what's probably one

21:00of my favorite sections, the takeaways

21:03if we go if we could go to the next

21:04slide. So, actually, you want to kick us

21:06off?

21:07>> Yes. Um so while I numbered them to four

21:12I feel like kind of the overall impact

21:15and takeaway is invaluable. Um I made it

21:19very clear entering this internship that

21:21I was transitioning away from being a

21:23student and I was kind of looking for

21:25that first experience

21:27u beyond that and being able to shift my

21:28thinking um as a real working

21:30professional which I think was given to

21:32me um and then some. So, just to kind of

21:36to start off like policy writing, um, a

21:38lot of these documents I've always

21:40thought of in a more academic lens. So,

21:41being able to take them and know that it

21:43would be um, potentially seen in a

21:45public eye beyond something, you know,

21:47beyond me and a teacher. Um, it

21:50definitely

21:52I it was a bit more difficult than I'd

21:54anticipated, but it was definitely a

21:55great learning curve. Um, so economic

21:58development literacy. So, a lot of these

22:01things I came into this internship not

22:03knowing um all of which were invaluable

22:07um as someone interested in entering

22:09this field in the long term. Um I

22:12[clears throat] think being able to

22:13learn them fresh out of school I think

22:16puts me at an advantage and having

22:17worked so in depth with these documents

22:20um it was really important to me. So,

22:23similarly to policy writing, um, I put

22:26federal regulation because again, FTZ58,

22:28um, I'm looking at a lot of things that

22:30are meant to be compliant with things

22:33that are beyond the scope of these

22:34documents that I was looking at. So, um,

22:38just making sure that I'm learning to

22:40navigate these things, um, and not

22:43delete anything I'm not supposed to, um,

22:46gave me a real confident boost to know

22:48that I was able to work on something

22:50like this, um, and be able to put my

22:52best foot forward and create something

22:54pretty cool. Um, so lastly, EDO

22:57thinking, which is something I we had

22:58touched on a little bit with the ASA

23:00dashboard, which is now transitioned. um

23:03just kind of thinking on like how I was

23:05provided with a framework like yes the

23:07Bangor team is only two people but

23:10there's so like there's so much that can

23:13be done with something just regarding

23:14economic development which Bita touched

23:16on um being able to think about this and

23:20think of it more as a discipline um and

23:22not just kind of a set of tasks that I'm

23:24ticking through um is something that

23:26I'll be able to take with me uh beyond

23:28the experience no matter where I go. So

23:31yeah, those are my takeaways. So

23:34Isabelle, I know you're next.

23:35>> That's your success story.

23:37>> My success story.

23:39>> Your success story.

23:40>> Oh,

23:42>> yeah. Well, I mean, after this

23:44internship, I'm on my second day of my

23:46new job. I'm working with Partners for

23:49World Health down in Portland, um, which

23:51is a medical supply redistribution. Um,

23:54and funny enough, I talked about my

23:56internship experience

23:58quite a bit in my interviews. I feel

24:00like truly um I had some palpable skills

24:02that I was able to take with me. Um and

24:05here I am on the other side of it and I

24:07found a pretty cool opportunity thanks

24:08to the work that I was able to do with

24:10Bigita and Veronica and the team. So

24:13>> congratulations.

24:15>> Thank you.

24:18>> Well, [clears throat] we'll go to the

24:19next slide. And y'all don't know a lot

24:21about me other than my name, but I am

24:22still a current student at the

24:24University of Maine. I'm pursuing a dual

24:25masters in economic and global policy.

24:27And so, as you can guess, this

24:28internship was very exciting for me. I

24:30got to apply both of my passions in a

24:33very tangible way. The writing, the

24:36onboarding, the communication, the

24:38collaboration. But one thing I wanted to

24:40talk about because we've kind of gone

24:41with that nitty-gritty of what I took

24:43away like professional development wise.

24:44Another thing this internship did for me

24:46was it really connected me to the

24:49community. I am now a regular at Patty

24:51Murphy's which I feel like everyone

24:53knows but I don't I don't live in Bangor

24:55but I will drive every week to get that

24:58fixed. I just I had them at Chimera

25:00today but these are places that I went

25:02to not just because I worked in Bangor

25:05but because we were so integrated in the

25:07community. I had so much investment in

25:09wanting to see this community succeed in

25:11learning about local businesses and

25:12talking to people and communicating with

25:14people and it made this place such an

25:16vibrant community for me. I've been

25:18going to school here for two years now.

25:20I've lived 20 minutes down the road. I'd

25:23never gone to Chimera coffee until I

25:26started. It's It's a shame. It's a right

25:28shame. But I was very very grateful to

25:31this entire experience because I I like

25:35to think of myself as a very

25:36communitydriven person and being able to

25:38work with the community, being able to

25:39invest in its development gave me a lot

25:42of inspiration and kind of made it clear

25:44to me that municipal work and municipal

25:46responsibilities were something that I

25:48would be very open to doing. It's

25:49another reason I took this internship

25:51because economic development that's like

25:53my that's my bread and butter.

25:55So getting the opportunity to do this,

25:57to meet community leaders, to work with

25:59them, to brainstorm, the amount of

26:00brainstorming I did in just little rooms

26:02with really cool people, I think that

26:05alone was worth the experience on top of

26:07everything else. And so I can, you know,

26:10professional writing, economic

26:11application, the municipality

26:13experience, but that community outreach

26:15bit is invaluable. And I will recommend

26:17to anyone who really wants to get to

26:20know the community to invest in its

26:22development to learn where people care

26:24and what they like what those people are

26:26doing so that you kind of get fired up

26:28with them and you want to do what

26:29they're doing or at the very least go

26:31and see what they're doing and be like

26:32wow this is really cool. Not very

26:34professional but you know that was I

26:37think the happiest moment and the most

26:39passionate moment for me in this

26:41experience. So, we'll go on because I

26:43won't just talk to her about it for far

26:46too long. But we'll go to Dear Al who

26:48also wrote some very sweet if I can get

26:50to the right page. I think we have about

26:52three more minutes.

26:54>> Well, I'm going to make this very short,

26:55but

26:57Al would like to say that she gained

26:59very very valuable insight into

27:00municipal operations and the priorities

27:02involved in being on an economic

27:04development team, how to work in a rural

27:06setting of Bangor. She had the chance to

27:07navigate relationships with community

27:09stakeholders, partners, and learned how

27:10to mediate between internal and external

27:12timelines. Overall, she gained powerful

27:14and applicable skills through her next

27:16professional role and appreciated the

27:18opportunity to give back to the

27:19community that she grew up in. This was

27:21a very personal experience for her and

27:22she'd be very happy to be to be a part

27:24and kind of with me contribute to its

27:26development. And she would love to say

27:28more on the subject. Unfortunately, she

27:29can't be here, but we will move on

27:30because we do want to get to the

27:32exciting part.

27:34So we as very young professionals want

27:37to offer perhaps not professional

27:40insight but rather just what we

27:42experience and what we would would like

27:44to see going forward. We think Bangor

27:46rebranding it as a very vibrant hub as a

27:49place not just to come visit and be but

27:51also to work and stay is the main goal

27:54of this entire room. Everyone would like

27:57to see people come here stay be a part

27:59of this very vibrant beautiful diverse

28:02community. Ashley, also please feel free

28:03to jump in at any point. I'm just going

28:04to keep yapping. But one of the ways

28:07that we kind of propose you do this is

28:09by I mean not you, but with us

28:13initiating very tangible places for

28:16young professionals such such as myself

28:18to enter and grow. It is a very tangible

28:22problem in all across Maine that I work

28:24with both as a researcher

28:27for economic development also in this

28:29internship. the struggle to keep young

28:32people. And I don't say that as a young

28:34person who wants a job. I say that as in

28:38order to encure a communities

28:39longlasting resource, you need to create

28:41spaces where people can grow up in those

28:43communities and then feel they can stay

28:45and not just stay and stagnate, but

28:47stay. And because we're running out of

28:50time, we are just going to skip to the

28:51next part and talk about kind of the fun

28:53part of this, which is Gen Z retention,

28:55which is going to Oh no, Ashley cuts out

28:57the whimsy. But what this slide says is

29:00gen your attention giving work a little

29:03bit of

29:04and this is I think every generation has

29:07something that they can bring to the

29:09table and every generation has different

29:10insights, perspectives, values,

29:12setbacks, all of it. But one thing I

29:14think Gen Z kind of very much succeeds

29:17in is the balance of work life.

29:20Sometimes that's for better, sometimes

29:21that's for worse. But one thing we

29:23talked about a lot was bringing the

29:24presence of whimsy into a professional

29:26environment. It is important to have

29:28those moments of strict stern

29:30seriousness. But it's also important to

29:32have those moments where you all can get

29:34together after that serious meeting and

29:36laugh a little bit

29:37>> because you need to because if you are

29:39working in community development, if you

29:40want to contribute to community, if you

29:42want to see it succeed, you have to be

29:44able to build that community in the

29:45workplace. You have to be able to build

29:47that community where you work, how you

29:49work, with the people you work with. And

29:51just you can read through all these

29:53little recommendations later, but I

29:56think at its very core, this comes to

29:58being passionate about your work, being

29:59passionate with the people you work with

30:01who share that passion, and being

30:03willing to treat each other as people.

30:06We can treat each other as co-workers. I

30:08can come over and be like, "Hi, Briita.

30:09Lovely to see you. Good luck with that."

30:11Or we can have a nice conversation

30:13person to person, human to human,

30:15because we're all just people. We're all

30:17just working and we all have the same

30:18goals sometimes.

30:21But we all want to see Bangor succeed.

30:23And we all want to see ourselves

30:24succeed. And finding a way to work all

30:27of that into one very healthy

30:30communicative setting is crucial. And I

30:33think building those pipelines and

30:34creating those spaces for young

30:35professionals who you can then teach,

30:37train, build into whatever wherever you

30:39need them is critical. And you take

30:42nothing else away from this

30:43presentation. I guess all you need to

30:45take away is bring a little bit of

30:46whimsy into your workplace. Be a little

30:48silly sometimes. You're allowed that.

30:50You should do that.

30:52>> Thank you. I think that's a yes.

30:54>> Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you,

30:56Ashley. Thank you, L. Thank you,

30:58Isabella. You guys have heard it from

31:00the horses mouth. I think it's important

31:02that we listen because we're only moving

31:04forward. Time waits for no one. Um, I do

31:07want to say that we've worked really

31:09hard to build our relationships with our

31:11universities. Just so happened that

31:12Hust, we didn't receive Hust interns,

31:15but we do have a significant

31:16relationship with UI. I personally was

31:19there um um welcoming 300 students last

31:23last week and talked about the

31:26importance of first impressions and

31:27branding because we were invited by the

31:30dean of the business school right and so

31:32we have a great um a great relationship

31:36with the school of policy and

31:37international relations and I'm going to

31:39take a moment to introduce you to our

31:42new director of the school of policy and

31:44international rel relations Alexander

31:47Hamilton

31:48And as you can see, the momentum

31:50continues, right? So, these guys did

31:53phenomenal work, but we can't stop

31:54there. The momentum continues. So, I'd

31:56also like to introduce you to Anna

31:58Wallace, who's going to be our new fall

32:00economic development so that we continue

32:02the work, continue moving forward,

32:04continue doing all the things that we've

32:05mentioned.

32:08>> Thanks, Any questions?

32:10>> Any questions uh from the council? Uh

32:15um Oh, councelor back. Well, you can go

32:17first. I don't mind.

32:18>> Oh,

32:20sure. I'll go first. Uh I very much

32:23appreciate the use of whimsy, by the

32:25way. Um I have the very same opinions.

32:29Uh I I've had I've had enough Gen Z

32:33co-workers. Uh this is how I know I have

32:36a Gen Z cooworker. When they sign off on

32:39an email, I usually just say, "Best, Joe

32:42Leonard." Um, I've had some people say

32:45yolo.

32:47I've had some people say bottoms up. Uh,

32:50and you know what? I'm not offended by

32:52that. I think that's fun. But you you

32:55brought up a lot of really good points

32:57is that we have a responsibility to

33:01create a path forward for the next

33:04generation coming here. And we've talked

33:05as a council multiple times about how

33:08we're going to bring about our Gen Z

33:11workforce. uh Tony about like whether

33:14it's uh attracting them via certain

33:17housings or certain projects or certain

33:20type of uh uh working relationships. But

33:24I really did appreciate uh just how from

33:27a professional writing perspective how

33:30succinct uh you were able to bring all

33:33this information to us. Uh you really

33:36encapsulated uh William Shakespeare's

33:38Brevity Soul with so thank you very

33:40much. do my best.

33:43>> I had several questions. It okay to

33:44>> please. Yes, sure. So, guess the first

33:47question. First of all, great

33:48presentation. Thank you very much. Um,

33:50it was mentioned that, you know, none of

33:52this is official yet. Do what does the

33:55process look like exactly to turn it

33:57from, you know, this brainchild or

33:59brainstorm to something that's actually

34:02working in the city's official policy?

34:04>> Sure. So, it's about priority, right? As

34:06you know, we're very busy with certain

34:08projects at this time. So um we are soon

34:11going to be looking into growing our

34:14trade zone. Last year I had mentioned

34:16that we had our first operator open over

34:1830 years. So in that project we're now

34:20looking at these documents and saying

34:22okay what is it that we want to use? Is

34:25is it is this an internal document

34:26because some documents are meant to be

34:28just internal right for someone to

34:30easily understand a complex project.

34:33Others could be a little more public

34:35based. So that's what it is. is about

34:37priority and it's about internally

34:40reviewing. So as an economic devel

34:42development division, I'm internally

34:45reviewing and then giving it to the

34:47director of community economic

34:48development. Do you think we should move

34:49forward with this ultimately bringing it

34:51to the bed committee and then ultimately

34:53to council?

34:54>> Okay. Well, speaking of documents, you

34:56mentioned the cheat sheet for uh

34:58President Hansen and Tiff and you know

35:00for the applicants which I think is

35:02great. I'm just curious did during that

35:04process of doing that, was there any

35:06feedback from either potential

35:08applicants or form applicants or some of

35:11like what to go into that document?

35:12>> Yeah, I think I mean the document

35:14exists, right? So, it's on our website

35:15as a policy. Um it was a little test,

35:18right? So, Ashley was assigned this um

35:21project and I was like, "Okay, Ashley,

35:23read that policy and and tell us what it

35:25means." She's like, "I don't It's very

35:29confusing, right? there's different

35:30parts and it doesn't flow well. Okay.

35:32So, give us what you think it should be.

35:35And also with a cheat sheet because

35:36something like a TIFF, as we all know in

35:38a Ca could be very complex to those who

35:40doesn't who don't work with it every

35:42day.

35:43>> If you want to acknowledge that Ashley

35:44does every hand.

35:47>> Yeah. I mean, Bea basically like

35:50[clears throat] said my point. Um, I

35:52think I kind of touched on it a little

35:53bit, but I was that outside perspective

35:55of someone who wasn't familiar with the

35:57processes processes. Um, no, I am not a

36:00TIFF or CA applicant, unfortunately.

36:03But I think that outside perspective

36:05just generally is just as important. Um,

36:07if you're looking as an audience member,

36:10just for someone who might not know the

36:11lingo or anything like that. So,

36:14>> well, and follow up with the cheat

36:15sheet. I I definitely for the next set

36:17of interns, I'd love to see a cheat

36:18sheet for council on this topic. I think

36:20it' be helpful.

36:23>> You need to be the will to handle that.

36:25I think that would be a helpful tool for

36:26especially for new counselors coming in.

36:28you know, what's a TIFF, what's a CA,

36:29how does this all work? Um, the uh the

36:33project dashboard caught my attention

36:35because, you know, one of the things

36:36with, you know, economic development is

36:38telling the story to the city, you know,

36:40to the residents of what it does. And

36:41I'm wondering, is there any part of the

36:43project dashboard that's currently

36:44public facing?

36:47>> So, the project dashboard that we're

36:49using now is not meant to be public

36:51facing, right? is meant to be to get out

36:53of this mode of being reactive because

36:55there's so much coming at us and being

36:57more proactive like what is our pri what

36:59are our priorities? What is it that we

37:00want to do? What are we going to do for

37:02a given day and who takes on the role?

37:03However, what we're planning to do is

37:06taking pieces of it and putting it on

37:08our economic development web page at the

37:10at on the city's website as well as

37:13having lunch and learn sessions with

37:15you. This is what we're working on. um

37:17it may not be so decision driven but

37:19more of a sharing of of of the work that

37:22we do and perhaps sharing our best

37:24practices and the discovery of best

37:26practices too.

37:27>> Um on the onboarding um one of the

37:29things I guess I'm hearing to describe

37:31is like they're institutional memory

37:33which is something I think that we need

37:35more of you know ways to capture that

37:37knowledge. Um, so I'm wondering is this

37:41eventually something that could also

37:42kind of trickle out into other

37:44departments, you know, almost like being

37:46tested here and could other departments

37:48make use of of what you're building with

37:49that?

37:50>> And you're talking about the dashboard.

37:51>> Yeah. No, the Yeah, the on you talk

37:53about the onboarding. Yeah. So I don't

37:55want to um confuse it, right? So it's

37:57not necessarily an HR on boarding

37:59because the intern team does a great job

38:00at that. It's more specific to a role,

38:03right? These are our partners. This is

38:05how we work. This is our process. these,

38:07you know, um, everything from, you know,

38:11administrative behind the computer

38:13responsibilities to events that we

38:15should be at and how do we present

38:17ourselves in the community. So, yeah, I

38:19mean, depending on the role, I think

38:21it's can definitely, but I think it's

38:23important um, and it saves time, right?

38:26Like efficiency, like time is so

38:28important to be able to give a person

38:30something that they can read, understand

38:32what it is their role is beyond the job

38:34description.

38:35>> Sure. Well, what I liked what I heard

38:37was it's a resource where you can hit

38:38control F and say, "Oh, actually, I need

38:40this information and takes you right to

38:41that part of the document."

38:42>> If I could just I would recommend that

38:45other people look into building that

38:47because I do think it is a very helpful

38:48thing. I have worked elsewhere before

38:51here, but I it's very helpful to get

38:53almost like a packet of information and

38:55then you as the new hire can go and you

38:58can educate yourself on what you need to

39:00know without having to consistently

39:01pepper your new boss or your new

39:03superior with questions like, "Hey, how

39:05do I do this really basic thing?"

39:07Because that can be both demoralizing

39:09for you as the newcomer, but also a a

39:12time waster for whoever you're here to

39:14help or work under. And while maybe

39:17while I don't think we will necessarily

39:18be responsible for that, I would highly

39:20encourage others to institute that

39:22because institutional memory is just an

39:24efficiency builder. It is just a helpful

39:26tool to have.

39:28>> Two more questions. I promise I'm not uh

39:30the next question was about you know we

39:31talked about the professional devel

39:33retention and Gen Z retention which was

39:36great tips. Is that also going to be

39:37kind of another internal document that's

39:40going to be reviewed and see about way

39:42to implement that into like best

39:43practices or anything? Yeah, I mean Ann

39:46and I um we meet regularly on a weekly

39:49basis. We've talked about what it is to

39:51recruit younger people and what it is

39:54what it is that they are desiring, but

39:56it's two-way. And I made sure that I

39:58really drove this home. It's two-way,

40:01right? Like we can't I'm talking about

40:03my generation, right? It came from a

40:05place where we couldn't necessarily

40:06decide everything that we were going to

40:08do or we're going to work with. I think

40:10that there's um there's wisdom from

40:13both, right? that we need to meet in the

40:15middle and that's why one of the I

40:17wanted to bring in the reality of like

40:18there's administrative task like it's

40:20all not fun and you know sexy around

40:22here it's like administrative

40:25um so say all that to say yes we are

40:28discussing internally because it's so

40:30important to succession plan and so

40:32important to allow our young people to

40:36experience a life in the day of

40:38municipal government a lot of times um

40:41they have no idea until they actually

40:43get into it and a lot of and there's

40:45stigmas associated with it and we want

40:46to eliminate those stigmas.

40:49>> Well, all of you deserve to be

40:50congratulated for this, you know,

40:52program and and this presentation. I

40:54appreciate all of it and it does sound

40:56like uh the partnership is continued

40:58into the next year. There'll be more

40:59interns, more projects, and we'll have

41:02another presentation to look forward to

41:03next year.

41:04>> Yes. And I'm gonna let Veronica close it

41:06out.

41:07>> I do have one more question.

41:10>> I don't have a question. Um but I I just

41:13wanted to congratulate all of you and

41:15thank you for this presentation. I think

41:18it's absolutely remarkable. Um and I'm

41:21so impressed uh when you you at the at

41:25the onset of your presentation, you

41:27said, you know, we really wanted not

41:29just to do our work, but to leave

41:31something lasting, right? To really make

41:33a difference. And all of the things that

41:34you have in here um are are are really

41:38going to make a difference. And I think

41:40in ways maybe that you haven't even

41:42necessarily, you know, thought about yet

41:45as a counselor. Um, you know, I I'm

41:48often here and and one of the people who

41:50pastor um Bea about things like leases

41:53and details and and so all of these

41:55updates really just have so many

41:57applications um and just remarkable, you

42:00know, with the the foreign trade zone

42:02work um thinking about that as a as an

42:05economic opportunity, an attractive

42:07opportunity to the city of Bangor. So, I

42:09just want to appreciate absolutely all

42:10of that and the lasting impact um that

42:13all of you will have made. Um and so I

42:17look forward to bright futures and

42:19plenty of whimsy if we can get some

42:21around here. I congratulate you for um

42:24joining us here in the fall. And

42:27actually, if I heard correctly, you said

42:29this was your second day at your new

42:31role. And so, I'll congratulate you for

42:34that as well. And thank you all. Thank

42:36you, Chair Le.

42:38Yes.

42:39>> Um, I'd like to thank you too. This is

42:41incredible uh work that you've done and

42:44I already thinking about how these

42:47dashboards and simplifying some of our

42:49forms uh to make it easier for uh not

42:53just uh the consumer out there that's

42:55trying to uh find out what a tiff is and

42:57how it works and the CA. But I think

43:00also for counselors you know every three

43:02years there's new counselors coming in

43:04and even for those uh in our last year

43:06when um for instance you know the

43:09committee that's meeting now if there's

43:11a project it goes in different phases

43:13and sometimes we have to look through

43:14our email or we don't have a dashboard

43:17where some of the you know the internal

43:19documents that could be shared. uh if we

43:22had those in one file folder where we

43:25could review ourselves and be more

43:26prepared and more productive when we

43:28have our committee meetings uh that

43:30would be so helpful and and I I just see

43:32this um this dashboard and this template

43:35of creative ideas you've done being not

43:38only useful for economic development but

43:41maybe with code because you work with

43:43code and planning and I can see this

43:45could be very efficient and helpful for

43:47these departments that have to

43:49collaborate work together to be more

43:50efficient of time. So, um, thank you and

43:54best of luck and I love your enthusiasm

43:57and, uh, keep that going and, uh, thank

44:00you.

44:01>> Uh, I'm going to skip councelor Fun and

44:04then councelor Carson has one more.

44:06>> That will be very quick. Thank you.

44:08Great job. And from someone who has

44:10worked in communications for more than

44:1330 years, you both have excellent

44:16presentation skills. So, that's going to

44:18um, work well for you. So

44:20congratulations on all your hard work. I

44:21won't repeat what everyone else has

44:23already said, but I agree with all of

44:25that. So good job.

44:27>> Thank you all.

44:29>> And I also I'm sorry and I completely

44:31forgot, but I want to thank Vikita and

44:33our economic development team for all of

44:36the work they can do around this well

44:38for leveraging our anchor institutions

44:40and so

44:42>> so welcome. Um it takes a little bit of

44:44time, right? So like these interns ships

44:47are very structured. I'm not gonna put

44:49someone in a seat and be like, "Okay, go

44:51ahead." Right? Like I take the time to

44:54really structure what their projects are

44:56to a finite detail week one through

44:59eight so that they are empowered with

45:02the work that they need to do and they

45:03they understand what their what their um

45:06task and responsibilities are. So it

45:09takes a little time up front for a

45:11phenomenal finish.

45:14>> Unless anything else uh I'll let you

45:16take it away.

45:18Um, so to close out, um, I will say I've

45:21done multiple internships when I was an

45:23undergrad. Some were a nonprofit. Some

45:25were strange private companies that were

45:27a little too small to hire me. And my

45:29first job out of college was actually in

45:30corporate America and to transition

45:32here. And having a I would say slightly

45:35more robust onboarding guide and

45:37onboarding resources has really been a

45:40great way to first of all start and also

45:43throughout all of my experiences know

45:45what I do like and what I don't like.

45:46So, um, all that's to say, it was a

45:49wonderful presentation. Congratulations

45:51to you. Thank you for that.

45:53>> Thank you all so much.

45:54>> Phenomenal.

45:55>> Thank you to your audience.

45:56>> I know it can be a little yappy up here,

45:58but

46:01>> thank you.

46:08>> Well, uh, we put that off for such a

46:12long time. It's uh so good that we

46:14finally actually got that uh rolling

46:17around. It was uh well worth the wait.

46:20Um next up we have uh Bangor

46:22International Airport uh report. Um and

46:27uh if Major would you like to come

46:29forward to share a couple of things?

46:48I'll let you take it away.

46:49>> Perfect. Good evening,

46:52airport director. Uh it's been a while

46:56since I've come have uh mindset

46:58committee to talk a little bit about

47:00what's happening at the airport. So I

47:03will spend some time uh going into a

47:07little bit more details of each of the

47:08sections but big picture airport is busy

47:12extremely extremely busy and I think um

47:15the statistics that you see there on uh

47:17for the July report kind of speaks for

47:19themselves. Uh when we look at what the

47:22FAA is reporting for activity on uh uh

47:26fis well on uh calendar year 2025

47:30um 2025 is a record year for the

47:33airport. The the numbers are it's the

47:36busiest year that we have on record and

47:39that a uh it it's a reflection of all

47:43the work that has been happening uh

47:45across the airport. So, um, to add that

47:48into context of what we're seeing so far

47:51to date, and actually before I move on,

47:532026 was a year that the airport was,

47:55uh, shut down approximately a month

47:58because of the runway project. And so

48:01even with that um, with that significant

48:03amount of uh, of closure, we still broke

48:06the record, right? And so when we look

48:09at what the airport is seeing uh so far

48:11into year 2026,

48:1418% growth from that. So a lot of people

48:18coming through the airport. Um in

48:20research that we've done um what we

48:23observe is that obviously during the

48:25summer months which is our peak period

48:28um interesting statistic is that um

48:33three out of every four arriving

48:35passengers are renting a car in

48:36Bangalore. meaning that there's a lot of

48:38tourism that's coming through the

48:40airport and on any given Saturday uh

48:43during the summer we're seeing upwards

48:44of 3,000 passengers coming in which is

48:48um up to three times what we normally

48:50see during the winter months. So a

48:51significant significant amount of people

48:54coming through the airport to visit our

48:55community.

48:57Um

48:58in addition to what we're seeing right

49:00now, one of the things that uh we are

49:03starting to look at is what does this uh

49:07trends that we're seeing uh from 2025

49:092026 mean for 2027 uh summer season and

49:14uh what we're hearing from our airline

49:17partners is we should expect the growth

49:20to continue. And so ahead of that type

49:22of growth, what I've tasked um my staff

49:26is to think about what are adjustments

49:29and shifts that we need to make uh in

49:32terms of our operation, in terms of u

49:35fitting our uh or staff in in a way that

49:38that makes sense for this type of uh

49:41peak. because in reality it's it's a

49:45it's a shift in our operation that the

49:47airport has not um handled in the past

49:50and it's going to take a little bit of

49:52fine-tuning to try to match that level

49:54of activity that we see on especially on

49:57the weekends. Saturdays and Sundays are

49:58the busiest days um at the airport. So,

50:03so, uh, any questions so far on big

50:07picture trend, uh, numbers before I move

50:09on to the next item?

50:13>> I think one if if you don't mind. It's a

50:16it's very situational and it's totally

50:18okay if you don't have an answer to

50:20this. Um, but it has to do with the

50:22upcoming season. Um

50:26I I'm sure everyone's well aware we have

50:28an El Nino coming up and that is going

50:31to affect the weather across uh the

50:35entire western hemisphere and that does

50:38mean that this region of the continent

50:42is going to have less snow. there's

50:45going to be we're going to have a much

50:47warmer winter and I'm just curious

50:50what that projection likely is going to

50:52be, especially considering if we're

50:54going to have more rainfall, less

50:56snowfall, how that's going to impact the

50:59uh runway as well.

51:02>> So, operationally speaking, um the

51:04airport prepares for winter operations

51:06um on a on a regular basis. um prior to

51:09the winter season, we uh are federally

51:12required to have a uh winter operations

51:15plan in place. And so we review that and

51:17obviously we work very closely with FAA

51:20uh air traffic controllers with uh or uh

51:23National Weather Service partners to

51:25monitor those type of things. Uh but in

51:27reality the capacity of the airport to

51:29handle operations in any um weather

51:32given uh conditions is uh pretty strong

51:35and robust. So I don't foresee that

51:37being any operational impact. Obviously

51:40um weather both in the summer with

51:42thunderstorms and the winter with

51:43snowstorms has the potential to impact

51:46flight disruptions but that's not not

51:48different than any other operation would

51:50be impacted.

51:52>> That was my only question was anyone has

51:54anything I guess counc

51:55>> um I know with the the fuel charges and

51:58and uh airline fees these days are are

52:02you know pretty expensive. I know myself

52:04recently looking kind of a sticker

52:06shock, but it didn't stop us from taking

52:08our annual vacation and I'm kind of

52:11surprised that with the tariffs and

52:13everything that we're um you know our

52:16every month that that I looked at we

52:18were up from last year and you're saying

52:20especially over the weekend and car

52:22rentals being up. So um as the tourists

52:26have increased and and staying and

52:28renting cars um do you have a theory on

52:31on what that that is where that they're

52:33flying into Bangor where are they going

52:35and and what do you think the uptick is

52:37especially with the the fees of airline

52:40tickets these days?

52:41>> Yeah I think so from an big industry

52:44standpoint obviously a lot of the

52:46geopolitical

52:47um dynamics that are happening uh has an

52:50impact on the industry at as a whole. I

52:53think uh for our airport we're very

52:55lucky of the kind of growth that we

52:56continue to see despite the um the

52:59trends and and different dynamics that

53:01are happening across across the uh uh uh

53:05geopolitical environment. Uh I think

53:09it's important to think about all of the

53:12flights that commercial flights that

53:14come into Bangor are coming from um

53:16domestically, right? And so there's

53:18people coming from across the country um

53:20wanting to spend their summers up here

53:22in Maine, right? And so what we do know

53:25is that the growth that we're seeing is

53:28pretty similar to what our um uh

53:32partners down in Portland are seeing

53:34very similar growth. Um, so I think that

53:37uh on the international side or the

53:39biggest factor for us is obviously that

53:41about 40% of our passengers are Canadian

53:44um typically heading down to Florida.

53:47And so u we monitor that dynamic to see

53:50what the uh what potential impacts might

53:52uh might happen in our in our market.

53:54But what we're seeing is a uh moderate

53:58to small impact on on our operation.

54:03>> Yeah.

54:06No.

54:07>> Okay. So, the next item that I included

54:10in the U airport director's report has

54:14to do with an emergency runway closure

54:16that you might have heard throughout the

54:20uh or social media channels or website

54:22and general uh community uh

54:25communications. So uh the airport a

54:28couple of weeks ago started observing a

54:32uh condition on the runway surface that

54:36uh indicated what is commonly known in

54:39the industry as an alkali silica

54:41reaction which is a chemical reaction in

54:44which the concrete sort of starts

54:46disintegrating. Um this is a um in in a

54:51runway like ours uh that has a subbase

54:53of concrete and an overlay of asphalt

54:56tends to be a common things particularly

54:58in northern climates where uh there's a

55:00lot of freezing temperatures and then

55:01the contraction that happens one once

55:04the temperature changes and so um the

55:07airport took immediate action to do

55:09temporary repairs but in coordination

55:11with the FAA and with our consultants

55:14what it was determined is that it needed

55:16to be a major repair. And so given the

55:19work that we recently did with the

55:22runway project and in conversations with

55:24the FAA, we were able to sort of loop

55:27this work into it uh into the the

55:31original funding sources that we have

55:33had. Uh but for us as a uh as an

55:37airport, it was an unbudgeted expense

55:39that we're going to have to deal with.

55:41And so we're working with the FAA right

55:43now to fine-tune the math of exactly

55:46what that uh uh the cost is going to be

55:48for us to do it. But given the fact that

55:51we were still uh uh wrapping up uh

55:54portions of the runway project, we were

55:55able to work with the same contractor

55:57and move this repair along as a change

56:00order to the current contract as

56:02approved by the FAA. And so in in

56:05reality uh as with many other uh federal

56:09uh funded projects the vast majority of

56:10the funds are likely to come from the

56:12FAA a portion of it from uh the state

56:16and then or local match or whatever is

56:18either non-eligible or is uh or uh

56:21matching but for that um our engineers

56:24are giving us an estimate of this

56:26portion to be in the $750,000

56:29for this repair. Um and so again, we're

56:33still working on finalizing this. It's

56:35been a very uh rapidly developing

56:37situation that we've had to sort of jump

56:40in and because of the impact that it has

56:42to or uh airline partners, we did uh uh

56:45move forward with at least settling on a

56:48date to conduct that repair and kind of

56:50working around the administrative

56:52portion of it to make it happen. So

56:57any questions at all?

57:01doesn't look like it. Perfect. So, I

57:04wanted to spend some time as well uh

57:06talking about some of the projects that

57:08we've uh been working on in the

57:10background because um I think that uh

57:14since the last time we talked uh I

57:16provided an update. Um, one of the the

57:18things that you might have seen in the

57:20news is just a number of diversions,

57:21medical emergencies and different uh

57:23international uh and high-profile type

57:26of uh operations that have come our way.

57:29And um one of the things that we found

57:31is that uh our uh passenger boarding

57:34bridge at gate 11 which had been

57:36deactivated for about 5 years um came

57:39online about two months ago and within 3

57:41days of that jet bridge being back in

57:43service. It was the jet bridge that was

57:45being used for a lot of this extra

57:47activity that we were uh were dealing

57:50particularly on the international side

57:52of the airport. And so, um, again, a

57:54testament to the kind of high level of

57:57activity that we see at the airport and

57:59how some of this infrastructure that

58:01we've been building, it's been, um, uh,

58:04kind of helping to, uh, uh, better

58:08address some of the activity that that

58:10we see at the airport. Uh, the next

58:13project that I, it's been a while since

58:16we've talked about it, is the connector

58:18project, which is at the very tail end

58:20of construction. The project is expected

58:23to be fully completed um uh midocctober.

58:26And so that project um as we've talked

58:29uh numerous times is going to add an

58:32extra hold room in our gate six area and

58:35build a bridge that will and uh that

58:38will connect both our domestic and

58:39international terminal so that we're

58:41able to better take uh take advantage of

58:43the four gates that are in the uh

58:46international site. And again, this is a

58:47project that started prior to my tenure

58:50and we're finally seeing it through here

58:52at the tail end of this construction

58:55project.

58:57A couple of months ago, uh we did uh we

59:00brought in a grant application for our

59:03tax alpha project, Alpha and Mike, and

59:06that project is up and running, and it's

59:08been probably one of the fastest

59:10projects that I've seen move along. uh a

59:13very close working relationship with the

59:15contractor and um there's been several

59:18uh phases and sub facases that uh that

59:21they're uh working through these

59:22projects. Um every single one of those

59:25phases has been on schedule or ahead of

59:28schedule and that's a really good place

59:29for us to be because then uh we're able

59:31to move along and accommodate whatever

59:34comes next for uh for our partners when

59:36we're able to stick to those deadlines

59:37that we have for the week.

59:40And lastly, uh if you keep track of the

59:45um uh projects that are out to bid right

59:47now, the uh TSA checkpoint expansion

59:50project is out to bid at this time. And

59:53this is a close to $20 million project

59:56that will um triple the size of the

59:59checkpoint at the airport and add the

1:00:01third uh screening lane and add enough

1:00:04uh space and capacity in terms of

1:00:05utilities so that when the growth uh

1:00:08pass a certain threshold, we're able to

1:00:10add the fourth uh screening lane at the

1:00:12at the checkpoint. So again, just

1:00:14preparing the airport for it that uh the

1:00:16growth that we really are seeing uh in

1:00:18the near to midterm uh range.

1:00:22So questions so far on projects or

1:00:25construction updates.

1:00:27>> Just a comment. I I expect to get

1:00:29through TSA in 30 seconds now. All

1:00:31right.

1:00:33Well, again, it's the the the type of uh

1:00:37the type of passenger volumes that that

1:00:38we see right now are uh it it's it's

1:00:42taken a toll on our infrastructure,

1:00:44right? And so, again, going back to um

1:00:46the same situation as with the jet

1:00:48bridge, this type of um upgrades that

1:00:51we're seeing and we're working on our um

1:00:56were planned a few years back. And so at

1:00:58at some point we do need to address it,

1:01:00figure out okay is this going to be

1:01:01enough to address the the demand that we

1:01:04see in the next 5 10 years and how do we

1:01:06plan for that? So

1:01:08>> and and I think that's a a really smart

1:01:10approach and we're only going to grow.

1:01:13We're increasingly becoming a more

1:01:15recognized airport and I think it's

1:01:17smart of us to recognize that growth.

1:01:20Councelor Carson.

1:01:21>> Yeah. So councelor Leonard I usually get

1:01:23through there in about 30 seconds. has

1:01:25been my routine experience. But um it it

1:01:28do I remember that with the um with the

1:01:31expansion and that reconstruction that

1:01:33that's also going to bring those

1:01:36businesses that are now outside of TSA

1:01:40into that space so that more people can

1:01:43access them.

1:01:45>> No. So the no the TSA checkpoint

1:01:48expansion is limit the project is

1:01:50limited only to the screening um area of

1:01:54the checkpoint. However, once we've

1:01:57completed that step uh what I foresee as

1:02:00part of the

1:02:023 to five year uh construction projects

1:02:06will be the development of additional

1:02:08concessions in the uh postsecurity area.

1:02:13And so we do have uh I've actually

1:02:15worked with our uh team on developing

1:02:18what an RFP would look like for that

1:02:20project and working with uh concessions

1:02:23to add um in theory it would pro likely

1:02:27be well the sit uh sit down restaurant

1:02:29and a coffee stand. Um

1:02:33but the uh part of the challenge is that

1:02:36the uh uh uh security checkpoint

1:02:40expansion is going to require storage

1:02:43facilities and so that space is going to

1:02:46help that purpose and once the TSA

1:02:48checkpoint is completed then we would be

1:02:51able to expand on the concessions

1:02:52development and uh that that's what I

1:02:55foresee as as far as addressing

1:02:57concessions.

1:03:00Council back a comment always glad to

1:03:02hear things are moving forward. Taxi way

1:03:04Mike

1:03:08>> any other comments.

1:03:11>> Do you have anything you wanted to say?

1:03:12Uh director please.

1:03:14>> No nice work.

1:03:16>> Perfect. So the next thing is um a

1:03:19revision to the GE lease that we had

1:03:22brought up to you probably about an hour

1:03:24ago or so. Um it looks like on the GP

1:03:27side they went back and reassessed some

1:03:29of the uh their needs and how long they

1:03:32were going to need this temporary um uh

1:03:34lots. Um they uh decided that it was not

1:03:38necessary to get it for the two years

1:03:40that they had initially thought that the

1:03:43uh project was going to faster. And so

1:03:46because that was a change in the terms

1:03:48that uh the council had approved, we

1:03:50needed to bring it back for your review

1:03:51and approval. And if uh the committee is

1:03:56uh satisfactory with the new proposed

1:03:58terms, which is a slight uh the the

1:04:01rates were uh slightly increased for a

1:04:03shorter term. Um uh and so uh if that's

1:04:07a uh uh staff recommendation is to

1:04:11approve this and if that's the case, it

1:04:13would go to council uh next week to um

1:04:17get the revised terms approved. Are you

1:04:20looking for a vote on that or that

1:04:23doesn't need a a bill?

1:04:25>> Okay, I guess we'll do questions first

1:04:27and then council person.

1:04:29>> Oh, I was going to make a motion.

1:04:32>> Oh. Oh, okay.

1:04:33>> But I I would move that um the BED

1:04:36committee recommend this lease change to

1:04:38the full city council for approval.

1:04:40>> Second.

1:04:41>> We have a motion. We have a second. Any

1:04:43other thoughts or discussion on this?

1:04:47I have no uh thought. So unless there's

1:04:50anything, we'll do a roll call vote.

1:04:53Councelor Fish,

1:04:54>> yes.

1:04:54>> Councelor Malik,

1:04:55>> yes.

1:04:55>> Uh, councelor Fu,

1:04:57>> yes.

1:04:57>> Councelor Carson,

1:04:58>> yes.

1:04:58>> And I will be a yes. 5 Z.

1:05:01>> Perfect.

1:05:02>> And the last thing that I um have as

1:05:05part of my report is the uh

1:05:08recommendation uh from staff to accept

1:05:10and appropriate an FA grant. Um so this

1:05:13is to fund the construction that's

1:05:15already underway um as part of the taxa

1:05:19alpha taxaya mike uh project. Um as you

1:05:22might recall from previous reports that

1:05:24I've done the FAA usually work a little

1:05:27bit different when it comes to grant

1:05:29meaning that oftentimes you start the

1:05:31project and then you get the grant once

1:05:35you're under construction because of the

1:05:36way appropriations are set up at the

1:05:39federal level. And so uh this is a uh

1:05:42the committee of the council had

1:05:44approved uh the airport to apply for the

1:05:46full funding of the project at 14.6 six

1:05:50uh I think

1:05:54don't have the number in front of it uh

1:05:56but for the full amount of the of the

1:05:58construction project the FAA decided to

1:06:00split it into two grant and so this uh

1:06:03the acceptance and appropriation request

1:06:06and staff recommendation is for the

1:06:07first grant uh which um it would be uh

1:06:12uh

1:06:14step one and in the next few days prior

1:06:16to the end of the federal fiscal year we

1:06:18expect to get a second grant from the

1:06:20FAA that uh we would come back in a few

1:06:23weeks to get the uh recommendation to

1:06:25accept uh accept and appropriate funds

1:06:28to um to continue to finish that

1:06:30project.

1:06:32>> And just to clarify those uh that

1:06:35specific grant uh that was the uh from

1:06:38the Federal Aviation Administration uh

1:06:41grant or I I think this is the number

1:06:44146,652

1:06:46or am I mistaken? It's 5.5 million uh

1:06:505.5 million from the NAA,

1:06:54146,000 from named uh DOT and then the

1:06:58local match is uh 577,000.

1:07:04>> Um any questions or comments on this?

1:07:10Uh if not, I would hear a motion.

1:07:12>> Need to go to the full council. Yes.

1:07:14Right. Yeah. Yes. I I would move um

1:07:18staff recommendation to accept and

1:07:19appropriate the airport improvement

1:07:21grant payment.

1:07:24>> Second.

1:07:25>> We have a motion and a second unless

1:07:27there is any questions.

1:07:30Um

1:07:32we'll just do a roll call. Councelor

1:07:34Smith.

1:07:35>> Yes.

1:07:35>> Council Mer.

1:07:37>> Yes.

1:07:37>> Council Carson.

1:07:38>> Yes.

1:07:38>> And I'll be a guest. I keep forgetting

1:07:41normal. There's no doubt.

1:07:44But anyway, doesn't hurt.

1:07:46[clears throat]

1:07:47>> Okay. Is there anything else that you

1:07:49need from us, Jose?

1:07:50>> At this time, no. Unless you have any

1:07:53questions for me. Anything that you

1:07:55would like to discuss airport related,

1:07:58otherwise things are uh busy at the

1:08:00airport.

1:08:02>> Well, unless I uh I'm not seeing any

1:08:05hands and I guess we'll get out of your

1:08:07hair.

1:08:08>> Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay. Next

1:08:13on the agenda, we're going to be

1:08:14discussing um electric vehicles and heat

1:08:18pumps. It's going to be a follow-up

1:08:19discussion and we have planner Klette

1:08:21who's joining us at the table.

1:08:23>> Hi.

1:08:24>> Yes. So, um councelor Fish had some

1:08:26follow-up questions after our initial

1:08:28report on the fleet electrification plan

1:08:30and energy audits about um both of those

1:08:32items. And so, I did put her questions

1:08:35there in bold and um our responses to

1:08:38those. I'm just going to go through a

1:08:39few bullet points instead of all of

1:08:41them. Um, just on the first one as far

1:08:43as battery longevity. So, modern EV

1:08:47batteries today are made to go at least

1:08:49150 to 200,000 miles, which is similar

1:08:51to a gas powered car. Um, and typical

1:08:55manufacturer warranties cover those for

1:08:57at least 8 to 10 years. Um, 100,000 to

1:09:00150,000 miles and also guarantee them to

1:09:02be a certain battery capacity of 70%.

1:09:05Um, so the estimates I got, one of the

1:09:08quotes I included was that, you know,

1:09:10with modern battery technology,

1:09:12oftentimes the battery can outlast the

1:09:14car itself, the body of the car. Um, so

1:09:18and most of the replacements that do

1:09:21happen are either very old batteries or

1:09:23due to

1:09:25um [sighs and gasps] then as far as the

1:09:27cost of insurance, it is true that

1:09:29insurance can be a little bit more

1:09:31expensive for an EV due to a variety of

1:09:32factors, but the total cost of ownership

1:09:34that was included in that

1:09:36electrification report included the cost

1:09:38of insurance. And even with that

1:09:39slightly higher cost, because fuel and

1:09:43maintenance is so much lower, the total

1:09:44cost of ownership is still lower over

1:09:46the lifetime of the car for for most of

1:09:48those cars. Um, as far as the fuel

1:09:53source of the energy grid, um, so the

1:09:57emissions estimates that were included

1:09:59in that report were based on average US

1:10:01grid emissions, but Maine's grid is

1:10:03actually much cleaner than the US grid.

1:10:06over 54% of our grids based on renewable

1:10:08energy. So the emissions estimates that

1:10:10were in that report would actually

1:10:11probably be a lot um better than than in

1:10:15reality. And also the other, you know,

1:10:19stipulation is that if you add solar to

1:10:21a site, a rooftop solar system, that can

1:10:24reduce your emissions and your cost of

1:10:25fuel inverter. Um, and then just to

1:10:29address range, that wasn't asked about.

1:10:31Range does is reduced with an EV in the

1:10:34winter time, but it's actually reduced

1:10:36by similar amount for a gas powered car.

1:10:38A lot of people don't know that. Um,

1:10:40there are a lot of behavioral changes

1:10:42that you can make with an EV to help

1:10:44with that range issue. A lot of that

1:10:46range loss is due to having to heat the

1:10:48car in the winter time. Um, but if users

1:10:51warm up the car before while they're

1:10:53charging, before they drive it, that can

1:10:55help a lot. Using heated seats and um

1:10:58heated steering wheels, those comet

1:11:00oftentimes with a lot of EVs. Trying to

1:11:02use those to the maximum extent possible

1:11:04instead of heating system helps a lot.

1:11:06Making sure that the EV has a heat pump

1:11:08system because those are a lot more

1:11:10efficient than a resistive heating

1:11:11system. Um making sure users use

1:11:14regenerative braking. That's one of the

1:11:16biggest benefits to an EV is

1:11:18regenerative braking. So when you let

1:11:20off that accelerator, that energy goes

1:11:22back into the battery and really

1:11:23increases your range a lot. Um just

1:11:26making sure that users and drivers are

1:11:27using a lot of those different things

1:11:28can increase the range a lot. And the

1:11:30other thing to consider too is that um

1:11:33with EVs when you drive on the highway

1:11:35the range can decrease a lot more

1:11:38quickly. But with the way the city

1:11:41employees would be using them for the

1:11:43most part would be in city driving which

1:11:45um would not decrease your range by

1:11:47nearly as much as highway driving. Um

1:11:50and so I just wanted to point that out

1:11:52too. Um, as far as heat pumps, um, I

1:11:57know that, you know, um, there are a

1:12:00couple points that people have found

1:12:02that it it's more expensive than it was

1:12:04to use oil or gas. And there are some

1:12:07caveats with that. Um, some questions I

1:12:10would want to ask those people is, have

1:12:12you insulated first? Did you do air

1:12:14sealing? Because that's always step

1:12:15number one to make your home or your

1:12:17building more efficient. Definitely if

1:12:19you don't do those and you have a drafty

1:12:21building, heating is going to be

1:12:22expensive period. Um the other thing too

1:12:25that a lot of people don't think about

1:12:26is cooling. So when you look at the cost

1:12:29of cooling and heating over the whole

1:12:31year, um it it can sometimes be that the

1:12:34heat pumps still end up coming out

1:12:36better because a lot of people use

1:12:38window units which are a lot less

1:12:40efficient than a heat pump and are going

1:12:41to be more expensive to cool and a lot

1:12:43of people are using window units

1:12:45currently in the city. Um

1:12:48and let's see also the other thing is um

1:12:52with heat pumps you have like with EVs

1:12:55the added benefit that if you do add

1:12:56rooftop solar to the site that can

1:12:59obviously reduce your cost of heating

1:13:00and cooling a lot more as well. Um you

1:13:03don't have that option if you do use gas

1:13:05or oil for the heating system. Um, just

1:13:09going back to my previous point though,

1:13:10obviously like every building's going to

1:13:12be different and the existing systems

1:13:15are going to be different, existing

1:13:16cost, and that would all need to be

1:13:18evaluated on a case- by case basis. Um,

1:13:21and then also some things that can

1:13:24impact, you know, how efficient that

1:13:26heat pump is and and how well it's

1:13:28working and the cost of using that heat

1:13:30pump is just how people use it, much

1:13:32like an EV. So, if they're turning it on

1:13:35and off during the winter, they're

1:13:37changing the temperature all the time,

1:13:39they're not cleaning the filters, stuff

1:13:40like that, um that can all impact how

1:13:44efficient that system is. So, those are

1:13:46just some of the main highlights that I

1:13:48wanted to touch on and I'm happy to

1:13:50answer any other questions.

1:13:52>> Any questions? Uh, council question,

1:13:54>> I wanted to thank you when I wrote the

1:13:56questions. I just thought an email would

1:13:57be sufficient. So, I really appreciate

1:13:59you coming in and sharing uh the

1:14:01responses to those questions and u uh

1:14:04you answered them very thoroughly. Thank

1:14:05you very much.

1:14:07>> Any other thoughts or questions on this

1:14:09matter?

1:14:11>> I just wanted to echo a thank you

1:14:13because I think I was one of the people

1:14:15that had questions the last time to

1:14:17appreciate all this information.

1:14:20Um, I I actually uh just wanted to

1:14:24commend just us having this conversation

1:14:26overall because um I think this opens up

1:14:30a much larger dialogue about the topic

1:14:34of energy itself in the city. uh to to

1:14:38to kind of bring this into a more

1:14:40broader uh perspective,

1:14:43we're we're going to I

1:14:46projections really look like we're going

1:14:48to have a strenuous upcoming couple of

1:14:51years regarding energy consumption with

1:14:53cost going up. I mean, it's very likely

1:14:56CMP is going to hit a rate high. I know

1:14:57that's not officially in yet, but it

1:15:00wouldn't shock me. And it's not going to

1:15:02shock me if there's going to be more

1:15:04electrical utility costs going up as

1:15:05well through the state as well. And with

1:15:08our international um

1:15:14uh issue that we're having with Canada,

1:15:16that puts our reliance on energy

1:15:20um as a city, I think, to the forefront

1:15:23of what we want to have as a

1:15:24conversation regarding how do we as a

1:15:27municipality look at energy and its

1:15:32utilization for our services as a uh

1:15:39as as a major

1:15:42issue or an opportunity for us to grow.

1:15:45And what I actually want to have in the

1:15:49future is a discussion about whether or

1:15:53not we as a city want to expand our

1:15:57usage of solar technologies to make us a

1:16:00more independent city. having our own

1:16:04partial if not hopefully fully uh uh

1:16:09energy uh source that we can get. I I

1:16:12know that's really high up there in

1:16:15terms of like a large vision, but I do

1:16:18feel very strongly we need to as a city

1:16:22look at these upcoming issues as an

1:16:24opportunity for us having an ability as

1:16:27a city to say that we can eat a lot of

1:16:30these increasing energy costs. that

1:16:32that's a way that we can advertise as uh

1:16:35a way for people wanting to come to live

1:16:37in Bangalore. So, I I don't know. I I I

1:16:40know you're both probably not prepared

1:16:42to have this discussion, but I would

1:16:44very much uh encourage this committee

1:16:47and this council to have robust

1:16:50discussions about the expansion of maybe

1:16:53potentially even our own solar farms or

1:16:55having solar um on top of our buildings

1:16:58or solar on top of our uh parking lots.

1:17:03I for me at this point I look at it as

1:17:07preparing for eventual issues that are

1:17:10going to come down the road uh regarding

1:17:12energy uh related problems. So I don't

1:17:16know if that's something that either of

1:17:17you want to discuss right now because I

1:17:20I know this isn't directly related to uh

1:17:23electrical vehicles and heat pumps but

1:17:27it is related in a way. I do look at

1:17:29this as not just a energy issue but also

1:17:31a security issue as well for the city.

1:17:34>> I think Anya can continue to work on

1:17:37this area and bring back some more

1:17:39information in the future. Yeah.

1:17:41>> Okay. I I would very much appreciate

1:17:43that. And if you have anything that

1:17:45you'd like to add right now and I know

1:17:46that was a lot in this director.

1:17:48>> No. Um I mean you remember when I

1:17:51brought the um the solar report to you

1:17:53solar feasibility study that our intern

1:17:55Amelia did. Um, and definitely we have

1:17:57potential and based on the feedback I

1:18:00received then, you know, I'm I'm on the

1:18:02lookout for grant opportunities that

1:18:03will help us install those, you know,

1:18:05and um, help that payback period be

1:18:08shorter. So,

1:18:10>> Council Carson, you had a hand up.

1:18:12>> Well, just to comment to the point that

1:18:13you just made, but more broadly, um, I

1:18:16think, you know, whether it's discussing

1:18:18energy, discussing, you know, economic

1:18:20development, we have a lot of vision

1:18:22around here. We want to talk about

1:18:23housing. We want to bring businesses. We

1:18:25want to do things for city with aging.

1:18:28Um infrastructure in in a lot of

1:18:30regards. And so I I think something that

1:18:33we have pieces of information here and

1:18:35there, but I think something that I

1:18:36would like to see the infrastructure

1:18:38committee take up is actually bringing

1:18:40together information for the council to

1:18:42understand where we need um to be doing

1:18:46upgrades in our in our infrastructure so

1:18:48that as we have vision for, you know,

1:18:50the future and things that we'd like to

1:18:52do that we really understand the sort of

1:18:54nitty-gritty work of of that base

1:18:56building and infrastructure that we

1:18:58might need to do to be able to

1:18:59accomplish all with all of these

1:19:01wonderful things.

1:19:03>> 100%. Uh, council fish,

1:19:06>> I know if we're going to go down this

1:19:08road, I might as well throw this bar

1:19:10out. You think? Um, my elderly aunt that

1:19:13uh I've been helping take care of for

1:19:15the last few years at her property in

1:19:17the little town of Middleboro,

1:19:19Massachusetts. That town owns its own

1:19:21electric company. And my aunt's utility

1:19:25bill was phenomenal. I mean, just so

1:19:29low. in this quiet little town after I

1:19:32don't know how they did it but uh after

1:19:34they acquired ownership of their own

1:19:36electric company it grew faster than

1:19:40they were prepared for because it was an

1:19:42attraction for young families and

1:19:44seniors because we all know what our

1:19:46electric bills are and um and when I

1:19:49first was helping pay bills and I

1:19:50thought there was a mistake um so I

1:19:53don't know what middle borrow did but um

1:19:56it uh every time I get my light I'd like

1:20:00to know more about what they did.

1:20:02>> Well, and to that point, actually, this

1:20:04could be a potential enterprise fund for

1:20:06the city as well. If it's energy that we

1:20:09can potentially sell, like there are

1:20:11companies that literally actually make

1:20:13their for-profit businesses based on

1:20:15that type of model. Oh, councelor

1:20:18Carson. Well, I just to councelor Fish's

1:20:20point, I many years ago lived uh in

1:20:22Cleveland, Ohio when Cleveland public

1:20:26the the city of Cleveland still owned a

1:20:28public power company and I was able to

1:20:30experience that difference. Um it didn't

1:20:33stay that way for for very long and so I

1:20:35was also able to experience the

1:20:37significant change that happened when

1:20:39that transferred over but yeah I think

1:20:42that's I'd love to go down that path.

1:20:47[clears throat] Any other thoughts on

1:20:50this general topic or on electrical

1:20:52vehicles or heat pumps?

1:20:57Not seeing any.

1:20:59Well, thank you so much for uh this

1:21:02update and I am so looking forward to

1:21:04future discussions on energy and solar

1:21:07in the future.

1:21:11>> And you're here for the next one too,

1:21:13right?

1:21:13>> Next team,

1:21:16guys. Okay. So, potential chicken

1:21:18regulations followup. Uh Anya, you take

1:21:21it away, please.

1:21:22>> Yeah. Um I don't know if you want me to

1:21:24hash out um the original memo with those

1:21:28regulations. Okay. Um so, we had come to

1:21:32you previously kind of asking if you

1:21:34wanted to basically set a lot size

1:21:36minimum to have chickens period. It

1:21:38seemed like the feeling that was that we

1:21:40didn't want to do that and maybe we look

1:21:42into the city of Auburn's regulations in

1:21:44particular, something we might want to

1:21:46adopt. Um, and you all had asked us to

1:21:49also, you know, ask how they came up

1:21:50with those along with the city of

1:21:52Portland. Um, city of Portland didn't

1:21:54get back to us, but Auburn did say that.

1:21:56Um, and just to reiterate, they

1:22:00basically say you can have six hens on a

1:22:03lot of halfacre [snorts] or less. if you

1:22:05go over that, you can have up to 12 per

1:22:08acre prorated on your actual office. Um,

1:22:13so they said they got that number

1:22:15basically from a lot of public outreach,

1:22:16but also looking at what other towns

1:22:18across the East Coast had done and that

1:22:20seemed like a pretty common number. But,

1:22:22um, doing a little more research, some

1:22:25other places have also limited to three

1:22:27or four hens on a lot or when a lot is

1:22:30less than an acre. So, um, we're kind of

1:22:33proposing to take the middle ground and

1:22:36recommend that we do up to four chickens

1:22:39on a halfacre lot or 49 acres or less

1:22:43and then doing the up to 12 per acre

1:22:46prated lot size. Um, that was the main

1:22:50change in what we proposed. There would

1:22:52also be the setbacks of 20 uh for the

1:22:55coupe to be 20t from the lot line and 35

1:22:58ft from a dwelling on adjacent property.

1:23:01um a minimum square footage per chicken

1:23:04inside the coupe and outside the coupe.

1:23:06And then they also would have to they'd

1:23:08have to get a certificate of occupancy

1:23:09to have the coupe just to make sure that

1:23:12code and animal control make sure they

1:23:13meet all the regulations. But um

1:23:17a lot of the regulations would be in the

1:23:20animal chapter, chapter 65, which would

1:23:22say, you know, um regulates more than

1:23:25just chickens. It regulates other types

1:23:27of animals as well. But basically those

1:23:29regulations would say, you know, the

1:23:31chicken coupe has to be built with

1:23:32hardware cloth with um quarter inch

1:23:36opening or less to help prevent rats,

1:23:37which and it also needs to be buried

1:23:39around the coupe. Um roosters would be

1:23:42prohibitive except in RNA, the rural

1:23:44zone. Um and then feed and grain has to

1:23:48be stored in rodent proof containers and

1:23:50things like that. Um odors not

1:23:53detectable at the property line just to

1:23:55help prevent some of those nuisance

1:23:56issues. Um,

1:23:59and speaking of the newest issues, one

1:24:01more follow-up item that we did was, um,

1:24:03the question had come up, you know, how

1:24:06enforceable is the rodent issue, um, if

1:24:10somebody notices an increased presence

1:24:11of rats on their property because after

1:24:13their neighbor got chickens. Um, and

1:24:16code said, you know, it would be pretty

1:24:18hard to prove that that increased

1:24:19presence of rats is due to the chickens.

1:24:22But we do think that having these

1:24:25additional provisions in here about, you

1:24:27know, burying the hardware cloth, you

1:24:30know, storing your grain and your feed

1:24:31in a certain way would help um prevent

1:24:35that issue, but you know, that's just

1:24:36something I want to put out there for

1:24:38consideration and um happy to answer any

1:24:41questions,

1:24:43>> questions or comments on this. Councelor

1:24:44Carson.

1:24:45>> Yeah, I'm just wondering on the I

1:24:47appreciate that that question was

1:24:48carried forward. I appreciate the

1:24:50feedback, but I'm wondering if that um

1:24:55if that question could be explored a

1:24:58little bit further. Um I think I mean I

1:25:01think if we have regulations that say

1:25:03that you have to have feet in this or

1:25:04you know these kinds of things I I would

1:25:06consider that those things if they're

1:25:09broken or people aren't following them

1:25:11that those would constitute evidence uh

1:25:15related to rodents. Right? if there are

1:25:17rodents on the property and you don't

1:25:19have your feed stored the right way,

1:25:21that would be to me that would be

1:25:22evidence

1:25:24and and I would like to if that's if

1:25:27that is true or could be true. Um I

1:25:30would like to see maybe some more

1:25:32thought given to how how that could be

1:25:36um worked. And I I just I you know we

1:25:38have an increase in in rat population

1:25:41across the city. That's not new. It's um

1:25:44maybe kind of exciting, but um

1:25:47I and I've noticed that with particular

1:25:50properties where like it's just very

1:25:52clear as to why the rodents are

1:25:54increasing, right? When you see garbage

1:25:56stacked to the top of a property, that's

1:25:59why rodents are there.

1:26:00>> Um food waste or things like that. So,

1:26:04um, I would like to to see there's like

1:26:06a little bit more thought that we could

1:26:08give to that because I would hate to see

1:26:10people start to keep chickens in zones

1:26:13all across the city and then we have a

1:26:15rat population that explodes to like a

1:26:18crisis level that we really can't

1:26:20manage.

1:26:22>> Um, I can certainly ask code if there's

1:26:24anything else we can put in here.

1:26:25Certainly, if somebody hasn't built

1:26:27their coupe to these specs and, you

1:26:29know, they're not storing their feed and

1:26:31stuff appropriately, that's definitely

1:26:32enforceable. Um, but I'll see what else

1:26:35we can come up with.

1:26:39>> Sure. What um what can the public expect

1:26:43as far as the enforcement process? you

1:26:46know, they go to the parking line and it

1:26:48smells like manure or whatever and they

1:26:51complain or they notice that, you know,

1:26:53the manure being stored wrong or

1:26:55anything else. What does that timeline

1:26:57look like from the time they launch the

1:26:58complaint? How much time is there for

1:27:00the uh homeowner to remedy that? Um what

1:27:04can the neighbors expect reinforcement?

1:27:06>> Um I can't speak to timelines. I think

1:27:08it depends on what else code is dealing

1:27:11with at that point in time. if they have

1:27:12a huge emergency they have to deal with,

1:27:14it might be a little bit longer, but I

1:27:15think they would deal with it any other

1:27:16way that they deal with a code

1:27:18violation. Um, if somebody reports or

1:27:21complains about an issue, they go out

1:27:22and inspect it. If there was an odor at

1:27:25the property line, I imagine code would

1:27:27stand at the property line and see if

1:27:29there's an odor. Um, I don't know. I

1:27:33don't know if Ann, you have any other

1:27:34feedback. Yeah, I mean I think

1:27:38we'll have to get more information from

1:27:39code on that. Like how do they do that?

1:27:42Because I mean that's always an issue

1:27:43anytime you have a farm people move in

1:27:46next door they call and to complain. So

1:27:51I'll talk to code a little bit on that.

1:27:53>> I'll follow up.

1:27:54>> It is followup too. And then so you know

1:27:57as we're collecting the feedback on this

1:27:58eventually this is heading towards a

1:28:00public hearing at the planning board.

1:28:02>> Yeah. So our proposed process was

1:28:05wrapping this into the land development

1:28:06code update. We just want to know the

1:28:08approach to to use in the code update.

1:28:11So once we have the trap code for the

1:28:13whole city available, then that's going

1:28:15to have multiple public hearings.

1:28:17>> Thank you.

1:28:18Carson, did you have hand up? I tend to

1:28:21completely forgot.

1:28:24So I'll take Okay, I'll move on to

1:28:26council.

1:28:27>> I still have concerns about the chickens

1:28:29themselves. So if someone is not

1:28:31following the specifications, chickens

1:28:34are not being well taken care, what

1:28:36would the

1:28:38provision be, where would we go? You

1:28:41know, is there is there anything being

1:28:44thought about if we needed to the

1:28:46chickens would house the chickens? I

1:28:48would hate to have this become an issue

1:28:50where these chickens had to be

1:28:51euthanized. Someone wasn't caring for

1:28:53them properly. You mean caring for them

1:28:55like giving them food and water? those

1:28:57things.

1:28:57>> Well, if if they're not being cared for

1:28:59properly, I think last time you said

1:29:01that they they would have regular

1:29:03inspections. And if if it was determined

1:29:06that they weren't being cared for

1:29:07properly, and we need to remove them,

1:29:09just like would any other pet, where do

1:29:12they go? I mean, these are chickens now.

1:29:13This isn't someone that goes to a humane

1:29:16society.

1:29:17Um, I may be jumping the gun, but I

1:29:20could see that this could become a

1:29:21problem down the road if someone had all

1:29:23good intentions, but maybe didn't

1:29:26>> couldn't follow through.

1:29:27>> I don't know how we can regulate

1:29:31something like that. Like we do have a

1:29:33regulation for they have to provide the

1:29:35minimum four square feet of per chicken

1:29:37inside the coupe and 10 square feet

1:29:38outside. Make sure they have enough

1:29:40space. Um, we can definitely talk with

1:29:44code more to see if there's any other

1:29:46provisions we can put in there for that.

1:29:48Especially in the winter, it sounds like

1:29:49a great idea. I grew up on a little farm

1:29:52and it's not fun in the winter. The

1:29:55water freezes. You're cleaning out a lot

1:29:58of, you know, things that you don't want

1:30:00to be dealing with. So, people may have

1:30:03great intentions about getting the

1:30:04chickens, but down the road they don't

1:30:06want the chickens. So, I just think

1:30:08there should be some kind of a plan if

1:30:10those chickens do need to be removed

1:30:12before it becomes a problem.

1:30:18>> Carson,

1:30:19>> um, and this actually would not have

1:30:21anything to do with this particular like

1:30:23piece around the land development code,

1:30:25but as I'm now thinking about this,

1:30:27>> right, this adding another um layer of I

1:30:32think probably significant amount of

1:30:33work for for code, right? Just another

1:30:36thing for that has to be inspected.

1:30:38People have to get out to, right?

1:30:40There's going to be reporting. Um I'm

1:30:42imagining that this increases the

1:30:44workload significantly. This is more of

1:30:46a I'm directing towards us as the

1:30:48council, but I think it would be great

1:30:50as these changes are coming for us to

1:30:52hear from code um about how we as the

1:30:55council maybe think about better

1:30:58supporting that area of the city with

1:31:00the increased responsibilities that are

1:31:02going to come with these changes. some I

1:31:05think some future you know state changes

1:31:07that get mandated down to

1:31:11>> yeah no you just made me think of it so

1:31:13I know that years ago there was some

1:31:15real excitement about this possibility

1:31:16of doing that you know and so there's

1:31:18people out there who really want to do

1:31:19this and are knowledgeable about it is

1:31:21it possible to help code to deputize

1:31:24some folks to help with doing the

1:31:27inspections who know what needs to be

1:31:28done who are experts in it is that

1:31:31possible just for this purpose to get

1:31:33some volunteers to kind of help keep

1:31:35things on the up and up.

1:31:37>> Is that something that

1:31:40>> not sure to look into that?

1:31:43>> Not an answer I know off the top of my

1:31:45head. I'd have to look into that.

1:31:47>> That's actually a good question.

1:31:51That's something

1:31:55>> guess at some point in the future.

1:31:57>> Look into it.

1:31:58>> Look into it. Well, and and the only

1:32:00reason I bring that up is that that has

1:32:02other implications for other departments

1:32:04as well. So, um it's food for thought.

1:32:08Really good question.

1:32:11Um any other thoughts or questions on

1:32:15this matter?

1:32:18Not seeing any. Oh, did you have another

1:32:20one?

1:32:21>> No. Okay.

1:32:24>> Um unless uh

1:32:26>> yeah, we'll keep working on it and come

1:32:28back. Oh, okay. Perfect. Thank you.

1:32:30>> Um, so our next item is an executive

1:32:35session regarding consultations with uh

1:32:37legal counsel. Um, and I would be

1:32:41looking for a motion

1:32:45>> to one MRSA section 4056E

1:32:49consultation legal council. I move that

1:32:51we enter executive session.

1:32:54>> We have a motion. We have a second. Uh

1:32:56because it's executive session, we're

1:32:58all on the roll call vote. Councelor

1:32:59Carter,

1:33:00>> yes.

1:33:00>> Council, councelor Malik,

1:33:02>> yes.

1:33:03>> Councelor Bish,

1:33:04>> yes.

1:33:05>> Yes. You're on executive session.

1:55:43Yes.

1:56:04Okay, we are back from executive session

1:56:08and um uh we are looking to uh I believe

1:56:14provide staff with uh some feedback um

1:56:19regarding the executive session. Um

1:56:22would anyone like to uh start us off?

1:56:27Well, I I I guess uh I can. Um so our

1:56:32moratorum on data centers is coming up

1:56:35in October and so I I I'll just pose the

1:56:40question to this committee. When that

1:56:42time does come, do we want to right now

1:56:48continue that moratorum so that we can

1:56:50give staff more time to develop uh

1:56:54potential regulations that would be uh

1:56:57applicable to the needs and desires of

1:57:00uh citizens out there.

1:57:04>> Uh yes, council and council. I just

1:57:06wanted to get a clarification because if

1:57:08the memo I was I'm not on I'm not on the

1:57:09committee but the memo I'm looking at

1:57:11was saying hey uh time's of the essence

1:57:13if this needs to move forward to council

1:57:15rather quickly because October will be

1:57:16here before we know

1:57:19>> fish

1:57:20>> I think um also um you know what are the

1:57:24legal risks I I am in favor of extending

1:57:27the moratorum but I want to weigh that

1:57:29with a legal risk of challenges to do

1:57:32with the moratorum so I would like to us

1:57:35diligently working towards some strict

1:57:38ordinances that would discourage greatly

1:57:40discourage data centers but at the same

1:57:42time keeping us within um you know u

1:57:46limiting legal risk for the city as

1:57:49well.

1:57:51>> Uh council Carson

1:57:53>> um how are you able to provide an

1:57:55estimate with maybe how much time you

1:57:58might continue to need to develop this

1:58:00regulatory framework?

1:58:02Um [clears throat]

1:58:06I feel like and our consultants will be

1:58:08helping us a lot. I feel like we could

1:58:10potentially do that in the next six

1:58:12months. I will say um

1:58:15that we would want to do public outreach

1:58:18on the potential regulations

1:58:20you know to get people's feedback on

1:58:22that and so that can add some time. Um

1:58:25but you know as you know we are also in

1:58:28the middle of updating our land

1:58:29development code generally which is

1:58:30taking a long time. So um it's hard to

1:58:34say but I do I do we can strive to um

1:58:39to bring you a set of regulations within

1:58:41the next few months and then hopefully

1:58:43have that adopted or an extension would

1:58:46expire in March. So,

1:58:50>> yes.

1:58:50>> So, I just I wanted to thank I just

1:58:52wanted to try to gauge um how long that

1:58:54you thought and I appreciate that

1:58:55there's a a lot of stuff going on in

1:58:57that area. So, I would I would be in

1:59:00favor of extending moratorum and and to

1:59:03the end of of building our region.

1:59:07I will move uh chair that uh this

1:59:11committee uh recommends

1:59:14that we move forward uh with extending

1:59:17or brings to council the recommendation

1:59:19that we move forward with extending our

1:59:21data science moratorum for the next six

1:59:24months to allow staff to continue to

1:59:26build the regulatory framework.

1:59:30>> Second second motion with a second. Is

1:59:33there any doubt?

1:59:35I see any doubt. So that will move on

1:59:39and uh unless you have any other further

1:59:41guidance uh for us

1:59:44um that will uh I guess bring it to the

1:59:48end of the agenda actually unless

1:59:49there's anything that anyone wants to

1:59:51bring up on this committee.

1:59:53Um we will adjourn. Uh stay tuned. We

1:59:57have is finance

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