Disclaimer: The views I express here are my own and should NOT be construed as speaking for the City of Bangor or the City Council of Bangor.
City Council Workshop
You can read the meeting agenda here.
This was the first meeting held at the newly renovated City Hall.
Parks and Recreation Facility Discussion
The council revisited the proposal for a new consolidated parks and recreation facility. The primary recommendation has been revised following conversations with “the folks at Bangor Y”. The new proposal removes the fitness space, the indoor playground, and the teen center/esports area from the original plan. The kitchen will remain to support programming, particularly for the childcare program, and a walking track is still included. The plan continues to include outdoor sports facilities and fields.
The estimated cost of the project was previously cited as $68 million. While removing certain elements will reduce the overall square footage, it is not expected to significantly lower the total cost, though it will affect revenue projections.
Council members expressed concerns about the high cost and the likelihood of a $68 million bond passing a public vote. Some councilors suggested focusing on immediate needs, such as a new ice arena to replace the aging Sawyer Arena and a new facility for the parks department, but at a much lower price point. There was also a desire to see alternative options and a phased approach to the project. The staff plans to have more precise financial figures, including the impact on the mill rate, for their meeting on August 25th. A final decision on the language for a potential November ballot question will be made at that time. (Note: Later that evening at the regular meeting, the bond question did not pass first reading.)
Gubernatorial Appointment
The City Manager announced that she had been asked to serve as an appointed member of a legislative task force studying the property tax burden on Maine residents. She will be representing towns with more than 10,000 residents. The council voiced its unanimous support for her appointment.
City Manager Updates
City Manager provided several updates:
- Theresa’s Place: New residents are expected to begin moving into Teresa’s Place within the next two weeks, with a staggered move-in process over several weeks. They anticipate being 70-75% full by the end of the initial move-in period.
- Meeting with Senator King: The city manager will meet with Senator Angus King next week to discuss the city’s needs and priorities.
- Agenda Correction: An error was noted on the council agenda regarding the date of a recommendation for a Homeland Security grant application; the correct date is August 4th, not August 1st.
- City Hall Move: The move back into the renovated City Hall at 73 Harlow Street is complete, with all staff, including the engineering department, now in the building. Key city services were operational without interruption.
The workshop concluded with the council voting to go into an executive session to consult with the city solicitor.
Regular City Council Meeting
You can read the meeting agenda here.
HIV Case Worker Funding
The Council authorized an award of $550,200 from opioid settlement funds to Bangor Public Health and Community Services. This funding is for the creation of an intensive case manager program for individuals diagnosed with HIV. The move comes in response to an HIV outbreak in Penobscot County, with 27 confirmed cases since early 2024 among the unhoused population with a history of substance abuse. The program aims to reduce HIV mortality and transmission by providing dedicated case management to help patients adhere to treatment and achieve viral suppression.
The proposal generated public debate. One resident argued against the proposal, citing a lack of transparency and a potential conflict of interest, as the proposal was written by a committee member connected to the organization receiving the funds. She urged the council to use a fair and open RFP process.
In support of the funding, Dr. Scott Melton, the Section Chief for Infectious Diseases at Eastern Maine Medical Center, emphasized the critical role of case management in keeping patients in care, stating that “treatment is prevention”. Dale Hamilton, the Executive Director of Community Health and Counseling Services, also spoke in favor, viewing it as a necessary collaboration to address the significant number of individuals who lost services when a previous provider shut down.
Councilors debated the origins of the HIV outbreak, with one member suggesting the closure of “Camp Hope” may have helped reduce the problem by dispersing a concentration of needle exchanges, while I argued that the closure hastened the spread to other parts of the city and made outreach more difficult. Ultimately, the Council passed the measure, with one councilor noting it was the council’s responsibility to address the “terrible outbreak”.
Parks and Recreation Bond
The council held the first reading of an order to issue $70 million in general obligation bonds for a consolidated parks and recreation facility. The proposal was met with immediate opposition from several council members. One councilor stated that while he would vote to move the item forward, he could not support the current amount and would need to see a “substantial” reduction in the final reading. Another councilor voted against it, citing a need for more information on costs, financial projections, and the effect on taxpayers. The motion ultimately failed the first reading.
Why I Voted No
I want to be clear: I believe our city desperately needs new recreational facilities. My ‘no’ vote on the recent bond proposal was not a vote against that goal; it was a vote against a process that I believed had become rushed and chaotic.
The feasibility study and the citizen advisory committee were part of a careful, methodical process to get this project right. The committee’s final report, which you can read here, was presented to the Council at the July 28th workshop.
For a project of this magnitude, I expected all key details, especially the taxpayer impact, to be presented before we moved forward. At the July 28th workshop, those details were missing. The process suddenly felt like a sprint to make an artificial deadline.
In the final report it was stated that Parks and Rec had met with the Bangor Y. Both the Bangor Y’s new facility and Bangor’s proposed facility were discussed. This gave me the impression that the Bangor Y was supportive of the overlap in services.
Fast forward two weeks to the August 11th workshop. Not only did we still lack answers on the taxpayer burden, but we were given the news that entire pieces of the plan had been removed after an additional meeting between the city and the Bangor Y. These weren’t minor features; they were key components that the citizen committee had specifically added to the plan because they were identified as top priorities during public feedback sessions.
What’s more, after these pieces were removed, it was unknown how it would change the project’s cost or affect the projected revenue.
I did not believe two weeks was enough time to get all our ducks in a row. This felt like a recipe for defeat at the ballot box.
I voted ‘no’ to protect this vital project from that defeat. This pause gives us the time to get it right, answer every question, and to bring a solid, fiscally responsible plan to the voters that has the greatest possible chance of success. Everyone in the community who relies on these facilities deserve nothing less.
