Cape Elizabeth Council Backs $50,000 for Robinson Woods Access Trail

[0:02] Chair Seifried: Welcome to the Monday, September 21st, 2026 Town Council Regular Meeting. Roll call, please. [0:12] Cynthia Triano (public commenter): Councillor Anderson? [0:14] Councillor Harriman: Here. Councillor Harriman? Here. [0:17] Councillor Thompson: Councillor Jordan? Here. Councillor Sarbeck? Here. Councillor Swayze? Here. Councillor Thompson? [0:23] Chair Seifried: Here. Chair Seifried? Here. Would you all please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. At this time, I am inviting citizen opportunity for discussion of items not on the agenda. We are starting something new. We have a sign-in sheet, and if you have a question or hope that you will hear back from the council, please sign in your first name, last name, and your email address so we have a way to find you and answer that question. As a reminder, this time is a time for the council to receive your input. It's not a back and forth time, so we're hopeful that you will sign in if you would like to hear back from us. You will have three minutes, and again, please give your full name and address when you approach the podium. So is there anybody that would like to, please? And of course, signing in doesn't count against your time, and in the future, we'll probably keep it in the back so that people can sign in before they, but we haven't done this before. [1:54] Krisha Parker (public commenter): I think we can hear you. Okay, my name is Krisha Parker, I live at 33 Reap Road. I'm here tonight representing Shore Acres neighborhood. A core argument overrides everything: public safety. We love our community. We support responsible public access to the beautiful main coast. But right now, our neighborhood is facing an active systemic crisis. We're here formally to present comprehensive data and a petition signed by 90% of the residents of Reef Road. We are united in demanding that Town Council take immediate action to protect the safety of our community, our children, and Chunji Preserve by adding Shore Acres to Chapter 13 Shore Road Parking District. Shore Acres is a one road in, one road out community. If a single bottle neck, emergency services cannot reach us. Right now, because of unlimited, unregulated parking, that bottle neck is failing. Our data packet includes a detailed map of Reef Roads dimensions. When cars line the side of the exceptionally narrow street, violates basic tenants and international fire code. This summer we documented a standard FedEx truck trying to get through that was completely pinned, unable to navigate the street. If a delivery truck struggles to get through, a standard fire engine, ambulance, or ladder truck stands zero chance. Every single summer we are playing roulette bike with human lives by allowing unlimited parking. Our fundamental right to emergency service has been severely compromised. To show you how disproportionate this has become, we ran the math. Our data tracks car counts, dates, and times to calculate recreational carrying capacity. The results are staggering. The parking density on Reef Road has completely eclipsed Crescent State Beach Park at full capacity. But Crescent Beach has park rangers, traffic infrastructure, and public facilities. Reef Road has none of that. It's a quiet residential zone. The sheer volume is degrading Trendy Point, which is not a public beach, but a nature preserve owned by the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust. The existing gravel cutout is more than enough to handle the appropriate, sustainable access. The overflow onto the narrow streets is a safety hazard that we can no longer tolerate. The Town Council has already recognized the same problem and created a mechanism to fix it. We're asking you to send this packet to Traffic Safety Committee to assess the critical fire code conflicts, public safety, and look at the success of Shore Road Parking District and extend those same protections to Shore Acre neighborhood. 90% of your taxpaying residents on Reef Road have signed this petition. We've provided the empirical data, traffic laws, and fire code violations. Please refer this to Traffic Safety Committee tonight and help us protect our neighborhood before there's a preventable tragedy occurs. Thank you. Do I need to sign this now or later? [5:00] Chair Seifried: If you want to come back up after people speak you're welcome to do that. that. [5:11] Connie Pachillo (public commenter): Hopefully I get my security code right. All right. Good evening, all. My name is Connie Pachillo, and I live at Three Reef Road, about seven houses up from Trundy Beach. I've been there since 1992. I stand here tonight because our neighborhood is facing two critical issues,, public safety and Trundy Preserve sustainability. I want to be clear, I appreciate Cape Elizabeth Land Trust work. At the very same time, the unregulated parking and extensive traffic in our little neighborhood is compromising its basic safety as well as the sustainability of the Trundy Preserve. Unlike prior years, we are not coming to you tonight with only anecdotal concerns. Today, thanks to Krish's work, we have clear data that provides us and you with the clearest, most comprehensive picture we have ever had of this problem. The three main areas of concern to be addressed are neighborhood safety, environmental sustainability, and partnership. First, neighborhood safety. When warm weather arrives, safety is severely compromised as vehicle traffic on our small street increases up to 30 or more cars and this can transition all day. This transforms our narrow road down to a single dangerous corridor. When I walk my dog or just step out for a lunchtime walk, I am forced to dodge speeding, incoming and exiting beach traffic. I have personally had multiple near misses where I was almost hit. Again, as Krisha said, it's only a matter of time before a neighbor, a child or a visitor is struck by a vehicle. Equally urgent is emergency vehicle access, which she addressed. We're one road in, one road out. Second, environmental sustainability. Trundy Point is a small, pristine nature preserve with a modest gravel cutout created by parking. It does not have the road with infrastructure or capacity to handle state park level traffic. Yet our empirical data proves that during peak hours, our tiny residential street experiences a parking density that eclipses Crescent Beach State Park. Flooding a delicate local nature preserve with state park density is the very definition of unsustainable. Third, partnership. We are reaching out to the town, Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, and all of you as council leadership in a spirit of true partnership. We know temporary police presence for an hour is just a brief band aid, not a structural solution. That's why we did the heavy lifting, mostly Krisha. We have gathered the traffic logs, empirical measurements, and documented the fire code violations so we can solve this together. You already have the mechanism to fix this safely. You created the chapter 13 shore road parking district framework for this exact reason. We are asking you to extend those same life-saving protections to the Shore Acres neighborhood. Please refer to today's data packet and refer this to the Traffic Safety Committee tonight for expedited review. Thank you very much and thank you for letting me go over. Thank you. [8:44] Sherry Turner (public commenter): Good evening, my name is Sherry Turner and I live at 28 Reef Road. My property abuts the self-preserve area to the southeast of Reef Road. I moved to this neighborhood in 2015. Granted, not a lifelong residence, but I moved here because it was a neighborhood of people who enjoy the outdoors, who took their pets and their kids for walks daily. They utilized the beach at Trundy for occasional neighborhood and family gatherings. This was idyllic, in my mind, for a great neighborhood to move to. The limited access to the narrow winding streets It made it a perfect and safe spot for the kids to ride their bikes, to swim, and to play with their friends. 2020 arrived with the pandemic, and all had changed. Local and social media was looking for places for people to go and safely enjoy the outdoors. Our little neighborhood was identified. 2021 and onward, the beach at Trundy became more and more popular with Maine residents and visitors who wanted easy access to Maine's coastline. The additional traffic and cars parking on this narrow street became a safety hazard. So while my neighbors gave you lots of details, I am going to give you some of my thoughts on what I've seen myself, so it is anecdotal, if you will. One traffic lane was necessary for parking for our contractors, that was not possible. The delivery vehicles turned the street into a parking lot on the curve where the beach entrances and the trail entrances are. One of the two vehicles meeting at that spot would have to back up, including school buses, mail and package delivery drivers. drivers, all of those folks need to be skilled at navigating a traffic snarl in reverse. I saw the bus personally have to back up around the curve. I personally have experienced visitors parking in front of my mailbox, preventing the delivery of my mail, parking in front of my driveway entrance. A frightening example to me of safety was I had a gardener sit working by my driveway entrance, a vehicle, a visitor in a vehicle, slammed on their brakes, swerved into the driveway, narrowly missing him because they wanted to turn around to get back to the party. While these instances might be considered seasonally as a nuisance, I believe it's likely to become a safety issue with difficult and unfortunate outcomes. The ambulance or the fire trucks might not get through. They might not get to the people who need their help in time. And that includes the people who live near Trundy and it also includes the folks who are on the beach or on the trust land. I'm here to support the petition because I believe that something should be done. I would not want this situation to continue to be a safety issue that causes harm to either the neighbors or the visitors. Sharing this beautiful spot comes with responsibility for safety and preservation from all of us, who are lucky to live there and shared by those who visit. Thank you for your consideration, and I hope you'll support sending this to the Traffic Safety Committee. [12:08] Matthew Hamm (public commenter): Good evening, my name is Matthew Hamm, live at Six Reef Road. We've been residents there for 26 years. A lot of the information you received thus far is similar to what my wife and I have been observing. A couple of points that we wanted to bring up to make sure to reinforce what we're asking for action. In July, I believe it was, we went to the Traffic Safety Committee, and we spoke at that meeting with Town Manager Fox, with Police Chief Fenton, and with Councillor Swayze. It was a very cordial meeting, and one where I think everyone agreed there was a problem. And I think that's what everyone is hearing tonight. What we're asking to do is to look at something that's a longer term solution. In July, to the extent that town manager Fox was able to do it, we posted 90 day no parking around just the corner down at the bottom of Reef Road. That had exactly the effect that the police chief said. We won't have cars there, but the cars will bleed out Reef Road, and that's what they did. So, as a result, again, at that same meeting back in July, Town Manager Fox recommended that we come here, ask for a petition to be able to have Reef Road, at a minimum, considered to be part of the Chapter 13 ordinance as it's being reviewed at this point in time. Our goals are simple. We need to have safety for our neighbors, especially for the children that are in that neighborhood. I work from home. I watch them every day. In the summertime, bicycles, scooters, walking, all of us live in these small neighborhoods with small lanes. The volume of traffic that has resulted as a result of the popularity of the beach has unfortunately damaged that significantly and created a very high risk situation that none of us want to be able to stand here and deal with the after effect of an accident that may occur. Lastly, what we want to do is say thank you. Thank you to Town Manager Fox, to the Police Chief Fenton, to Councillor Swayze for the Traffic Commission meeting in July. We look forward to the next one and we look forward to hearing the Town Council's feedback on including Reef Road into the Chapter 13 Ordinance. Thank you for your time. Thank you. [14:48] Chair Seifried: And again, I'm just going to remind people that if you want to, if you've had a question, if you want to hear back, there is a sign-in sheet to leave your first and last name and your email, and that way the council can know who to get back to and how to get back to you. [15:07] Councillor Harriman: Could I say something, please? I just want to say this is a great piece of work. It helps really frame the issues and challenges that I think we have talked about for many years. So I truly want to thank you for this work. [15:40] Cynthia Triano (public commenter): Hi, Cynthia Triano, H. Halls Road. Boy, all this stuff sounds familiar. I'm going to be quick. I've sent several emails through all the various channels about this issue with enforcing the crosswalk buffer. They've all been met with silence, so I'm just going to reiterate my questions tonight so they're officially on the record and add my name to the email list so someone can get back to me. Is the 20-foot crosswalk buffer an active, enforceable law passed by this town council, or has it been unofficially reduced to a two-foot standard by the police department? Has Chief Fenton or any other town official instructed or permitted his officers to override municipal law and decline enforcement based on discretion? Discretion. The Town Council voted on April 14, 2025 to upgrade the ordinance from just prohibiting parking on a crosswalk to a strict 20-foot buffer. Why is the Cape Elizabeth Police Department still using a defunct pre-2025 standard in refusing to ticket cars unless they are touching the crosswalk line? [16:57] Chair Seifried: Are there any members of the public that wish to speak on any other items that are not on the agenda tonight? [17:05] Councillor: Yeah. Did you put your name and address up there? Did you hear that we now have a new process where you can add your name and address to that sheet so we can get back to you? [17:16] Councillor Thompson: Yes, I'll move it up. [17:17] Councillor: Okay, all right, thank you. [17:25] Chair Seifried: Thank you all. We are moving on to town council reports and correspondence. Respondents are there any updates or reports from members of the council? [17:38] Councillor Harriman: Just have a quick one really quick. We're probably talking to Several weeks ago the property tax Committee with the GP cog they've made some changes to the recommendations and So we'll be having an update in the not too distant future from Jamie Garvin coming in to do a quick update. [18:13] Councillor (1934 Building Committee liaison): Great, thank you. Jonathan? And I realize that the 1934 building committee met last week and so just to give a quick update, we discussed the flash vote results that we had and we're going to, or we've asked the town manager to explore the price points, it would be to see where we would go on if we were to change the 1934 building into municipal use. And I think our next meeting is going to be the end of October. So we're going to have some time between with the hopes that we'll get that information before that meeting. Okay. any [18:55] Chair Seifried: other committee updates all right our little communications work group is going to be meeting on wednesday of this week and we will be bringing some thoughts and documents to the town council likely at our next meeting moving on to item six finance committee report counselor Chancellor Swayze, take it away. [19:29] Town Manager or Finance Director: Not very exciting. We're in the second month of the fiscal year. Town revenues and expenditures should be around 16.6% respectively. And we're basically, let's see, town general fund revenues are actually at 12% collected, and that has to do with the timing of tax bills and other receivables. So we're not actually behind per se, we're just, we sent tax bills late. And then fund expenditures are at 11% expected, and really the only notable other thing is that the town auditors will be here the week of October 5th to get started. I [20:09] Chair Seifried: like hearing that 's all I got for you October 5th is a couple months earlier than last time any questions from the council all right town managers report okay [20:29] Town Manager: Thank you. All right, so this evening I want to update you on, so every year the town closes offices for one day to dedicate to training, administrative work, and employee appreciation. Typically this is included department level training and office work, followed by a townwide lunch. This year, last week on Thursday, the newly formed safety and wellness committee organized a full day of learning, collaboration, and engaging activities for all departments. A large part of the program was over 40 of our public-facing employees across all departments participated in a three-hour communication training focused on managing various public interactions and improving our communication skills to make those be successful conversations with the public. We are fortunate to have Lieutenant Robert Doherty of the Portland Police Department, a certified verbal judo instructor since 2005, lead this customized session for our workforce. Additionally, the wellness committee hosted a vendor fair in the afternoon, providing employees the opportunity to connect with local health and wellness providers. We had two different physical therapy groups, one was Southern Maine Physical Therapy, the other was Cape Integrative Health related to movement and exercise. We had Moam Studios related to self defense. We had Prevention Action and Change. We had Massage and Wellness from SOMA Massage and Wellness, Financial Health, the Finance Authority of Maine, head of representative present, and Nutrition, Nourished Lifestyles, which is a group of dieticians that are covered through our insurance providers, came and talked about smart lunch strategies for real life and people on the go and improving your workplace habits. So this was a really embraced change from our workforce, all geared towards just holistic approach to better work-life balance, better workplace dynamics, better situation for our employees all around. So a special thank you to our safety and wellness team members for this event and all of their work this first year of that committee. I want to name them because they deserve it. From Public Works, Darren Brown. Community Services, Susan Frost. The Police Department, Darren Estes. Fire Department, Mary Ann Dennison. Town Hall, Melissa Newsome. Library, Sarah Gabrielson. Facilities, Tony Leithoric. And our Central Finance Office, John Lombardi. So they really organized an amazing day. They put a lot of time into visiting these vendors, securing the times, shopping for food, picking up coffee early in the morning, and pulled off a really great day for our organization. And I think, I think the residents will really benefit from the communication strategies that were put into place that day. What was the feedback? Feedback was amazing. Yeah, no, employees really liked it, and they really felt like they're better equipped to deal with every department deals with very difficult unpredictable situations, and we're not always dealing with the public when they're in their best or most comfortable place. So I feel like our staff is better equipped to help the customer experience and help our residents feel heard and taken care of across all department services. Yeah, a couple things I want to update council on related to, yeah, moving [24:10] Councillor: on to another one, but didn't part of what you sent out on that, didn't we, didn't you give some accolades to Melissa for finding some money grant wise to pay for a lot of this stuff? So I appreciate [24:19] Town Manager: I did. I know I'm always thinking about it, but I'm sorry, no, this, I mean, really, yes, she does deserve, I say thank you to Melissa for a lot of things, and I thought I had already covered that one, but yes, that was another thing that her and the committee set out to do was to find grant funds to cover this, and it's all geared towards lowering our insurance premium and rolling those benefits back into our employees and just keep that cycle going. So we're already on to planning next year and some things that we can do to make it an even stronger event. A couple other things. So InvoiceCloud, the online portal for tax payments on the town website, has not been inaccessible to residents following our tax billing software change to our central finance and accounting software. We knew we needed to make that change. It was put off for the last couple of years. We think, we believe that the latest steps to integrate these two systems and have them talk to each other on the back end is going to come online this week and that online tax payments will be able to be restored. So we apologize to everyone. Yes, the lines have been longer at town hall due to this and the time of year of the change but we really couldn't implement or test this until we did the first round of billing to send the file and make sure it [25:42] Councillor Harriman: operated properly my taxes till it works it does not mean that counselor [25:48] Town Manager: but thank you for asking i'm sure others are thinking the same thing similarly our same software changes to integrate our systems affected rapid renewal for vehicle registrations that was not talking well with the state system and apparently the state system had some other issues going on at the same time so the rapid renewal for renewing car registrations should be online this week as well so that's all [26:16] Councillor: i have that's [26:19] Chair Seifried: a lot it was a lot thank you a lot going on all right item eight review of draft wrapped minutes. May I have a motion, please? Second. I'm going to ask if there are any members of the public, either in the chamber or online, that have any comment on this item? Seeing none, is there any discussion on this item? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor? Thank you. All right, we are moving on to item 9A. The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, otherwise known as CELT, is creating an improved access trail to ensure that more people regardless of age or mobility can experience the robinson woods trails and landscape the total project cost is 412 000 with support from donors and potential grant partners salt has earlier approached the town council to discuss the potential for a town contribution of fifty thousand dollars toward this project. When the council last discussed this item, the land acquisition fund was considered as a potential funding source. The current balance of that fund is $174,770. This capital project fund is not limited to land acquisition, and improvements to town land and trails would be eligible for expenses. Are there any members of the public in the council, in the chambers, or online that wish to speak on this item? Yes, could I speak to that? I am David [28:18] Bryman (Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Executive Director): Bryman, I'm the executive director of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust. First of all, thank you all for doing this. We appreciate the work that you do in leading the community. It's super important. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you again about this. You do have a letter that I provided, I believe March 19th, in your packets, but it's great to be here and then have you considering our funding request. As you stated, I love that we live in a community that values open spaces and outdoor recreation as much as Cape Elizabeth does. It's really important itself. We often speak about land conservation as protecting special places. Accessibility is simply about making sure more people can experience those places. At its heart, what is this project about? It's about expanding access to nature. Really is that simple. Gonna hit some highlights, because again, you do have the letter that I provided. We're gonna be upgrading a half mile section of an existing trail. It's going to be built to certain specifications, outlined in the U.S. Forest Service Trail Accessibility Guidelines, designed to be accessible to a broader range of users. Key features, six feet wide, average running grade of under 5%, so not going to be too steep in either direction, about 140 feet of boardwalk, five resting areas with benches, which will both be accessible to and from a wheelchair. And then the trail will culminate at Robinson Pond, which if any of you have been out there, and hopefully all you have, it's a pretty nice destination. Equally important to the trail itself are some support pieces to the project. There are two ADA accessible parking spaces that are going to be at the trailhead. And then there's going to be a complete redesign of the existing parking at Pond Cove. This has been a conversation that we've had with the town in the past. This is going to eliminate any cars backing out into the pedestrian right-of-way. It's going to eliminate cars backing out into any potential traffic on Shore Road. It's going to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety. What's the project going to, what's it going to do? We believe it's going to expand access for people with mobility limitations, families with strollers, anyone seeking just a gentler trail experience. It does reflect, we believe, local demographics, U.S. median age about 38, in Maine about 44, and when I looked recently for Cape Elizabeth about 47. We know that mobility does not increase with age. This is a project that's going to ensure that conserved lands are welcoming and usable for all. Can I hit a couple more points? Great. Please do. So alignment with the town. The project aligns closely, we believe, with Town Council 26 goals. There's a community-driven project piece here, which enhances accessibility and inclusion. We're going to address transportation safety. It does respond to a growing demand for safe and accessible outdoor spaces, and it supports public health and wellness. I am particularly proud that this builds on the partnership that the town and the land trust already have. So back in 2019, the town was generous enough to provide some financing that allowed us to purchase what was at that point the last portion of Robinson Woods. So the project builds on and enhances the town's previous investment, and it certainly strengthens the collaboration that we have with the town. Some broader benefits, and then I'll wind this up, supports Maine's outdoor recreation economy. We think that 's real, enhances quality of life and community appeal, creates a lasting public asset. We're going to steward this. This is going to be around forever, and it reinforces, and I think this is important, CAPE's leadership in conservation, accessibility, and community health. Funding. Estimated project costs $412,000. It's expensive. It includes the trail. It's a couple of parking areas. There's engineering. There's construction. There's a lot to this. We have We have currently raised about $211,000 toward this project. We recently received another $50,000 challenge match, which we're hoping will leverage to $100,000 by the end of the year. Pretty confident that we'll do that. We continue to pursue though private philanthropy, and we have some grants that are outstanding. It's no question that the town coming onto this project will help us leverage additional funding. And the town request represents about 12% of the project cost. What else? High impact community project expands access to what we think, and I know you do too, is a treasured natural resource for our community. It aligns with town values, and just super proud to have this be an amenity for the community. So with that, I will thank you again. Really appreciate you hearing from us. And I don't know if there are questions, but I'd be happy to talk about that. [34:10] Chair Seifried: And I'm gonna have you stay just in case you aren't necessarily commenting as a member of the public. You are our contact person. So we're gonna need a motion to get discussion going. Yeah, I do want to do the rest of public comment, if there are other members of the public that would like to speak. Sure. Mr. Bremmer, you just jumped the gun a little bit, that's all right. [34:36] David Wenberg (public commenter): I am David Wenberg. I currently serve as the president of the self board. My wife Ann and I moved back, we were actually here for three years, and then we moved back to Cape Elizabeth in 1992. 1992 one of the biggest reasons to come back was all the open land and We've done both Ann and I have served on the board of the of the land trusts multiple years I want to count them all up But I'm very excited about this opportunity to expand the access now as a father who raised kids here And now are lucky enough to have four grandkids who live in Portland and spend a lot of time running around with us in Cape being able to open this property some of our properties to folks that are not otherwise able to access them as a lifelong dream and i hope and ask the town to support us in this effort because i think it really does benefit all of the citizens of cape elizabeth thank you [35:32] Chair Seifried: thank you good [35:39] Christina Mackinac (public commenter): evening my name is christina mackinac and i am here this evening to support The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust's request for $50,000 town contribution toward the improved access trail project at Robinson's Woods. Of course, as you heard, this is largely supported through philanthropy, grant partners, and this will allow people of every age and physical ability to experience one of our town's most loved natural spaces. Robinson's Woods already draws close to 1,000 visitors a week in summer. summer. Yet that experience isn't accessible to everyone. More than one in four Americans, American adults, that's more than 70 million people, live with a disability. One in eight has a disability that impacts their mobility. And access isn't hypothetical. A 2024 analysis of federal travel data found that 25.5 million Americans have disabilities that limit where they can travel, and National Park Service estimates that roughly 30 million park visitors every year are disabled. I appreciate that our town is not a national park. We don't have Acadia's budget or their 45 miles of accessible carriage trails. However, what Acadia has built here in Maine and what Connecticut's state parks did in 2024 when their new all-terrain wheelchairs drew more than 75 reservations in a single season proves the same thing at any scale. When a place decides accessibility is worth building, people show up. I'd love Robinson's Woods to be one more place that include that makes that same decision on purpose. I want to share why projects like this matter to our family. Our daughter is autistic and living with epilepsy. And while her disability is not mobility related, our family does make decisions about where we go and how we spend our money based on accommodations that are available. We do not attend events where we know that there isn't a quiet room to retreat to when the world becomes too loud. That single accommodation is the difference between her feeling she belongs and feeling excluded. Being her parent has taught me accessibility is never a special request. It's the line between inclusion and exclusion, whether someone needs a ramp, a wider trail, or simply a quiet place. This funding request isn't outside of the council's priorities. It is at the heart of them. Cape's most recent comprehensive plan commits this town to being a highly desirable and welcoming community. And the Council's own goals, year after year, name a healthy and diverse community as a core priority. Making a small section of Robinsons Woods accessible is one of the clearest ways to make that commitment real. Robinsons Woods already belongs to this town. This upgraded trail is how we make sure it belongs to everyone in it, including people who come to visit us. And signaling that we are a welcoming and inclusive committed community. I hope you will support cells $50,000 request. Thank you. Thank you are [39:07] Chair Seifried: There any other members of the public either online or in the chamber that wish to speak on this item? We have one online. Hi [39:22] Sarah Clinton (public commenter): Sarah Clinton, 198 Ocean House Road. I wanted to piggyback off of Christina. I am also part of the accessibility and inclusion Committee, currently the chair of that committee, and I really have appreciated learning about the improved access trail project that SELT is planning, and we hope you will support with some funding it. As we determined, discussed as a committee, there's a lot of synergy with this project and our committee's mission that also aligns with the town goals and plan we're advocating. As our committee, for an inclusive, a welcoming and accessible, inclusive place to live, work, and visit, and this project very much is in support of that mission. It's a thoughtful and intentional project that will support intergenerational connections and connection to our healing natural outdoor space that is Robinson Woods, and as everyone has already echoed, is a much treasured space that we have available to us as visitors and residents here. The ability to connect people to that public space and increase recreation also supports our community health, and I personally, as a licensed independent clinical social worker, very much support that and this investment in our community and outdoor spaces generally. So thank you very much for your consideration of this very intentional, well-designed project that we got as a community to hear about and that everyone is putting so much work and intention into. [41:14] Chair Seifried: Thank you. Do you want a motion? I would love a motion, please. [41:23] Councillor Harriman: Be it ordered, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council approves an allocation of $50,000 from the Land Acquisition Fund to assist with the construction of the improved access trail project at Robinson Woods. Second. Any discussion? I just need to make one disclosure that my sister is on the board of directors for SELP. But I can be unbiased. [42:00] Councillor: Tim? Maybe Pat has done some research on this, but when, or maybe Penny or a town councillor who's been on the town council for a while would be able to answer this. When did we develop the land acquisition fund trust and what was the purpose around its development? And I assume, I think in talking to Pat, you feel comfortable that even though this is not a land acquisition, you're comfortable that it qualifies for this kind of an expenditure. [42:31] Councillor Harriman: If you could maybe just... I can tell you that Sarah Lennon was on the council and one of the driving forces behind this. And it was in order to, I would say, assist in preservation and conservation of land in Cape Elizabeth. And I would say accessibility. I don't remember the date. Do you, Caitlin? [43:02] Councillor Thompson: No, but it's been a bit. [43:05] Town Manager: I think our audits referenced 1980. It was established in 1988. [43:10] Councillor Thompson: Oh, yes. Yes, but we then upped it, because we found that it was only putting virtually nothing in the fund, and then we increased it to a nickel, and then it- [43:23] Town Manager: Or a couple cents on the mill rate, and it ended up being about $32,000 to $34,000 a year transferred in from the general fund, or a number of years. However, I believe the last three fiscal years, at least, the only contributions into the fund to contribute to the current balance of $174,000 have been the open space impact fees. So, when a subdivision is created, they pay per lot into this. [43:54] Councillor: And we're no longer paying a certain rate? [43:57] Town Manager: It has not. Like this year in the budget process, we did not build that in. And I looked back. I don't think it's been done in the FY25, 26, or 27 budget. I imagine over the years it's gone through different commitments. It sounds like there was sort of a pattern of doing the $32,000 to $34,000 a year for a number of years. But something that we can discuss at budget time next year to see. But it hasn't had that contribution in the last few years. [44:31] Councillor: And that's my other concern. I'm prepared to vote in favor of this, but I would like to express that when something like this comes up, I know you reached out to us in March, but it would have been nice if we could have considered this in last year's budget when we were considering all the other non-profits we were going to support or not support. I think just to get it on the record, I'd love to see when these kinds of requests are being put forth that you take that into consideration, try to get it to us where we can plan around [45:02] Chair Seifried: it with the budget it doesn't affect the budget well it doesn't affect the budget [45:10] Councillor: but I think out of requests like this I think they're they're organized enough a request like this probably could have been in our budget considerations last year but I just I just think it's worthwhile for any nonprofit because we supported a dozen and I think we've we've got a strong history of supporting the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, that's just a consideration if that could be. And I'm satisfied based on what my conversations now and with Pat earlier that it does qualify to be that we could use this land acquisition fund. But I think we also, as we're looking at budgeting things, I mean, why aren't we continuing to, if it was important at some point that we make money available for this acquisition when opportunities come up, I mean, We've got a piece of property that's going to be going through bankruptcy shortly. It could be a very, good place where we could put some affordable housing. And some of this fund and this kind of fund could have been available for that. And we're going to have more and more opportunities and needs to do some affordable housing financing, I think, down the road. And it's just something we ought to be thinking about. [46:22] Councillor Harriman: I think some of the impetus had to do also go crest purchases and things like that. [46:29] Councillor: I do really like the fact that it's going to be available for folks in wheelchairs and mothers with taking their kids down there in strollers. I do like that because that's not something we have and that'll be a pretty cool addition to the land trust trails. That's awesome. Jonathan? [46:46] Councillor (1934 Building Committee liaison): Yeah, no, I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm in favor of this, and I just really appreciate all the stuff that CELT does across the town. One of the things I do like about this as well is that for people who don't know, who might be watching, the total cost of this project is estimated at about $411,000, and the town's giving $50,000, which I definitely appreciate because I appreciate when the town can sort of partner up with non-profits in the town that are providing benefits for people, and not everybody is going to use the trail. However, I think having that opportunity to be there, especially making it accessible, it's a huge step for SELT to take, and I really appreciate it, and I'm glad the town can help contribute because looking at your letter here, year, you're going to still try to pursue private philanthropy grants, community support, and the town would be giving $50,000, which is obviously a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, the project's going to cost a lot more than that. So people watching, thinking that the town is funding this project, they're not. They're helping out, but really appreciate all the work that SELT does, and I'm glad that the town and this nonprofit can continue to partner up. I'd [48:10] Councillor: Love to see a Cape Courier article in how the town is supporting this. It might be helpful for the fundraiser. [48:18] Town Manager or Finance Director: Yeah, I feel like this is a no-brainer, but I did wonder, in terms of reaching the final financial goal, do you feel confident that you're going to get there without too much gnashing of teeth? And secondly, will there be any volunteer work parties to help with this? [48:37] Bryman (Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Executive Director): Is that a personal request? Request? Sure, yeah. I wish I could say that this was going to be a volunteer-driven project, but it's not. There may be, because again, I said this to you before, one of the reasons that I think we do punch above our weight is because of the incredible passion that we get from the community, that they come out. They volunteer in stewardship. They volunteer at our programs. They volunteer at fundraising events. This is costly for a number of reasons, but one of which is it needs to be expertly billed by someone who is in the business. We've lined up someone that we have a great deal of confidence in, and but doesn't come inexpensive. I'm sorry, Councillor Swayze, what was the other? Oh, do I, am I confident? Yes, I am, okay. I mean, we have, we've been considering this project and I think you guys probably hear this regularly, for a long period of time, this has been something that the land trust has been debating, discussing, figuring out since 2019, when the Robinson family agreed to convey this 50 acre piece to the land trust. In the documents that vested title to the land trust was the consideration that there would be these two ADA accessible parking spaces and that we would put this trail in. So this is something that we've been talking about for a long time, seven years in, and we're excited to get it done. Thank [50:24] Chair Seifried: you. Any further discussion or questions? All right, all those in favor? Thank you, and thank you. Moving on to item 9b, the town council will be provided staff updates on the goals set in January 2026 and discuss next steps or remaining action items. So I'm going to hand [50:58] Town Manager: the mic over to the town manager all right thank you we did not get to this last meeting during workshop so we added it is not a voting item just simply a discussion we have our eight or nine sort of goal areas and then some projects within them so i just thought i'd give you some updates i try to do this at least quarterly it's been a while so we've gotten a lot done thought i would update you on some of them and i'll pause as we get through each area of focus so with regard to asset Management and capital planning, the 1934 building, obviously that has been, and your fellow counselors have been giving you regular updates on that, but that's been a big part of what we're looking at for asset management and priorities and decisions right now. A big thing the last time we talked was exploring infrastructure funding and a bond, but it was kind of decided, I think, in one of these discussions, that we would wait on that until we establish what the 1934 building is or isn't so that we could just align. We don't want to go and ask all these other infrastructure questions only to then say, oh, and now this one facility is really important. So that one's a bit on hold. A side conversation that happy to bring up anytime, or if you want to have a dedicated discussion, would be something that kind of keeps creeping into a lot of these conversations is what are we going to do with the Spurwink School building next to the library. So I know that the library itself is exploring that, so at some point that could be a discussion as well as, but I know it comes up in 1934 building committee meetings and it comes up oftentimes when people are just looking at town facility inventory. So I'll pause if anybody wants to chat about any of those Spurwink [53:04] Public commenter: School building belongs to the library and the library has plans for it. [53:12] Councillor Thompson: What do you, what do you mean it belongs to the library? The library belongs to the town. [53:20] Councillor Harriman: Yes. Thank you, Caitlin. [53:22] Public commenter: The library belongs to the town, and this Burwink School belongs to the library. It was given to the library. [53:30] Councillor Thompson: But the library belongs to the town. [53:33] Public commenter: I'm just saying that, in my view, it can only be used for a library purpose. [53:40] Councillor Thompson: So are you talking the library or the library foundation? [53:44] Public commenter: I'm talking about the library. [53:45] Councillor Thompson: So the library can't have plans for Spurrowing School building without talking to the town council. [53:54] Chair Seifried: That's true. That's true. And isn't the Spurrowing School currently used for lots of different purposes, including [54:01] Bryman (Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Executive Director): training? Police training. [54:03] Councillor Harriman: Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that... [54:05] Councillor Thompson: Well, I guess the library should let the town council know what those plans are sooner [54:10] Public commenter: rather than later. Well, the library has met with the... I gave a report on this, I think, last meeting, didn't I? [54:17] Councillor Harriman: That the library owned a Spurwink. [54:20] Public commenter: Yeah, that we had a meeting with Pat. I think I did. [54:24] Town Manager: We've talked about some potential uses, but I don't think we – this group hasn't. That's why I brought up the Spurwink school building tonight, so that you can explore that in another workshop. But the library is exploring uses. Other community groups have brought it up. Like I said, it's come up in the 1934 building committee a few times over the dozen or so meetings we've had, so whenever you want to tackle that and set a course for its potential use, reuse, or its eventual, its future, happy to put it on an agenda, but [55:05] Councillor: It seems, it seems a natural, John, with your 1934 conversations that are going on, to bring the library, as you're looking at that, you're looking at this building, it makes sense to be looking at all of them, you know, it seems, I mean, when you look, we know from, I know Counselor Anderson's mentioned that the library needs more space, so it's logical that could be part of the solution for their space issue. They've got conference rooms in the library. That could be a logical place to have a couple of nice conference rooms in there, still maybe be available for the training that we need, but it does seem like it ought to be part of a coordinated conversation effort to, as we're looking at all these buildings and all of our needs, that building ought to become part of those conversations. I [55:56] Councillor (1934 Building Committee liaison): mean, our charge, as everyone knows, was really just to look at the 1934 building, But as we've explored that and the idea of municipal use in moving town staff over there, That's sort of where our conversations gone, and then okay, if the town staff vacated this building. What would we do with it? We've definitely talked about the Spur Wing building, But from what I recall, the price tag to get that place up to compliance was over a million dollars, And so, as much as we all like that building and want to see something happen with it, the reason that it hasn't is because of the price tag. And maybe there are plans, but the library has and they're thinking about, but that's what I recall was really kind of the issue going on with why the 19, or excuse me, the Spurming School has been sitting there. But it's definitely come up, and I think the reason that this, the town hall has been part of the conversation of the 1934 building committee is because of just what would happen if this building was no longer municipal use, because everything got moved over to the 1934 building. The spurring school is not really in that same sort of conversation, but I get what you're saying, Tim, about knowing town assets and figuring out what we have, what we don't have, how much things are going to cost, is a very valuable conversation that the council needs to have. [57:27] Town Manager: All right. I'll move on to, so the next section is environment. A lot of it was surrounding at the time of forming these goals was incorporating the climate action plan into operation and capital decision-making. The Energy Committee has basically been the driving force behind most of that discussion. Discussion, so they have had discussions and different ideas of pursuing different low-hanging fruit, say, in the plan. They also, back in April, met with other stakeholder groups and other committees that had items listed in the action plan. The action plan is significant. I don't know how many different steps there were, or potential action items there are in there. There. One challenge has been some of the priorities and funding around some of the climate action stuff is not as active right now as it was perhaps a couple years ago when the plan was being put together. However, we do have the solar grant for the library roof, and that went out to bid, and that contract has been awarded. So the library roof solar project is underway. [58:42] Councillor: What's the completion date on that, Pat? [58:47] Town Manager: I believe they wanted to get it done this fall, but I don't know. I'd have to check with our facility director. I don't know if there's been any hiccups to that original schedule along the way. [58:58] Councillor: And the grant paid for how much of it? Approximately. [59:05] Town Manager: I don't remember the percentage. It was a significant, percentage, but we did address that at budget time, because we had already, we already found out we had the grant, but then we brought it back through at budget time because we hadn't really set the funds specifically aside for that. [59:20] Councillor: I think when that's getting closer and closer, that's another good Cape Courier article because it's really significant what they're, really the energy committee, and I think David Bagdasarian had a lot to do with getting that done. Between him and Marcy they're very good at getting grants for this town but and Melissa but I think it'd be great once we get closer to that I'd love to see [59:45] Town Manager: Some yeah we have a lot of numbers on it I just I didn't have those I don't have this right in front of me but I can provide those yep community-driven projects. I think the two that have kind of dominated the time and conversation have been the basketball court construction, which we all know is complete. That facility's gotten a lot of use, had a great kickoff weekend back in July. And the ice arena is occupying a lot of time and discussion now for different committees and staff as well. So you should in October have I took all of your feedback regarding the land lease agreement and got that off to our town attorney so in October you should see that item back before you to make those decisions on what the land lease agreement could be and there may be there may be some requests or discussion at that time regarding other capital needs within the Gulcrest area that I think the arena group will be sharing with you at that time next item was the housing diversity and growth Section of your goals so LD 1829 and 2173 and this eight housing mandates those are with the planning board now and getting drafted the guidance documents came out I believe the end of August or 1st of September of the state on what had to be in or some of the model ordinance languages so that is in the works and we'll be back before you to adopt modify or discuss in the next couple months and [1:01:42] Councillor: You know coming back from the Main Municipal Association and the policy committee that I just spent some time on they're hoping this is a high priority going to the legislature this year is to put a pause on anything more like 1829 or 2173 many communities our size or even smaller are having a real tough time just keeping pace with how much being it's being thrown at them from a housing standpoint so they're hoping that you know let because a lot of towns don't have the kind of staff that we've got to help implement we 're fortunate to have a planner that can spend a lot of time getting these things put together with the different area in the different committees that have got to go through this but I don't think we're going to be seeing too much or they're hoping that they won't be seeing too much more being thrown at us from a from a mandated housing stuff so just wanted to share that thank you and then [1:02:42] Town Manager: the only other specific project I had and that one update you on is just what you already know and what your other next item is on the agenda, which would be the updating of our tiff document to make it more friendly with what we can spend those funds on regarding our own infrastructure, but also to hopefully be more nimble and adaptable when development or housing opportunities do come available. Informed and engaged citizenry, one of our overarching themes or goals to everything we do, is keeping everyone informed and engaged. So I think some notable items, obviously you've all participated in the council articles and some of the public engagement events that the council has stepped up and added to your already busy schedules. Those have been well received. The flash vote survey tool, I mean, we're seeing numbers just grow and grow on that. I think we're over, I wanted to say over 350, it might be closer to 500 people now participating in that, which is great. The only goal was to get to about two or two hundred, two hundred or so or more to start it, and it just, we've only done two surveys already and each one has grown participation. Anything over a couple hundred people becomes very statistically relevant to how our entire community feels, compared to having 10 or even 50 people show up for a public hearing regarding one item. The idea of this tool is that you get statistically significant data back, so always keep that in mind as we look at, you know, about once a month is sort of a target of surveys, either once every month or once every two months, before people will start to get a little survey fatigue and start to drop off of participation. So we've done communication and the 1934 building, I imagine we will have another 1934 building one later on in that whole discussion and process as we refine what the what the sort of Recommendation of the committee is to the full council. There's probably going to be another one to kind of hone in on seeing if it's staying in line with what the community looking for. I actually with related to the 1934 building discussion, I equate flash vote to about the closest thing we've ever had to asking a bond question and watching it fail to find out if you got it right. Flash votes about as close a tool as we've ever had to not having to go through a full referendum to ask a question. That you may have missed the overall communities targeted solution on. So I'll move on to economic development unless anybody wants to. Yeah. Yeah. [1:05:37] Public commenter: Shouldn't our revised communication plan be part of in the tasks here? That's... Got a committee putting a... I almost... [1:05:47] Town Manager: I kind of saw that over the weekend and wanted to add it in because I was looking at the communication documents and I'm like, it belongs there, but I didn't want to make revisions to this update after we had posted the... But it certainly does. I'm going to make a note now. It's certainly a the communication policy and strategies you're working on right now is a significant engagement tool. So I'll add it right now. [Public commenter: Economic] development, I think this is one where the TIF. The TIF work you've been you've been doing and continue to do I think touches on housing diversity growth and economic development. Communication on the development process, I only left that as ongoing because I just think any of our processes that we can improve the applicant's access to when they come to us should be considered an ongoing. It's not a closed or completed, but really we went down a path of exploring are we getting the message out? Are we easy to work with within our town offices and walking people through the process and from the last two large housing in the town center applicants I have heard nothing but incredibly positive feedback on our development process so in our ability to work with them the project right next door green Mars they could not say enough good things about how and they just wish more people understood how easy it was to work with the town of cape elizabeth to get that project approved so that was Great to hear, and hopefully that effort that we went through of reaching out and going through the business discussions helped contribute to that. But it's, it that's one item that will never close, whether it's on this list or not. We looked at town center vitality and including some more events. One of the one that sparked that was a student that when you were speaking at the government class brought up having like a food truck and music kind of event in town center. We haven't forgotten about that. One it's just the community alliance between business school and town started exploring that during their meetings last year. Those meetings are just about to pick back up for this school year, and the thought was to really embrace the fact that students wanted that and see if they can help plan perhaps a spring event rather than rush a fall event that we weren't dedicating the staff time to get ready for. So that's kind of the path that one is on. In addition to there are a lot of things that the department's obviously the library is always hosting a number of events. The police department goes out of their way to host and participate in community events, but look to do something a little larger in the spring. That's all I had for that one unless anyone has any comments. All right, property tax relief hot button issue discussed at the county at the state level and certainly locally. So Penny can speak to the GPCOG and Tim can certainly speak to the MMA activities, but you've given the council pretty regular updates on these, but I feel like that's really where a lot of the effort to date has gone is just to make sure that we're at the table and participating in the larger regional or state initiatives that could help bring more funds that we then locally can allocate to property tax relief. And [1:09:45] Councillor Harriman: that I've been working on some expansion of local property tax relief, which the full council will hear more about in October. So there's been a lot of work happening, but my day job kind of gets in the way sometimes. Okay. Okay this [1:10:16] Town Manager: Communication infrastructure, this, there's just no way around it. This is not going to be an easy one. You know, the two things that have been before you are the potential for a larger tower that we would have to participate in regarding town land budding the pump station behind Place Dead Field. You saw what that was met with from neighbors to that potential site. You then asked staff to work with, unfortunately, the consultant that was working on some of the site explored exploration activities was geared around large towers, not smaller concealed towers. And also that representative that was, we weren't really working with them, they were working for Verizon essentially. But the consultant has since been, the company has changed names and been bought by a different company, but also that representative has left. So one thing I tried to do was just look into vendors or companies or potential for, I did talk to Scarborough, got their lease agreements with carriers to have. They have two small towers. I think we did a presentation that you've seen on that. They have them at their fire stations, the one on the corner of Highland and Pleasant Hill. Highland and Pleasant Hill, that fire station, and then the one on Black Point Road. So those are examples of a slightly more concealed monopole where the components are inside the pole. So, I did meet with the Fort Williams Park Committee. You can imagine, like any other group, mixed feelings, if I were to say. But I think they understood why the discussion is happening. Fort Williams sits 50 or 60 feet, a lot of Fort Williams sits 50 or 60 feet higher than the site at Playstead. So you're immediately getting 50 or 60 feet shorter tower gets you to the same broadcasting or signal height. So now you're getting down in the 80 to 100 foot. I don't imagine anyone would want to add the full cell towers with the amount of gear that they have on the outside of the pole within Fort Williams. But we have to at some point decide, are we interested in improving one or two carriers per monopole, a sort of oversized flagpole-looking structure that sits in the most hidden area while still being high enough within the park to benefit people? And I don't know of a cell tower option I can go pursue for you, besides considering whether or not that would be a reasonable solution to improving the cell coverage in the whole shore road area. Again, there's limitations to those, but it would be the something is better than nothing mapping approach, while not having anybody's view or abutting property dominated by a larger tower presence, if that's not going to be amenable. [1:13:58] Public commenter: In either option, were we limited to just two carriers? No. [1:14:04] Town Manager: The Playstead option, that was predominantly a consultant working on behalf of Verizon. I think they stated more than once they were only in the business of the large tie the towers that have the external components that can take that could take every carrier it's just as you move down the pole they don't get as strong a signal so obviously whoever builds it or the prime carrier would be at the top and then they would sublease spaces that consultant is still reaching out to me asking if the town is still at all interested in that project and I did notify them that I was going to be talking that we'd be talking about it again tonight but I have yet to get an indication I don't feel like I've gotten an indication that the council wants to push that project through to a formal through the formal steps of trying to get that approved or follow through with that. But if I'm reading that wrong, then we can bring it back up. Can we do it? [1:15:09] Chair Seifried: Placedead. What did you say? [1:15:12] Town Manager: So Placedead could accommodate all providers, but I have not gotten the impression that we want to push that through the formal approval process at this time. So looking into other options the next viable lower impact would be two providers per monopole does not get you the coverage that it gets you does not of the full towers but it's something and the only way we'd ever know if the providers were willing to do it is to pick a piece of land and put an RFP out there and say, are their providers willing to build this infrastructure at no cost to the town, or what would the cost share be if there was one, but those can't accommodate all four providers. Tim. So a couple of things. [1:16:04] Councillor: First of all, I think the place dead location would be a huge, we'd get a lot of pushback on that one. So I'm very much in favor of pursuing something at the fort. I'm glad that you brought the Fort Williams committee involved because I think they should be very involved in it. I mean, it's such a safety issue, we've got to come up with something. But I really also would encourage the town manager to pursue the poll solution at the fort we should own. And we should be the ones that are going, okay, Verizon, do you want to join it? Inspect all the different, so I know other towns do own them and they're revenue generators for the town. So if it's possible to put it together that way, I'd love to see Pat pursue that. [1:16:50] Councillor Harriman: I think you'd have to work with a company that builds towers. [1:16:55] Councillor: But there are companies that will build the towers. Right, exactly. That we can own. I know that too well. You know that better than anybody. I know that too well. [1:17:05] Town Manager: Do you want to own the tower, or do you just want to own, say, the 50 by 50 piece of land? [1:17:12] Councillor: Well, the most important thing for me is- [1:17:14] Town Manager: Lease the land they build and maintain the tower. [1:17:16] Councillor: As long as it's generating revenue for the town, however you're able to arrange that and contract that, 's what I'd like to see, so I'd leave that up to you to figure that out. [1:17:28] Councillor Harriman: We have somebody who wants to- [1:17:30] Public commenter: Yeah, I think we're going to get a lot of pushback on the Fort Williams location as well, and so wouldn't this be a good opportunity for a flash vote? [1:17:45] Town Manager: It was certainly on my short list of potential next flash votes. [1:17:49] Public commenter: I think we need to get a little more information first about how many carriers can be accommodated in each location. But, I mean, both locations are bad, so we've got to, if we have to go with one. [1:18:09] Councillor: But the safety issue is big. [1:18:11] Public commenter: The safety issue is big, and I think we have to bite the bullet, and we've been kicking the can down the road too long. This has been a need for a long time. [1:18:22] Councillor Harriman: I'm glad you said that. Thank you. [1:18:26] Councillor (1934 Building Committee liaison): Yeah, I definitely agree with Stephanie. I don't think the Placid Park should be pursued. I do think that Fort Williams is the only issue that's going to address the safety issues, or the only location that's going to address the safety issues, and I'm sure that there's going to be headlines saying that we want to put cell towers in Fort Williams, but that's kind of our only opportunity. And I'm just looking at a map right now, Google Maps, and it seems like there's a lot of locations sort of between Shore Road and the soccer fields that might be a good place. And, Pat, what I would like to see too is either some renderings or how high these would have to go, because I mean, trees are usually between 60 and 70 feet, and if it this is gonna go kind of right over the tops of those trees, that's really not that much of an eyesore. It's not a hundred and eighty foot tower because of that high terrain, which is right at the location that I was looking at as a possibility. So I think I would I'd be okay with you pursuing or at least exploring it, I should say. Yeah. [1:19:44] Town Manager: I think one location that some of the conversations centered around was there's a next to the children's playground, but not the new one, the one that will eventually be removed now that the new one is online. There's a row of garages over there, and then there's an area at the very end of the garage units that kind of goes back into a bit of a lay down area slash gravel or dirt piles and some pile of rock. That corner of the garage building has the potential of a garage bay or a building bay occupying, like actually having some of the equipment in it so you don't see as much stuff outside, and then tucked off the back corner of that within the trees, within the tree grove, is your you know a 100 foot tower there would be the equivalent or pole would be the equivalent height of the 150 foot. You would get you to the same elevation as the 150 foot tower proposed as place at place dead. So I can certainly refine some of those and see if there are at least some tower siting companies out there that'll give it a quick look and see if it if there's any challenges. I'm not as a non-cell expert I'm [1:21:09] Chair Seifried: not accounting for. I agree, and I appreciate that the monopole would look more like a flagpole, and I understand, I mean, I 'm not dismissing the aesthetics, but it's a safety issue, and that is the number one concern. It is a safety issue, and so I appreciate that you're keeping up with this and that we need to continue to pursue this. [1:21:35] Town Manager: Yep. So I will refine the information as best I can, and we'll look at potential for a flash vote over the next couple months on it. And we'll just keep going. All right. I appreciate the additional feedback on that. That was the one on the list that I think had the vote. I needed your feedback on the most to keep moving with, so I appreciate it. It transportation safety, I think it's been, I think the more we work on it, the more we talk about it, the more requests we're going to get. So it's going to be one of those things where it might not feel like we're moving forward, but we've really addressed an awful lot. The traffic safety working group has been a nice addition. The public that shows up to those meetings feels heard, they feel like they're participating, they start to understand the decisions that we get stuck making oftentimes that not in a public setting where it's just the public works director or the police chief or myself or a counselor, you know, the council having the council liaison is big to that group. So we've, you know, that group has looked at future sidewalk connectivity and requests and helped prioritize sort of our next five sidewalks in a rating system that I think anyone who watched that process could embrace the numbers behind it, maybe not where their sidewalk request landed on the list, but the reasons for prioritizing sidewalks that get you to schools or goods and services over purely recreation and kind of balancing all of that out or cost to build. Not every sidewalk costs the same. Some places it's going to cost 10 times as much as other locations. So we did a lot of work with that, evaluating look to town center crosswalks when the new development out back happens, you know, moving a central crosswalk down by the police station instead of in front of town hall, looked at the pros and cons of that. We'll be looking at now that the town center intersection improvements have been made, we're talking about working with the state to look at a speed of evaluating the speed through town center. It can feel, it's even the speed limit's a little fast through a village center, so looking at speed limit reductions and then just the public outreach component of just having that extra tool. So I think most of the transportation safety has been built around what the traffic safety group has been working on and I got a quick question I [1:24:14] Councillor: I know the more that gets completed, the more people understand. People have had so many crazy questions. What the hell are you doing there? So as it got completed and the sidewalks got in and the turns got, you could see what we were trying to accomplish there. And I'm sure now crosswalks are going to be painted in. But when is the, we're also, we've got a light that's going in there also. [1:24:37] Town Manager: Yeah, the rapid flashing beacons. So not like a traffic signal, but a pedestrian-activated rapid blinking for a crossing. [1:24:46] Councillor: We're moving the one that was right out in front of my office down a little bit. When is that piece going to be? I've had a couple of questions. [1:24:52] Town Manager: All within the next couple of weeks. It's just a matter of getting the final pavement down. The last thing going up is the sign and the line striping. So it should all be in the next couple of weeks. It's just those are all different subcontractors. So I think it's mostly just a scheduling. [1:25:08] Councillor: Now that school's back in session, the kids are, again, darting across the Cumberland Farms. So the sooner that we can get that, which I think will really help safely get them over to Cumbie's, the better. So thank you for that. [1:25:24] Town Manager: And that's all I have for goal updates, unless anyone has any questions. [1:25:29] Chair Seifried: Any other questions? All right. Thank you for that. Yeah. And thanks again. Again, we had talked about the necessity for this conversation around the cell tower or cell pole, so thank you everybody for engaging. We're going to move on to item number 9C, General Assistance Ordinance and Appendices. So updates have been made to the General Assistance mma model ordinance and assistance maximums for the for 2026 through 2027. It is recommended that a public hearing be scheduled to adopt the General Assistance Ordinance and dependencies A through H and Recovery Residents Maximums Guide. Are there any members of the public either in the chamber or online that wish to speak on this item? Okay, seeing none, may I have a motion please? All [1:26:39] Public commenter: I move that we set to public hearing on Monday, October 5th, 2026, at 7 o'clock at the Cape Elizabeth Town Hall. The General Assistance Ordinance, dated October 1, 26, to September 30, 27, and Appendices A through H, and the New Recovery Residence Maximum Housing Guide, dated October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. Second that. [1:27:15] Chair Seifried: Any discussion? All those in favor? All right. Item 9D, the council discussed tax increment financing, otherwise known as TIF districts, at the September 9th council meeting. A list of potential amendments to the town center TIF district to allow greater flexibility in use of TIF funds for community development programs, staff, equipment, and infrastructure improvements was discussed. Revisions to our existing TIF will require a public hearing, council approval, and state approval. Are there any members of the public, either in the chamber or online, that wish to speak on this item? Okay, seeing none, may I have a motion, please? I [1:28:10] Town Manager or Finance Director: move that the Cape Elizabeth Town Council sets to public hearing on Monday, October 5, 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Cape Elizabeth Town Hall, 320 Ocean House Road, the Town Center TIF amendments. I'll second. [1:28:25] Chair Seifried: Any discussion? All those in favor? All right. And item 9E. And I will just make a note that this is an executive session. We will be going into executive session, and we will not be. No, you will. Oh, we could be coming back out to vote. Yeah. Okay. I apologize. It is possible that we will vote, but the item that we will vote on will not be taking public comment, and it's my understanding, because we will not be identifying anybody. Right, yeah. [1:29:08] Town Manager: Yeah, it's a private matter, but you will potentially come out and vote on the property tax abatement request itself. [1:29:14] Chair Seifried: We will need to go. [1:29:16] Town Manager: To meet the 30-day deadline. [1:29:17] Chair Seifried: Yep. Okay, thank you. May I have a motion, please, for executive session? [1:29:25] Councillor: I move that we move into executive session. [1:29:28] Town Manager: You do have to say the sections. [1:29:31] Town Manager or Finance Director: The [1:29:35] Councillor: Cape Elizabeth Town Council enters into executive session pursuant to one MRS and 4056 A and F to discuss the town. Geez, this is a different one. [1:29:47] Town Manager: No, it's two items. [1:29:49] Councillor: Yeah. And the town manager's annual performance review process and application for abatement for local property taxes. [1:29:57] Chair Seifried: Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Are we ready? Oh, we are. Mayor, may I have a motion, please? [2:00:12] Town Manager or Finance Director: Order the Cape Elizabeth Town Council moves to abate the taxes as discussed in executive session for the individual named in the request. [2:00:21] Chair Seifried: Second. All those in favor? Caitlin, may I have a motion? [2:00:31] Councillor Thompson: I was going to say, do you have to ask for comments? [2:00:34] Town Manager or Finance Director: Comments Oh public comments [2:00:36] Chair Seifried: Are there any members of the public either present in the chamber or online that wish to comment on items not on the agenda [2:00:47] Councillor Thompson: Being none motion to adjourn [2:00:49] Chair Seifried: all those in favor