Thumbs up to the efforts of healthy living advocates in Biddeford and Saco who are overseeing several Wellness Week activities in the two cities this week. As part of the Healthy Maine Streets initiative of the Maine Development Foundation, events from yoga classes to shopping the fresh foods of the Saco River Market will show people options to stay healthy right in their own backyards. A cooking class, bicycle ride and river walk tour are also planned, and a full schedule can be seen in our Sunday, Sept. 8 edition.
Biddeford and Saco, along with Sanford and Kennebunk, are among 20 communities across the state participating in the Healthy Maine Streets program. The municipalities’ downtown organizations were awarded $10,000 each to help the programming along, and we hope this promotion will entice people to get involved, get moving and get healthy.
Thumbs down to the delays caused by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the missed connection in the bidding process for the Wells Harbor dredge, which is going to cost the town an extra $46,000. The town and federal agencies need to have better communication to avoid this type of situation in the future. The town had solicited bids for the dredge, but the bid expires a day before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can accept it. Meanwhile, the FWS’s delays due to concerns about the dredge’s impact on birds on Wells Beach have pushed the project out to the point that it might not be completed by April 1, which would result in the loss of federal funds to pay for the project. The town should not have been put in this situation, faced with such a time crunch and forced to go with a higher bid, and we hope the selectmen’s letter to the state’s congressional delegation does not fall on deaf ears.
Thumbs up to the Saco City Council’s decision to grant a bottle club permit to Saco River Cigars, despite the complaints of some neighbors. The cigar lounge needs the permit to allow its patrons to bring in their own liquor for enjoyment while they are at the lounge, and we’re glad to see the city is not thwarting this business’s success due to a couple of complaints and seemingly unfounded allegations from neighbors. Saco Police have said there was only one noise complaint recorded for the cigar lounge, and that is certainly not enough to deny them this permit. With the downtown struggling to keep businesses, it’s heartening to see the city supporting this one, and we’re confident that the police will continue to monitor it and other establishments for any illegal or disruptive activity.
Thumbs up to the Old Orchard Beach Town Council’s decision to send a referendum question to voters asking if they want to reduce the number of councilors from seven back to five. The 2011 vote to increase the size of the council passed by only 11 votes, and the first seven-member council was entirely recalled, save for one person. A town of fewer than 10,000 people does not need seven representatives, and it only makes town business more difficult to accomplish, as the residents learned with the previous council. With the experience of a larger council under their belt, we’re sure the voters are eager to revisit this decision and most likely bring the council back to its previous size.
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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you would like to respond, please write the Reader’s Forum via email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford office.
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