SACO — The Ecology School (TES) of Saco cheered a decision by Saco City Council last Monday to help share the costs of constructing a left turn lane near the school’s campus. The Ecology School faces a deadline of November 2025 to construct a left-turn lane on Route 112 onto Simpson Road.

Prior to City Council’s vote, eight Saco residents expressed their support for the move, a group that included members of the school’s board and staff, Executive Director Jim LaBelle from the local Chamber of Commerce, and a parent whose children have benefited from the school’s programming. City Council was split on the decision — Councilor Phil Hatch and Councilor Nathan Johnston voted against the motion, with Johnston expressing that he did not think the school’s transportation needs merited the city’s help over other projects.

The Ecology School was founded as a nonprofit in 1998 by Drew Dumsch, the current CEO and president. It evolved from renting spaces to provide educational opportunities focused on ecology into a year round environmental learning center with a campus on River Bend Farm, which the school purchased in 2017.

The Ecology School received site plan approval from the city to construct a multi-million dollar campus on the land in 2018, on the condition that the school would work with the City of Saco and the Maine Department of Transportation in order to build a left-turn lane on Route 112 onto Simpson Road. In order to fund the construction of the left-turn lane, The Ecology School seeks to enter into a Maine Department of Transportation Business Partnership Initiative (BPI), which would allow the school to access DOT funds for the project. The city must be the entity that actually applies for the BPI on behalf of The Ecology School.

The vote on Monday greenlit the BPI and decided how much the city itself will spend towards the project, which is estimated to cost $924,700.

Prior to the vote, the Planning Department laid out three options for handling costs that are not covered by the BPI: a scenario in which the school is entirely responsible for the cost of construction; an agreement where the school and the city share equally in the costs of construction but the school covers any additional costs beyond current price estimates; or an arrangement where the city and the school share equally even if the construction exceeds the estimated figure.

The council voted 4-2 to approve the second option, committing the city to funding half the cost of construction, capped at the current estimate of the project’s cost.  Dumsch said he was “very pleased” that the city had voted to approve the cost sharing measure when reached by phone on Oct. 18.

During discussion prior to the vote, Councilor Michael Burman said he supported the measure, referencing the findings of a traffic impact study commissioned by The Ecology School.

“I’ve been convinced that the need for the left-turn lane is independent of The Ecology School, that’s why I propose along with Councilor Archer that option two is the best option,” said Burman. He added that the city should not rely on a local project or developer to pay for needed city infrastructure, in this instance — the left-turn lane onto Simpson Road. “The cost should be be born by those who use the improvement, not at the convenience of a project going on nearby,” he added.

Councilor Nathan Johnston pushed back, he said it was unfair for The Ecology School to “leapfrog” past other transportation priorities.

“We have transportation needs throughout this community. This one (barely registers) on my radar,” he said. “This project is at the request of a nonprofit, a non-taxpaying entity. I have not had a single Saco taxpayer state they want this,” said Johnston, implying that the city’s contribution to the project would be an unwise use of tax dollars. The Ecology School pays property taxes on staff housing, but is otherwise tax exempt.

Dumsch addressed the school’s tax exempt status on Oct. 18, saying that the school makes up the difference in the economic and community benefit it provides. “This last year we gave over $50,000 worth of free programming. The city has exponentially benefited (from The Ecology School’s) green building, agricultural and innovation education, and conservation.”

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