AGENDA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
AFTERNOON SESSION
JULY 20, 2009

The Portland City Council will hold a Special City Council Meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall. The Honorable Jill C. Duson, Mayor, will preside.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

ROLL CALL:

SPECIAL MEETING:

Special Meeting of the Corporator of the Creative Portland Corporation – Sponsored by Mayor Jill C. Duson.

A special meeting of the Corporator of the Creative Portland Corporation will be held by the City Council July 20, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers to appoint members to the Creative Portland Corporation.

Order 1-09/10 Order Appointing Members of the Board of Directors of the Creative
(Tab 1) Portland Corporation - Sponsored by the Appointments and Non-Union Personnel Committee, Councilor John R. Coyne, Chair.

This Appointments Committee has conducted interviews and makes the following nominations:

Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

Special Meeting of the Corporator of the Downtown Portland Corporation – Sponsored by Mayor Jill C. Duson.

A special meeting of the Downtown Portland Corporation will be held on July 20, 2009 in City Council Chambers to amend loan programs.

Order 2-09/10 Order Amending Downtown Portland Corporation Real Estate
(Tab 2) Development Loan Program - Sponsored by the Downtown Portland Corporation, Robert Witkowski, Chair.

The Downtown Portland Corporation (DPC) would like to be more responsive to the financing needs of Portland businesses. Toward that end, the DPC is recommending modifications to its loan fund terms and balances for the Council’s consideration.

In regard to the Real Estate Development Fund, the DPC is seeking Council approval to:

A) Modify its loan terms to require a balloon payment be due in ten (10) years rather than five (5); and give the DPC discretion whether or not to charge loan recipients an annual donation.

B) Transfer $75,000 into the Real Estate Loan Fund from the Portland Business Fund in order to replenish the Real Estate Fund to support an expected $200,000 loan request.

Increasing the Real Estate Development Loan Fund balloon payment term from five (5) to ten (10) years will make this a feasible gap fund for development projects receiving New Markets Tax Credits, which do not allow repayment before seven (7) years;

Removing the requirement that the DPC must charge an annual donation from recipients of Real Estate Development Loans will make the Fund’s terms more consistent with conventional financing (as most banks do not charge an annual donation or fee), and will eliminate a condition that may discourage businesses from seeking this gap financing assistance.

The Real Estate Loan fund currently has just $125,000 available for lending. The additional $75,000 will bring the balance up to $200,000. Staff expects to have a loan application by late July/early August seeking $200,000 from this fund to close a financing gap for an important downtown development project.

Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

RECOGNITIONS:

PROCLAMATIONS:

APPOINTMENTS:

Order 3-09/10 Order Making Appointments to Various Committees – Sponsored by
(Tab 3) the Appointments and Non-Union Personnel Committee, Councilor John R. Coyne, Chair.

The Appointments Committee has conducted interviews and makes the following nominations:

Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

Order 4-09/10 Order Appointing Constables for 2009 Re: Department of Public
(Tab 4) Services - Sponsored by Joseph E. Gray, Jr., City Manager.

The Department of Public Services employs rangers and supervisors who can provide valuable services in the enforcement of city ordinances regarding animal control, parking, trash disposal and other ordinances related to the duties of such employees. In order for the employees to have the authority to serve legal process and to enforce the laws, they must be appointed as constables. The Department of Public Services has requested that eleven (11) department employees be appointed as constables. Currently, the City has nine constables.

The eleven new constables brings the total to the limit of twenty (20) that is set forth in the City’s Charter.

This order appoints the individuals listed below as City of Portland constables for the Department of Public Services. These appointments shall be effective from July 30, 2009 until 12:00 midnight, December 31, 2010. The constables are not allowed to carry firearms, concealed or unconcealed, in the performance of their duties or to make arrests.

Crystal Mulkern
Josh Kipp
Jon Francis
Ed Dionne
Nancy Gagne
Craig Pyy
Marvin Hamilton
Ron Kelton
Frank Mackie
Rick Meserve
Jeff Lamb

Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

CONSENT ITEMS:

LICENSES:

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

BUDGET ITEMS:

COMMUNICATIONS:

RESOLUTIONS:

Resolve 1-09/10 Resolution Naming the New Deering Oaks Playspace in Honor of
(Tab 5) William A. Goodwin – Sponsored by Councilor Dory Richards Waxman.

The Friends of Deering Oaks would like to name the new Deering Oaks Play space for William A. Goodwin, City Engineer from 1872-1892. The recommendation is based on the fact that Mr., Goodwin designed Deering Oaks Park in 1878, and developed plans for both Western and Eastern Proms along with advancing plans to improve the City’s park system.

The Friends of Deering Oaks made this recommendation to the Friends of the Park Commission at their June, 2009 meeting. The Friends of the Parks endorsed the recommendation.

Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Order 311-09/10 Order Approving the Acceptance and Appropriation of Portland Public
(Tab 6) Library Grant Funds – Sponsored by Joseph E. Gray, Jr., City Manager.

The Council is being asked to accept and appropriate a $6,600 grant from the Portland Public Library to digitize the City’s collection of 1924 tax photos and forms and make them accessible to the public on Maine Historical Society’s Maine Memory Network.

The grant request to PPL was submitted by the Planning Department’s Historic Preservation staff. Note that the Portland Public Library is providing grant support through a restricted fund that was established specifically to support digitization projects.

Total cost of the digitization project is estimated at $16,000. A $10,000 grant towards the project was received previously from the Davis Family Foundation; the City Council formally accepted the Davis Family Foundation contribution in October 2008. The $6,000 grant from the Portland Public Library will complete the City’s fundraising goal for the project.

This item must be read two separate days. It was given a first reading on June 15th. Five affirmative votes are required for passage after public comment.

ORDERS:

Order 5-09/10 Order Authorizing City Clerk’s Office to Approve Liquor Licenses for
(Tab 7) Off-Premise Catering at Planned Events or Gatherings – Sponsored by Joseph E. Gray, Jr., City Manager.

Holders of state liquor licenses (Class A Restaurant, Class A Lounge, Class XI Lounge, etc) are often hired to cater an event at a location other than their main business location. To do that they need an off-premise catering license for the specific event. Many of the festivals approved by the Council use this type of service.

State law allows the Council to delegate the approval of their licenses. This order delegates that authority to the City Clerk who already has delegated authority to review liquor licenses.

Five affirmative votes are for passage after public comment.

AMENDMENTS:

LICENSE RENEWALS: