What’s going on with the University of New England and its plan to build a new pier on the Saco River?
Why is the university worried about a small time, mediocre reporter and the stories he writes about the proposed pier?
I don’t know how to answer those two questions.
But here’s what I do know: I’m not going away. I’m not giving up. In fact, I’m about to turn up the heat on this particular story.
On the day after last week’s election, I was feeling a bit glum and somewhat overwhelmed, so I decided to take a break and watch one of my favorite films, All the President’s Men.
For those of you who don’t know, the 1976 film was about two intrepid reporters from the Washington Post – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward — who ultimately forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal.
Watching the film again, reminded me of just how hard and frustrating it is to be a reporter, whether you’re working for the Washington Post or the Biddeford Gazette.
Throughout history, governments, large corporations and powerful individuals have all sought to control the press; to push their own narrative and maintain secrecy. Sometimes stonewalling a reporter works.
Sometimes it doesn’t.
John Mitchell, President Nixon’s attorney general, threatened Katherine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, during the Watergate scandal in 1972.
Mitchell warned the reporters, the editor and even the publisher of the Washington Post: “Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published,” Mitchell said.
The Washington Post did not back down, even though many other newspapers were nervous or reluctant to dig deeper into the scandal at that point in time.
Let’s pause here for a moment.
I am not Carl Bernstein. Saco Bay News is not The Washington Post. And my stories are much, much less than microscopic when compared to historic stories such as Watergate or The Pentagon Papers.
I am just a semi-retired, overweight, underachieving, middle-aged, bald man with very few of his original teeth left and no college degree. (In fairness, Carl Bernstein also never earned a college degree).
So, if you stop and think about it, why should anyone at the University of New England give a rat’s ass about anything I write? What are they afraid of?
You better, you better, you bet
Earlier this year, I learned about the University of New England’s plan to construct a new pier on the Saco River.
Just a few weeks later, Biddeford City Manager James Bennett quashed both the city’s harbor master and the assistant harbor master from the regulatory review process.
When I contacted Bennett about his move, he told me it was done in order to prevent “bias.”
I got to work on myfirst story about the proposed pier, which was published by Saco Bay News on May 25th.
As the story continued to unfold, I wrote follow-up stories about the controversy. You can find all three of those stories by clicking on this link.
Just days after my third story was published, a representative from the university reportedly contacted the publisher of Saco Bay News and told her that “it would be best if Randy Seaver no longer wrote stories about the university.”
The University of New England (UNE) won. They got me bounced from the story . . . or did they?
Although you’re not going to see any more stories written by me in Saco Bay News about UNE’s pier, I am actually just beginning my effort to bring public awareness and transparency to this issue.
UNE’s attempt to silence the media has backfired. They can now expect an amplification of coverage on this issue.
You can’t handle the truth!
Reporters are trained to ignore rhetoric and focus on facts. If you read any of my prior reporting about UNE’s proposal, you will see that each article is balanced, fair and focused on facts.
That is the same approach I am taking here. I decided that once and for all, I wanted to see and explore some facts for myself.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to take a boat tour of the Saco River near the proposed location of the university’s pier.
I was not the only one invited to take this tour. Every member of the Biddeford City Council was given the very same opportunity. Every member of the media in southern Maine was also given the same invitation.
So far, I am the only journalist or Biddeford city official who has ventured onto the river to discover for myself what the hard data shows about adequate water depths.
It was an eye-opening experience, to put it mildly.
Below is a short video of what I learned during my tour near the base of the Saco River. I have also created a separate page on this blog siteto gather and publicly share information about this topic.
My advice to the university and the city of Biddeford is this: Brace yourselves. I will not go gently into that good night. I want facts and transparency. This is not the end of my reporting.
It is just the beginning.
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I have some good news and some bad news to share with my friends and family who live in the Biddeford-Saco area.
Apparently, officials at both Thornton Academy and the University of New England are none too pleased with yours truly.
According to my sources, representatives from both institutions have reached out to the publisher of Saco Bay News, essentially telling her that it would probably be best if Randy Seaver didn’t write anymore stories or opinion columns about their respective institutions.
I was not included in those conversations, so I do not know exactly what was or was not said, but it strikes me as sort of the same vibe as when John Mitchell, President Nixon’s attorney general, threatened Katherine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, during the Watergate scandal in 1972.
Mitchell warned reporter Carl Bernstein (one of my heroes) “Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published.”
Let’s pause here for a moment. I am not Carl Bernstein. Saco Bay News is not The Washington Post. And my stories are much, much less than microscopic when compared to historic stories such as Watergate or The Pentagon Papers.
I am just a semi-retired, overweight, underachieving, middle-aged, bald man with very few of his original teeth left and no college degree. (In fairness, Carl Bernstein also never earned a college degree).
So, if you stop and think about it, why should anyone at either Thornton Academy or the University of New England give a rat’s ass about anything I write? What are they afraid of?
I completely understand why Liz Gotthelf, the publisher of Saco Bay News, decided it would probably be best if I no longer covered stories about Thornton or UNE.
Saco Bay News is a one-woman operation. Liz has nowhere near the resources and muscle that Katherine Graham had during the Watergate scandal.
Consequently, you will not see any more stories on Saco Bay News about either Thornton Academy or the University of New England written by me.
It remains unclear whether either of those two distinguished organizations will allow anyone to write about them. Perhaps permission slips will be required in the future. Who knows?
I am crushed, and trying to work through my grief.
But in reality, and generally speaking, elitists have never responded well to my words and questions. So, I should have seen this coming.
I knew that column would piss them off, and that idea delighted me. It is more than understandable why Thornton would throw a hissy-fit. I get it. I don’t blame them at all.
Thornton Academy’s main building (T.A. Photo)
That said, I wonder why John Lamb (Thornton’s PR guy) didn’t call me first. In fact, he never followed up with me. He has my number. My phone seems to be working. It strikes me as a chickenshit move.
In my world, if someone pisses you off or treats you unfairly, you respond to them directly. At least, that’s how real men solve their differences. I have zero respect for someone that complains about me behind my back.
Then again, we’re talking about Thornton Academy, so it’s par for the course.
All that aside, I own plenty of the blame here. In larger publications with more staff and resources, news stories are generated in the newsroom. Opinion pieces and editorials are kept separate and isolated from news reporters. There is an invisible, yet clear, wall between the editorial board and the newsroom.
I was trying to do both, and that’s a basic no-no, even if you try to be careful. You’re still blurring the lines.
But the University of New England’s complaints about me represent an entirely different animal.
In the days and weeks after my first two stories about the proposal were published at Saco Bay News, other media outlets — including the Portland Press Herald, WMTW-TV, WGME-TV and the Biddeford-Saco Courier – also picked up the story.
I put a lot of effort and time into those stories about the controversial pier proposal. My reporting was straight-up. I took great pains to be as objective and unbiased as possible.
In fact, I received accolades for my reporting on the issue from colleagues who work (or worked) for other media outlets.
But guess who didn’t call or e-mail me? That’s right, not a peep from the University of New England. And yes, they have my phone number. My email address is included at the bottom of every story I write.
Apparently, the University of New England could also use a good set of gently used balls.
So, what’s the good news?
Only hours after delivering a devastating blow to the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto reportedly said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
From my perspective, I have now been set free and unleashed from needing to worry about objectivity. I can now publicly criticize both Thornton Academy and UNE as much as I like.
The bad news for both Thornton Academy and UNE is that they have now poked the proverbial bear; a bear with nothing to lose, lots of time on its hands and a decent social media following in the local area.
Yes, the Japanese kicked our ass at Pearl Harbor, but I don’t think I need to remind you about how the United States responded.
Seriously, this feels like Christmas morning.
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Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman said this week that the city may not be included in the review process of a new pier that the University of New England wants to build on the Saco River.
According to city ordinances, such a project generally must first be approved and facilitated by the city’s harbormaster before any other regulatory agency can conduct its own review of the proposal, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Saco River Corridor Commission.
However, because of actions by the city’s harbormaster and the chair of the Biddeford Harbor Commission, Grohman said the only way for a “fair review of the application” might now include the city withdrawing itself from the review process entirely.
“At this point, they [UNE] are holding all the cards,” Grohman said. “I don’t know how we can get them back to the table.”
On Friday, John Schafer abruptly resigned his position as chair of the Biddeford Harbor Commission.
Schafer told Saco Bay News that he felt “shackled” in his attempt to provide “clarity and transparency” to the discussions surrounding the university’s proposal.
Schafer admits that he should not have played an advocacy role in the review process, but says he was angered by the university’s threat of litigation against the city if their new pier and its specific location is not approved.
According to documents obtained by Saco Bay News, the university began raising threats of litigation months before their pier proposal was formally submitted to the city in June.
“Talk about putting the cart before the horse,” Schafer said. “You had UNE bullying the city with threats of litigation even before they submitted their proposal.”
Several months before the university formally submitted its proposal, Ron Schneider, the university’s general counsel and vice president of legal affairs, sent a letter to the city’s attorney, arguing that the proposed location for the pier was already a “settled issue.”
“It is our position that the planned location of the GMSC Pier is a settled issue,” Schneider wrote. “Mr. Lariviere, and by extension the city, is estopped from reversing course at this time and mandating a different location for the pier.”
In his letter, Schneider says that both Lariviere and former harbormaster Marshall Alexander “specifically told university representatives” in 2015 that the proposed pier should not be built in the location that Lariviere is now suggesting as a more appropriate location.
Lariviere denied Schneider’s assertions about the location of the pier. “That is a complete fabrication,” he said. The harbormaster also says the city’s ongoing actions in removing him and the assistant harbormaster from the approval process violates several state laws.
Grohman says the situation has become a “real mess for the city,” and is causing “unfortunate delays” for the university.
“I’m not sure how we can proceed from this point,” the mayor said during a telephone interview on Sunday.
“There’s really nothing in our ordinances about how to proceed in this situation,” Grohman said. “We have been put into a difficult position.”
Although City Manager James Bennett has previously declined to say whether the university has threatened the city with possible litigation, two letters from Schneider to City Attorney Harry Center make clear that the university is prepared to use litigation if the city does not approve their proposed location for the new pier.
In his Feb. 13 letter, Schneider wrote that Lariviere’s “continued inappropriate obstruction would result in delay that would adversely affect Biddeford, would cause project delay, and would significantly increase expense to the university.”
“It is our sincere hope that UNE is not forced to resort to litigation to avoid the delay and expense that will result if Mr. Lariviere were to insist on obstructing the building of the pier,” Schneider wrote.
Schneider said the university “cherishes its relationship with the city and its people and only wishes to continue being a valuable member of the community.”
Grohman said the University of New England is one of the top-ten academic institutions in the world in field of marine research.
“What they are hoping to do with their pier will result in a lot of positive outcomes,” the mayor said.
As part of his resignation letter to the mayor and all members of the city council, Schafer included a brief video he produced that affirms what the city’s harbormaster, assistant harbormaster and others have been saying about the river depth where the university wants to build its pier.
In the video, depth measurement equipment clearly shows that the river is, in fact, deeper closer to the shore than in the location proposed by the university.
Lack of adequate mooring depth has been one pf the primary concerns raised by Biddeford’s harbormaster in connection to the university’s proposal.
UNE representatives, however, say the water depth is better in their proposed location, citing research from engineering firms they hired to study the issue.
Grohman said he has a high opinion of Schafer and his abilities. “I am sorry to see him step down, but I do think it was the appropriate thing to do,” he said.
“The best and fairest way to move forward may be to have the city withdraw from the approval process and see what other agencies have to say about the project,” Grohman said. “One way or another, we have got to get this thing figured out.”
Although the University of New England earlier this month formally submitted its plan to build a new pier on the Saco River, that plan still remains mired in controversy.
Both the university (UNE) and Biddeford’s harbormaster seem to have their heels dug in regarding how the pier should be built.
Before the pier can be built, the plan must first be approved by the city of Biddeford’s harbormaster. The plan will then also require review and approval by several other agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Saco River Corridor Commission.
As of press time, it remains unclear how the city will be able to review the proposal because City Manager James Bennett removed both the city’s harbormaster and assistant harbormaster from the review process in May.
Bennett said he removed the harbormasters because he felt they were biased and would not be able to objectively review the application.
In May, Bennett said he would appoint a harbormaster “Pro-Tem,” specifically for reviewing the university’s plan. Last week, Bennett told Saco Bay News he has not yet been able to find a temporary harbormaster to review UNE’s proposal.
“It is taking a bit longer than I anticipated, but we are going to continue our search in order to ensure that the university’s proposal is handled fairly and objectively,” Bennett said. “There are not a lot of people with that kind of experience. So, we need to go back to the drawing board.”
According to documents obtained by Saco Bay News, Bennett reached out to and was then rebuffed by the Maine Harbormasters’ Association when he asked that agency for guidance and suggestions about someone who could review the university’s proposal.
In a June 4 email response to Bennett’s inquiry, Daryen Granata of the Maine Harbormasters’ Association, said Bennett’s desire to appoint a temporary harbormaster was “unprecedented” and would likely be a violation of state law.
“Our board is unaware of any precedent for such a position,” Granata wrote. “Review of the relevant state law contains no provision regarding such a position. To do so would be inconsistent with the explicit state law.”
“The Maine Harbormasters Association discourages you from pursuing a ‘protem’ harbormaster as it is inconsistent with the prevailing law. Instead, we recommend that you work within the review hierarchy laid out in your harbor ordinance.”
Bennett said both he and city attorney Harry Center disagree with the legal opinion given by the association.
Bennett would not say whether he contacted Saco’s harbormaster to help review the application.
Dan Chadbourne, Saco’s harbormaster, said he was told that he should not comment on the controversy surrounding UNE’s proposed pier.
“All I can say is that channel is a joint jurisdiction between the cities of Biddeford and Saco,” Chadbourne said. “At some point, the city of Saco will be involved.”
Why the controversy?
UNE wants to build a pier jutting away from the shore in a perpendicular design and into the channel with a T-shaped configuration. The new pier will be used to dock the university’s marine research vessel in close proximity to their Marine Sciences building on the Biddeford campus.
Biddeford Harbormaster Paul Lariviere said the university’s plan would have a significant impact on existing moorings, navigation and public access. Last year, he shared an alternative proposal with UNE officials.
Lariviere’s alternate design runs parallel to the shore, without jutting into the channel. The university has dismissed the alternate plan, raising concerns about water depth during low tide.
But Lariviere says water depth at low tide is actually deeper closer to the shore in that specific location.
Lariviere says he has nothing personal against the University of New England, and is not attempting to block their attempts to build a new pier for their research vessel.
“They [UNE] have been talking publicly about their plan to construct a new pier for a few years now,” Lariviere said. “My concern has always been about following existing laws, regulations and city ordinances. I took the time to do some research in order to offer them a plan that would better meet their needs and have fewer impacts on public access, navigation, existing moorings and water depth.”
While university representatives maintain that their design is the only one that will give them adequate water depth for docking their research vessel, Lariviere and others say that’s simply not true, pointing to recent data they collected.
“The way the river runs, they (UNE) would be much better off with the alternative I provided them,” Lariviere said. “At mean low tide, there is actually better depth closer to the shoreline than further out in the channel.
“Frankly I don’t understand their adamant objection to the alternative plan we developed,” Lariviere said. “It would probably cost them less money to build, meet all of their stated needs and offer better depth for their vessel. The alternative plan I showed them would have no impacts on existing moorings and would remove concerns about public access and navigation.”
Lariviere said that over the past several months, many people have asked him his thoughts about the university’s plans for a new pier.
“I have just been answering questions people asked me,” Lariviere said. “Of course, I told people that their plan – as presented – would never fly. It’s simply because their plan does not meet existing standards and regulations. It’s not bias. It’s common sense.”
What UNE Says
According to Sarah Delage, a spokesperson for the university, the university’s proposal was rigorously reviewed and designed by engineering and environmental consultants.
Delage said the location of the proposed pier was chosen after expert marine engineers looked at nine potential locations and considered potential impacts to mooring, navigation and environmental concerns.
In their application, the university altered the harbormaster’s proposal. Their design adopts a starting point at a shore location almost identical to what the harbormaster suggested. But the university presented a T-shaped perpendicular design that juts out from that starting point on shore well more than 150 feet into the river, at odds with the harbormaster’s recommendation.
Delage said the alteration was designed to point out the necessary depth that would be required for docking their research vessel.
Although Delage said “there is no physical map or design to represent” the harbormaster’s alternative, the university’s application does include a reconfigured drawing of the harbormaster’s alternative.
Delage says the university was first made aware of the harbormaster’s alternative during an informal meeting at City Hall in October 2023.
That meeting was attended by City Manager James Bennett, Harbormaster Paul Lariviere, UNE President James Hebert and John Schafer, chair of the Biddeford Harbor Commission.
“This was a verbal conversation,” Delage said. “The harbormaster never provided us with a physical alternative design.”
Based on the verbal feedback, Delage says the university then created a diagram of a pier in the location suggested by the Harbormaster to show what a pier would look like if it were designed to reach sufficiently deep water.
“With the assistance of the marine engineers, UNE understood that a pier hugging the shoreline would not reach deep enough water,” Delage said.
Lariviere disputes the claim regarding low tide depth, pointing out that he and several others conducted rigorous depth surveys in that location.
Furthermore, If the university were to adopt the harbormaster’s alternative, Delage said such a pier would have “to be about twice the size” of the alternate design that Schafer shared with the media.
Delage said the alternative plan would be more disruptive to the harbor and unable to accommodate both the university’s research vessel and the city’s fireboat.
“The bathymetric survey information relied on by the engineers to establish water depths comes from work done by Statewide Surveys in 2015,” Delage said.
Delage added that the shoreline elevations are further “corroborated by low-tide aerial imagery available from Maine Office of GIS and an additional imagery service used by GEI (Nearmap), which depict an intertidal zone along the shore, and the low-water location in close agreement with the location identified by on-the-ground land survey.”
Delage said the university’s research was summarily rejected by the harbormaster during another informal meeting at City Hall in January. She said that UNE’s design team and other staff, the city manager, City Councilor William Emhiser and Lariviere and Schafer all attended that meeting.
The cart before the horse?
Even before the regulatory review process has started, the university sought and received commitments of federal funding to help pay for the construction costs.
The university and city manager say that both Lariviere and Schaeffer should not have been making public comments about the proposed pier before the plan was even formally submitted.
Delage said there was a joint meeting of the Harbor Commission and the Shellfish Conservation Commission in February that was not publicly noticed.
“There was no agenda published, and no minutes are obtainable from the city’s website,” Delage said.
In addition to the lack of public notice, Delage says the university did not receive any notice of this meeting, despite the fact that their pier proposal would be discussed.
“Again, UNE has never received a drawing of any kind from the harbormaster specifying his preferred design and location,” Delage said.
Delage says that Schafer, chair of the city’s Harbor Commission, sent email messages to multiple people, including city councilors, indicating that he agreed with the harbor master.
Those actions are the basis of why Lariviere was removed from the review process, according to City Manager James Bennett and City Attorney Harry Center.
The Harbor Commission is the body to whom an applicant must appeal any adverse decision by the harbormaster, Center explained. “You simply cannot present yourself as able to review an application if you have already publicly stated an opinion about that application,” Center added.
“It is my professional opinion that the city would be unable to defend itself in a court hearing if the applicant decides to appeal a decision that was pre-determined before the application was submitted,” Center said.
Schafer said all meetings of the Harbor Commission are open to the public. He also said he rigorously prepares meeting agendas before each meeting and also provides minutes of every meeting to a long list of people at City Hall, including City Clerk Robin Patterson, the designated staff liaison for the Harbor Commission.
Schafer provided Saco Bay News with copies of emails he distributed before and after the joint Feb. 21 meeting with the Shellfish Commission.
“I specifically sent the detailed minutes of that meeting to a whole bunch of people,” Schafer said. “I am a strong supporter of open and transparent government. When I heard that UNE might be considering litigation against the city, I made it my mission to relay what our commission heard from the harbormaster at the Feb. 21 meeting.”
Schafer said every monthly meeting of the Biddeford Harbor Commission includes a standing agenda item entitled “Harbormaster Summary.”
“I had no idea what Paul [Lariviere] was going to say ahead of time,” Schafer said. “But I sure as heck made sure that everyone knew what he said during that meeting. We have never had a meeting without an agenda or detailed minutes.”
According to the meeting minutes that Schafer shared with Mayor Marty Grohman, all members of the city council, Police Chief JoAnn Fisk and the city clerk, Lariviere said he would not be able to approve UNE’s proposal simply because it did not conform to existing regulations.
“Yes, people have asked me questions and my opinion about the university’s plan,” Lariviere said. “There has been a lot of talk about this pier dating back to 2008. People have questions. I have been consistent with my response.”
During a prior interview with Saco Bay News, Alan Thibault, vice president of operations at UNE, said the university’s pier design was included in a master plan that was approved by the Biddeford Planning Board several years ago.
Delage says the university is only asking to have its proposal reviewed fairly and objectively, like any other applicant that goes to the city for an approval.
“No member of the community should have to be concerned that their applications would be rejected in advance,” Delage said.
If the harbor commission has already stated a position, any appeals by the university could be considered futile acts, Delage said.
“In my opinion, a lot of errors have been made,” Schafer said. “But I think it is absolutely critical to remind everyone that no one – – no one – has said that UNE cannot or should not have a new pier. This entire conversation is about where that new pier should be located. That’s it.”
This is a story about the Saco Transportation Center, also known as the place where green-energy dreams go to die.
Now before some of you have a stroke, I do believe our climate is changing. I also believe humans have an impact on their environment — but sometimes it seems we get just a wee bit silly – running around like Chicken Little, screaming that the sky is falling.
You’ll have to forgive me, but I’m just not a big fan of The Emperor’s New Clothes.
While the pursuit of cleaner energy is certainly a noble cause, it seems that we are too often willing to abandon common sense, and instead blindly follow a mantra that is born from fear, rhetoric and half-truths.
And if you have the temerity to question anything about the green agenda, you are immediately branded as a mouth-breathing “denier” with limited cognitive functioning. You better toe the line.
My biggest problem with the “green energy/zero-carbon” agenda is all the self-righteous virtue signaling that goes hand-in-hand with this issue. So often, the paradigm of “Green Energy” is built upon a solid foundation of hypocrisy.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the Saco Transportation Center. When the facility was formally opened in 2009, press releases were sent out. VIPs were in attendance and local, state and even federal politicians were tripping over themselves in order to pat themselves on the back about how “green” the new facility would be — a virtual “role model for other communities across the country.”
Breathlessly, city leaders in Saco extolled the virtues of the new facility, congratulating themselves for being such good stewards of the environment. The facility was hailed as state-of-the-art, dedicated to be a giant leap forward in the pursuit of a better world, where every boy and girl has a pet unicorn and we all actually enjoy eating kale.
From the press release: “The station is notable for being the first green design train station in the United States, featuring a wind turbine for electricity, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and a roof made from recycled soda bottles.”
But almost as soon as the dust from the grand opening settled, the illusion of green virtue became harder to justify. Saco taxpayers had spent roughly $200,000 for construction of the wind turbine that sat majestically atop the hill of Saco Island.
The magnificent wind turbine, however, did not produce the expected amount of electricity, and it became a “safety concern.” It was quietly removed and taken down a few years later. There was no press release. No senators. No platters of kale and tofu. No pontification from local politicians or environmental lobbyists. The taxpayers took care of the demolition expenses. We can only pray that the turbine was properly recycled.
Undaunted, the politicians, environmental lobbyists and members of the green energy brigade pressed on, and they soon sent out another press release. Oh Happy Day! Biddeford-Saco-OOB Transit (Transit) was going to take ownership of two electric buses. Another ribbon cutting. More speeches. We’re saving the world one bus trip at a time. The local politicians cheered. Abandoned puppies were all adopted and the planet heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
Those new electric busses cost approximately $1.5 million each, nearly three times the cost of a traditional diesel bus.
Don’t worry, the local politicians said. Taxpayers are off the hook . . . the buses were “free,” purchased under a federal grant that was coordinated by U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Ummm, where does federal money come from? Oh yeah, that’s right — from federal taxes, paid by you and me.
Chad Heid, executive director of Transit, told reporters that his organization will be applying for more federal aid so that additional electric buses can be purchased in the future. Heid added that there will be a charging station in Biddeford, and “on-route charging stations at the Saco Transportation Center will be installed later this year.”
Maine Governor Janet Mills and Senator Angus King, Jr. participate in the celebration of new electric busses. (Photo: WGME TV)
Flash forward a couple years later? Still no bus charging stations at the transportation center. In fact, the company that built the “green” electric busses recently filed for bankruptcy protection, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Apparently, green energy doesn’t work out so well for its investors.
Almost immediately after being purchased, the new electric busses presented several challenges for the local transit authority. The new busses nearly drained their batteries after only a few hours of use on cold, Maine mornings.
A bit of disclosure: I was hired by Transit last year on a short-term contract to help collect data about passenger/route efficiencies. That contract ended last year. Over just a few weeks of riding several of the busses on various routes, I learned a lot about our local bus system and the people who ride the bus. (More about that in a minute).
On one cold February morning, those of us riding on one of the new electric busses had to be rescued by a passenger van, transported back to the Transit maintenance facility on Pomerleau Street and then re-loaded onto a traditional diesel bus. The passengers were not happy campers. I tried not to laugh.
Earlier this year, the University of New England began running a series of promotional television commercials including one in which several students praised the school for its “sustainability” practices and its commitment to the environment. Well, laddi-laddi-da.
Local taxpayers (you and me) help provide a shuttle trolley to go back and forth between downtown and UNE’s Biddeford campus, 14 times a day, seven days per week. The students who bloviate about “environmental stewardship and sustainability” apparently don’t like using mass transit, and instead prefer to drive their cars to have brunch at the Run Of The Mill and other downtown taverns.
That particular bus line (The Silver Line) operates for free. Throughout the day, basically every 15 minutes, that bus (trolley) also runs a loop up Main Street in Biddeford; right onto Lincoln Street, past the parking garage; right onto Elm Street and back to Main Street in Saco. Again, it is free to ride that line. How many people do you suppose take advantage of this service?
Over several days of riding that bus trolley, I saw two people use it. Two. Over a six-hour period. Two people. 30 Trips. Two people. Number of people getting on or off at UNE? Zero. Zilch. Nada.
We want to “save the planet” right up until the point when it’s not very convenient to do so. Where I come from, we call that hypocrisy.
Yes, Transit does serve a certain segment of our local population; mainly people without cars.
Meanwhile, the Maine Turnpike Authority recently withdrew its financial subsidy for the ZOOM Turnpike Express bus. They are focusing instead on spending more money to make the highway better able to handle an increasing number of cars.
Remember, the Saco Transportation Center has a roof made of recycled soda bottles. In the lobby, however, you can find vending machines that offer a wide array of beverages in plastic bottles. Good to know, in case we ever need to repatch, repair or replace the roof.
What about the train? Sure, the Amtrak Downeaster is a fun way to go catch a Bruins game or see the Celtics, but very few people use it as a commuter line. In fact, according to rail officials, overall ridership on the Downeaster is increasing, but the number of work commuters has dropped by more than 30 percent since 2019.
Really, would you ride the train from Saco to Portland for work? You would be dropped on the western outskirts of the city, on Thompson Point Road. Hardly convenient or efficient.
The municipalities of Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard each contribute $250,000 annually toward the Transit’s operating costs, and I’m glad that my community offers public transportation.
But it pisses me off that the people who squawk loudest about “sustainability” and carbon emissions rarely – if ever – use public transit. And I think maybe we should be a bit more committed to efficiency rather than patting ourselves on the back for being green. Because, honestly, it’s literally not sustainable.
When it comes to meaningless virtue signaling, the city of Saco is giving Portland a good run for its money, but I guess it’s only an island if you look at it from the water.
The city of Biddeford is a lot of things; among them it is a college town that is home to the University of New England, a liberal arts college nestled along the banks of the Saco River.
In numerous conversations this evening with city election clerks and poll workers, I heard repeated stories about record voter turnout and incredible same-day voter registration statistics among UNE students.
It’s nice to see our nation’s young people get involved in politics, I only wish they actually cared a bit more about the community that serves as their temporary home.
Why do I say this? Why am I so callous?
Well, maybe it’s because I think college students, especially, ought to be a bit more “educated” on issues of national, state and local importance. Our nation’s college students represent our future. They are the up and coming leaders of tomorrow, but apparently can’t be bothered to invest a small measure of time in their host community.
Even with a perfunctory review of the numbers, it becomes quickly apparent that the students cared about only two issues: the presidential election and a statewide referendum question regarding marriage equality.
UNE is located in Biddeford’s Ward One, the predominantly coastal and more affluent section of the city.
In Ward One, 1,445 voters cast ballots regarding Marriage Equality, not including 59 blank ballots.
In Ward One, 1,496 voters cast ballots to choose the next president, not including 8 blanks.
But what happened when these voters were asked about who should be their state representative in the Maine Legislature?
Hmmm…. there were 97 blank ballots
How about the Maine Senate? 173 blanks
How about Local Bond Questions regarding road pavements? 228 blanks
How about the local school budget? 138 blanks.
Ok, so maybe most voters don’t drill down that far…but let’s compare the number of blanks on those election issues against some other neighborhoods in the same city, like my neighborhood…
State Senate: 72 blanks (a difference of 99 fewer blank votes compared to Ward One)
Paving Bond: 143 blanks (a difference of 85 fewer blank votes)
Local School Budget: 69 blanks (a difference of 99 fewer blank votes)
Across the board, Ward One had a higher number of blank ballots than any of the city’s other six voting wards (both in actual numbers and as a percent of totals)
For better or worse, Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant is also serving as a representative in the Maine House of Representatives. He is a Democrat. He lost by a margin of just 8 votes to his Republican challenger. Wow…what if just a few more students had cast a vote in that race???
Many of the students, including a young woman from the neighboring town of Kennebunk, used only their UNE student ID as a means of proving residency in Biddeford. But they did have to swear an oath to certify that they had not voted anywhere else.
Out of curiosity, how is it that college students who can wait in line 36 hours for the latest I-Phone or score coveted Dave Matthews concert tickets months before a scheduled concert not be able to register for voting until the actual day of the election?
Nah, it couldn’t be they want to wait until the last possible minute in order to avoid scrutiny. They really do care what’s happening in the world. They just forgot that Election Day was creeping up on them.
Maybe we should require you to register to vote when you buy an I-Phone or some concert tickets. Wouldn’t that be convenient? Then they would not have to rent so many passenger vans to vote. Then they would not have to put such a strain on our strapped city resources. Then, maybe these educated kids might be able to fill out the entire ballot.
You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITY 