After years of promoting and planning a new pier to dock their 60-foot research vessel, the University of New England formally submitted its plans to the city of Biddeford on June 3, 2024. See the complete plan here.
The city’s upcoming review is just one of several regulatory hurdles that the university must clear before moving forward. Several state and federal regulatory agencies will also be involved in the review process.
Sounds straight-forward, right?
Not so much. Keep reading.
Several months BEFORE even submitting their plans, the university’s senior attorney sent letters to the city’s attorney, threatening a lawsuit against the city if their plan – as proposed — is not approved. He described the not yet submitted application as a “settled issue.” despite the fact that city had yet to receive the proposal.
On February 13, 2024, Ron Schneider – Vice President and General Counsel for the university – sent a letter to Biddeford’s city attorney, threatening legal action because the city’s harbormaster had publicly raised concerns about the proposal, specifically its location.
In his letter, Schneider also indicated that the university had already secured a $3.5 million grant request from U.S. Senator Susan Collins.
Again, both the threat of litigation and the federal grant took place months BEFORE the university even submitted their proposal for review.
UNE has been talking about its planned pier proposal for several years, hosting receptions and tours at its Biddeford campus as well as reaching out to its residential neighbors in the Hills Beach neighborhood.
Needless to say, there were a lot of community conversations about the proposed pier long before the plan was submitted.
As part of its outreach efforts, the university contacted Marshall Alexander, Biddeford’s former harbormaster, several years ago. Alexander reportedly told them that their proposal was flawed because of inadequate water depth.
Biddeford’s current harbormaster, Paul Lariviere, agreed with Alexander’s analysis of the proposal. In addition to inadequate water depth, Lariviere also raised concerns regarding existing moorings, potential navigation issues for other watercraft and impacts to fishing and fowling on federal waterways – all criteria that harbormasters must consider before giving approval.
When worried residents began asking the harbormaster his opinion, Lariviere did not hesitate to share his own concerns, but he also voiced support for an alternative that was first envisioned by his predecessor.
Instead of building a pier that would jut out nearly 200 feet into the channel, Lariviere suggested that the university would be better served by a similar-sized pier that would instead run parallel to the shoreline, giving the university much more depth for docking their vessel.
The university adamantly declined to consider any alternatives.
Bias?
In May 2024 — just a few weeks – before the university would submit their plan – Biddeford City Manager James Bennett removed the city’s harbormaster and the assistant harbormaster from the review process.
Bennett told me that he removed Lariviere and his deputy from the review process because he was worried about bias. Bennett pledged to find a “pro-tem” harbormaster to review the proposal.
Bennett struck out, and was unable to find a harbormaster he liked. The Maine Harbormasters Association described Bennett’s actions as “highly irregular.”
A few weeks later, and obviously frustrated Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman threw up his hands and suggested that the city might withdraw itself from the review process.
A few weeks later, Bennett convinced the Biddeford City Council to hire an engineering consultant to oversee the city’s review. That consultant is an expert on railroads and trains.
On its website, the city of Biddeford has posted a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the university’s proposal. You can find that list by clicking here
It remains unclear what will happen next. I’ll do my best to keep you updated.
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