By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

Dogs

Willard Beach property owners and medical professionals expressed their concerns during Monday’s South Portland City Council meeting about the continued use of the beach by dog owners. This comes more than two and a half weeks after South Portland’s Willard Beach Dog Task Force began to tackle the issue. Resident John Gillick said the task force has been led to believe dog feces and urine left on the beach were not a health risk. 

“I guess what my parents told me isn’t true; I don’t have to wash my hands after I go to the bathroom,” he said. 

Cape Elizabeth resident and Director of the New England Institute For Infection and Immunity Robert Bogosian said banning dogs on the beach during summer is “an absolute must” if the council wants to preserve public health. He said on June 25 he took 10 samples from sand above the high water line on the beach and discovered seven of the samples contained the E. coli virus. 

“If somebody gets sick on that beach [E. coli] will shut down their kidneys,” he said. “They’re going to die.”

Gillick said the council has been “put on notice” and should be liable if a resident becomes ill from dog feces or urine on Willard Beach in the future. 

Computers

The council unanimously approved awarding more than $75,000 in bids for Dell desktop and laptop computers to the Dell Corporation, even after some councilors said they weren’t sure a new online bidding system hosted by GetBestBid.com was attracting as many bids as the usual bid process.

“I’m not sure this is the best deal,” Councilor Tom Blake said. “I can’t approve anymore GetBestBid.com awards until I understand this more.”

City Manager Jim Gailey described GetBestBid.com as a “reverse Ebay” where school administrators list their needs and providers can compete for the lowest price. 

“Not everyone is playing this game,” South Portland School Director of Technology Andrew Wallace said. “We still need to look at this and make sure we’re getting the best bang for our buck.” 

Legal counsel

After spending more than 150 hours screening, interviewing and debating about how to fill the vacant South Portland Corporation Counsel seat – which has been empty since Mary Kahl resigned on March 7 – the city council announced they decided to hire an outside firm, Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry of Portland, to represent the city. Attorney Sally Daggatt will lead the firm’s efforts in representing the city at $150 per hour ($80 per hour for paralegal work) and, unlike a full-time corporation counsel, will be available to the municipality on a “on-call” basis, Gailey said. 

“This is very advantageous for us,” Mayor James Soule said. “There is no charge for unattended meetings. You may see us recess more in the future, but we believed we would be better represented that way.”

All members of the council agreed there was a potential to save money by hiring the firm rather than a full-time city employee, although some were not sure just how much. 

“We should at least give this a try,” Councilor Linda Boudreau said. “We can’t guarantee anything, but the way the numbers look it should work.”

According to the order, the total estimated yearly cost of hiring Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry is $156,000. South Portland Finance Director Rob Coombs said although the former Corporation Counsel salary was only slightly more than $88,628 with roughly $20,000 in benefits, by eliminating the entire position along with some funding for Human Resources legal procedures, the city could save approximately $163,000.

“Ironically, we’ve hired a lot more people but it will make us more nimble,” Councilor Claude Morgan said. 

Zoning

Despite protests from several residents of the Kingswood Park Condominium units, the city council approved a zone change for three abutting properties along Main Street that could allow property owner Ionel Apricopoai to build another multi-family unit on his lot next door to the condominiums. 

“There are motorbikes riding through parking lots from the properties in question,” Kingswood resident Ruth Gassarash said. “I’m concerned about the liability for us going up. We have largely an elderly population and can’t afford to increase fees as a result [of the zone change].”

Other Kingswood residents said they have seen Apricopoai’s tennants using their trash bins, trying to get into a closed off pool and making loud noises.

“If they can’t get rid of their trash now, and we get two more families there, I think it’s going to be a mad house,” Kingswood resident Mary Thurston said. 

The council approved the zone change – which was previously unanimously approved by the planning board – after several councilors deemed the complaints a “neighbor to neighbor issue” with a 5 to 1 vote. Councilor Tom Blake was in the minority.

“People feel that the planning department is out to get us,” Kingswood resident Patrick Ferry said.