South Portland News Briefs

BULLETPROOF

The South Portland Police Department has purchased 40 new bulletproof vests at a total cost of $34,830. The Second Chance SM01 Level IIA and IIIA vests range in price from $644.40 to $737 each. They will be supplied by Riley’s Sport Shop, Inc., of Hooksett, N.H. Delivery is expected within five weeks.

Body armor must be replaced every five years, or sooner, if it shows signs of wear. The Riley-supplied vests do come with a five-year warranty.

FEE HIKE

The South Portland City Council has voted unanimously to raise the street-opening fee $30 (to $320) for FY 2012.

The fee, charged when excavators need to dig in city streets, is divided into two parts. The permanent pavement restoration fee remains the same, at $18 per square yard. What’s changed is the administrative fee, fixed by dividing the city’s annual cost to monitor street openings ($92,507) by a three-year average in the number of times the roads are dug up, for various reasons (299).

According to City Planner Tex Haeuser, the fee hike can be traced to a precipitous drop in the number of road opening permits requested last year ­– 198, versus 359 in FY 2009. However, Haeuser also noted that the budget jumped this year with the creation of a $10,000 paving reserve, which will accumulate each year until needed to repave a street, thanks to continued road openings.

The fee went into effect Aug. 2. The 39 excavating firms licensed to dig in city streets were notified of the coming change July 25.

NEW TRUCK

The South Portland City Council has approved the purchase of a 2012 GMC Sierra ¾ ton 4x4 pickup, with snowplow, from Bill Dodge Auto, at a cost of $28,763. The sale includes $6,375 as trade-in value for the city’s 2003 GMC 2500, which had 110,000 miles.

Bill Dodge, of Westbrook, which submitted the low quote, was one of just three dealerships, of 23 solicited by the city, to submit a bid.

The truck will be used by the public works department.

BIG DIG

The South Portland City Council has awarded a $560,008 contract for the first phase of Knightville sewer and street reconstruction to Maietta Enterprises, of Scarborough. Maietta also will begin work on the new Mill Creek Transit Hub as part of the agreement.

Although the city solicited 58 contractors for the work, only three submitted bids. Maietta’s was the lowest, far below the high bid of $851,315.

Work to be done includes demolition and reconstruction of concrete sidewalks, with granite curbing, on both sides of Ocean Street, from Broadway to Hinckley Street, and on the east side of Ocean to the municipal parking lot at Thomas Street, which also will get a new sidewalk on its north side. Maietta also will mill and overlay new pavement on Ocean Street, from Broadway to Market Street, and conduct “full-depth” repaving on Thomas Street at the Ocean Street intersection and at the southwest corner of the Ocean/Market intersection.

In the area of the street and sidewalk work, Maietta will remove, replace and modify sewer lines, as needed, to separate stormwater runoff from the sewer system. The work will include the installation of new catch basins, along with 810 linear feet of new storm drains.

The bus terminal work will include reconstruction of the parking lot behind City Hall and site prep for the building, at the corner of Ocean and Thomas Streets. Transportation Director Tom Meyers said the building itself may not go up until next spring, depending on the availability of federal funds promised to the project.

Maietta’s work is slated to begin Aug. 15 and should be done by Nov. 15. Construction will occur only between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. While approaches to Ocean Street at Market and Hinckley will be closed "for not more than two weeks," two-way traffic on Ocean Street will be maintained throughout the period.

CUMMINGS ROAD

A million-dollar reconstruction of Cummings Road will take place next year, covering 0.73 miles, from Running Hill Road to the Westbrook line.

In preparation for that work, the city has signed a $400,000 agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation) and the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System. The agreement, authorized by the City Council Aug. 1, commits the city to $100,000 in preliminary engineering and right-of-way costs. The rest will be covered by the feds ($264,000) and the state ($36,000). Although MDOT will handle all of the planning work, the city will be responsible for any cost overruns above the $400,000. However, if MDOT cancels the project before it is advertised for construction, it will have to reimburse the city’s investment.

APPOINTMENTS

At its Aug. 1 meeting, the South Portland City Council filled three vacancies on volunteer committees.

Stephen Bushey, of Adelbert Street, was named to the city’s economic development committee, for a term ending March 23, 2014. A civil engineer with DeLuca-Hoffman Associates, Bushey has lived in South Portland for 18 years.

Mary Jo Jakab, of Briarwood Road, was appointed to fill a seat on the South Portland Housing Authority. Her term will expire March 25, 2016. A professor of human services at the University of Maine at Augusta, Jakab has called South Portland home since 1987.

Finally, Greg Perry, of Kelley Street, was given a three-year seat on the Board of Appeals, to expire July 23, 2014. A commercial broker for Cardente Real Estate, Perry has lived in the city for five years.

As of Aug. 2, South Portland had five openings on various volunteer boards. There are two on the conservation commission (for terms ending Nov. 20, 2012 and Nov. 20, 2013), two on the Board of Appeals (both to July 23, 2014) and one on the harbor commission (to June 30, 2014).

DONATIONS

South Portland took in three donations last week, ranging from $1,700 to $12.

The Lions Club gave $1,700 to the police department to support its K-9 dog patrol program. Ann Marie Lemire gave $750 to the South Portland Public Library, asking that the money be used to buy DVDs for circulation. Finally, Edward Millett gave his $12 to buy doggie bags. That money will go to the city’s “miscellaneous” account.