South Portland News Briefs

School supplies

Memorial Middle School has joined the ranks using the website teacherlist.com to post back-to-school needs for students as well as “wish list” items they feel would make for a more effective classroom. “The idea is to help parents and teachers work together more closely,” said site founder Tim Sullivan. “Teachers inspire our kids, but they can only do that if they have all the supplies needed to do that work.”

Housing heats up

According to South Portland-based Maine Real Estate System Information Inc., 1,247 existing single-family homes sold across Maine in June, compared to 985 in June 2011 – a 26.60 percent increase. Median sale prices rose 1.68 percent to $175,500. For the April-to-June period, sales rose 22.91 percent to 3,106 homes and 4.79 percent to a median price of $175,000. In Cumberland County, sales rose 27.06 percent to 878 homes sold, for the same quarter in 2001, but the median price fell 1.28 percent to $232,000.

UPS upgrade

At its July 23 meeting the South Portland Planning Board approved a $966,000 parking lot rebuild at the UPS Worldwide Forwarding Inc. site at 2 Foden Road. The project includes reclaiming and paving lot, increasing it 16,860 square feet to 238,559, which will increase impervious cover, including the 38,000-square-foot building, to 79 percent of the 5.29-acre site. The plan complies with DEP stormwater runoff and Long Creek Watershed Management District rules, including payment of a $7,764 fee for loss of 1,941 square feet of upland buffers to wetlands.

American expansion

The South Portland Planning Board has approved a $1.2 million, 21,600-square-foot expansion to the American Steel & Aluminum building at 115 Wallace Ave. The use for dry storage will not add to site traffic or employment, currently at 34 according to company president Peter Brissette. City approval includes a $12,660 fee for disturbing 2,448 square feet of wetlands and 1,941 square feet of upland buffer areas.

Fairchild Falls

Fairchild Semiconductor reported mixed financial results for the second quarter that ended July 1. In a July 19 release, the computer chip maker reported net income of $11.9 million – up from $1.6 million in the first quarter, but down 73.5 percent from $44.9 million in the second quarter of 2011. The company, which last year moved its corporate headquarters from Maine to San Jose, Calif., still employees 800 at its South Portland plant.