Blanchette blasts council over police station memo Recent release lists benefits of Maine Avenue site

BANGOR – A leader in the effort to keep Bangor’s next police station downtown blasted city officials Thursday for the timing of a memo listing several advantages of building the facility at 107 Maine Ave., near Bangor International Airport.

The memo at issue, drafted last month by WBRC Architects and Engineers and distributed to city councilors last week, was written to give councilors “a brief list of talking points” for comparing the site on Maine Avenue with 240 Main St., the downtown location city councilors originally selected last fall.

“Somebody is trying to intimidate the people and say they’re not smart enough to go to the polls and make a decision [about where the station should be built],” said Rep. Patricia Blanchette, D-Bangor, during a press conference on the steps of City Hall.

“All we’re asking is just let the people have a voice,” said Blanchette, a former council chairwoman.

The memo’s circulation in recent days comes about halfway through a local group’s effort to bring the police station location matter to a citywide vote. Supporters of the downtown site are in the process of gathering the 2,274 signatures of registered Bangor voters needed to get the issue on the ballot. In order to succeed, they must complete that task by Aug. 4.

Blanchette said she saw the timing of the memo’s distribution as an attempt to derail efforts to bring the station location matter to a citywide vote.

Council Chairman Dan Tremble disagreed.

“I don’t know how it could be” construed as hindering the signature-gathering process, Tremble said when contacted after the press conference.

While he noted that the document was an internal memo meant to help city officials evaluate the two sites, he said the memo was not confidential under Maine’s right to know law and as such, available to the public.

“To purposely withhold it would be irresponsible,” Tremble said. “The purpose of it wasn’t to try to sway the public. People need the information.”

The memo, dated June 21, began to circulate among councilors last week, though at least two members – namely Annie Allen and Gerry Palmer, who have sided with the petitioners in the matter, said Thursday that they did not receive copies until Tuesday of this week. Both made remarks in support of keeping the station downtown during the media event.

Thursday’s press conference was the latest volley in what has become a contest of wills regarding the location of the next police station. The current station is outdated and in disrepair.

Councilors last fall chose a downtown parcel at 240 Main St. as the site for the new station. In May, however, they decided instead to build the headquarters on a larger parcel near the airport, citing the need for space for growth and the need to keep the project within its $6.5 million budget.

The location, decided May 24 by an 8-1 vote, was reaffirmed in a 6-2 vote on June 14 after Allen and Palmer brought it back before the council for reconsideration.

Some disadvantages of 240 Main St. listed in the memo were:

. Less suitable soil types that could increase the cost of foundation work.

. Underground petroleum contamination.

. Potential vehicle access problems because of its proximity to the busy intersection at Main and Cedar streets and the one-way traffic flow at the intersection of Main and May streets.

. Space limitations that would require a more costly multiple-story building and complicate any growth.

While Blanchette did not dispute the issues outlined in the memo, she voiced concerns about the Maine Avenue site, which the city will acquire next June as part of a property swap with the University of Maine System chancellor’s office.

Because the site is relatively new in the city’s more than two-year site selection process, Blanchette noted that it might eventually prove to have issues of its own, such as the need to remove asbestos, a possibility given the age of the buildings on Maine Avenue.

“I have to ask the question, if all of this is valid and accurate and if [the councilors] knew [about potential problems with the downtown parcel], then why, up until May 24, did they think 240 Main Street was the best thing since sliced bread?”

Tremble noted that the Main Street site was not a unanimous choice, given the 4-3 vote for it.