Town Manager’s Monthly Report delivered at the Town Council April 10, 2023 Meeting:

As the Town calendar turns to spring, there are some positive developments to report on this month. 

The repair work at the Community Services building is nearing completion, with occupancy scheduled to begin this month. The function space that sustained the most significant damage now has a beautiful new floors, painted drywall, and improved lighting. I am confident the staff will be overjoyed to have the facility back to one hundred percent occupancy. I am thankful for the work of Kathy Raftice, Community Services Director, and Dave Bagdasarian, Facilities Director for their efforts in this project. 

The State Historical Society has provided relief on the window replacements for the Museum at Portland Head Light, and we shall be working with a historical architect on the window design to keep the project moving forward. 

Staff is working to acquire inventory for the upcoming season at the gift shop at Portland Head Light, and will be ready for the upcoming season. 

The solar power project continues to advance, and encore renewables will be presenting at the Planning Board this month, and continues to be on schedule for deployment. 

The proposal from GPCOG to work with the Town to create a climate action plan was provided to the Energy Committee for their review and they are supportive of the proposal. It is anticipated that the Energy Committee will be on the May 8th agenda to follow up on the recent task update from the council. 

Finally, in advancing the stated council goal of increased access to municipal meetings, the Town now has two Owls for use in recording meetings that in the past were unable to be recorded, with the most recent Ordinance Committee meeting being the first to deploy the new device.