Bangor,
Brewer Councils Discuss Goals
BANGOR
— A commitment to light the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge by the end of this year
was among the outcomes of a joint meeting Thursday night of Bangor and Brewer
officials, the latest session in a series aimed at providing opportunities to
talk about common concerns.
The measure would link the two cities, separated by the Penobscot River, both
physically and symbolically, officials agreed.
“It would send the message that we really are working together,” Brewer
Mayor Michael Celli said.
John Rohman, his Bangor counterpart, agreed, imagining aloud the view it would
offer from such waterfront vantage points as the deck behind the Sea Dog Brewing
Co.
The bridge-lighting proposal, which is contingent on approval from the
Department of Transportation, was unveiled publicly for the first time during
waterfront status reports delivered by Celli and Rohman which recapped recent
developments on both sides of the Penobscot River.
On the Bangor side, Rohman said, the city has brought a developer on board to
negotiate a deal to build an $18 million hotel on the waterfront and gained a
financial backer for a high-end amphitheater, among other things.
In Brewer, Celli said, businesses have started moving into the waterfront
redevelopment zone as the public works department prepares to move off the
riverbank to a new site on Green Point Road. A waterfront sculpture, that also
would be lighted at night, is nearing completion and the city hopes to start
tackling erosion next year.
In addition to lighting the bridge at night, officials from the two cities are
teaming up to find funding sources for waterfront improvements, especially
shoreline stabilization, and possibly joint management opportunities.
Also during the meeting, Gail Kelly, a staffer in U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s
Bangor office who is uncontested for a council seat in next month’s Brewer
elections, said she hoped to secure up to $50,000 in federal aid for waterfront
consultants or to fulfill similar needs.
In other discussions:
Bangor
City Manager Edward Barrett briefed officials on the Maine Service Center
Coalition, which now has an estimated 50 cities and towns on board, and its
legislative platform. Coalition priorities in the coming legislative season
include securing passage of a local option tax of up to 1 percent that would
help service center communities like Bangor fund projects of regional impact,
such as the replacement of the aging Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center.
Brewer Councilor Donna Thornton urged voters from the region to support two
state bond issues that, if approved by voters on Nov. 6, would bring millions of
dollars worth of improvements to the area. This year’s $61 million
transportation bond issue, Question 3, includes $2 million for waterfront
improvements in Bangor and Brewer and would leverage $120 million more in
matching federal transportation dollars. Question 6, which asks for approval of
$36.7 million for public university improvements, would help fund a visual arts
facility at the University of Maine, as well as Alumni House, now under
construction on the Orono campus. The Brewer City Council endorsed the two bond
issues during its monthly meeting Tuesday night. Bangor councilors could follow
suit as soon as Monday.
This is a copyright article written by Dawn Gagnon that appeared in
the Bangor Daily News, Saturday, October 20, 2001.
Penobscot
Landing
The
City of Brewer