No snow yet, but plenty of generosity and holiday cheer throughout our community! Take note of some ways you can give back this season, from Project GRACE's Giving Tree, to a blood drive with the Red Cross, and CLYNK bag donations for our fuel assistance program. We also share some exciting announcements, like the welcome of our new police chief, and of course some winter weather reminders. Grab the eggnog and read on for details...

Deck the Halls...Town Hall that is! Stop by to renew your dog license, pick up a CLYNK bag to support our community (details below), register a vehicle, or attend a Town Council meeting. The next Council meeting (view agenda) is this evening, Wednesday, December 15 at 7:00pm. Join in person or virtually through Zoom or YouTube.

Newly appointed Police Chief Mark Holmquist assumed his role with the Scarborough Police Department on Monday, December 6. He replaces 22-year former Police Chief Robbie Moulton, who retired in July after a 44-year career with the Town.

Holmquist comes to Scarborough from a longtime career with the Maine State Police, where he has worked since 1997. He held many State police assignments, including Evidence Response Team member, firearms instructor, certified Leadership in Police Organizations (LPO) instructor, Honor Guard Commander, Commander of the Major Crimes Unit, as well as others. Chief Holmquist was most recently serving as Troop Commander for Troop A out of Alfred, Maine.

Holmquist has also served in various capacities in the U.S. Army while serving on active duty and then continuing his career with the Maine Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves. Highlights of his 25-year military career include serving as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Senior Drill Sergeant and retiring at the rank of First Sergeant in the Army Reserves.

He has a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Southern New Hampshire University and has facilitated executive level organizational leadership training since 2015. In addition to his roles with the Maine State Police and Army Reserves, Mark has worked in a consultancy capacity to facilitate leadership training and employee growth to public and private organizations.

“I am humbled by this opportunity to lead the Scarborough Police Department given their established reputation of providing quality service to our community in a highly professional manner,” said Holmquist. “I am impressed by our officers' commitment to excellence in every aspect of policing and our continued engagement with the citizens of Scarborough.”

Scarborough is in the final few days of its community survey to seek resident feedback on a number of town-related issues and quality of services. The deadline to take the survey is Sunday, December 19. The first phase of the survey administration was a mailing to a random sampling of 4,200 households. The survey is open online to all other residents who have not received a mailed copy. Please take 15-20 minutes to share your feedback in the online survey. Results will be processed and shared in a final report on our website in the coming weeks.

With the winter season upon us, it is now a critical time for our Fuel Assistance Program, a decade-long partnership between the Town of Scarborough and Project GRACE to provide fuel to community members in need.

Pick up a CLYNK bag in our Town Clerk's office for your can and bottle returns, and your donation will go directly to funds for the program. This CLYNK program was temporarily suspended due to Covid, but bags are now available again at Town Hall for convenient and safe pickup. Thank you for your contribution to helping our community!

9:00am-7:00pm, Public Safety Building

Join the Scarborough Fire Department to support one of our full-time Firefighter/ Paramedics, whose niece Madison was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on March 12, 2021 when she was only 10 months old. This drive not only helps Madison, but also many other children who are battling cancer as well as adults and trauma patients. There is currently a severe blood shortage, so please consider donating as it will help save lives. You never know when one of those lives might just so happen to be someone you know.

Sign up through the above link or through the Red Cross website and type in the key words "Madison Charland".

State representative Kyle Bailey (Gorham) resigned on October 15 and left a vacant seat for District 27, which covers a portion of Gorham and Scarborough. A special election will fill the seat before the next general election. The Special Election will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 and is for voters who live in House District 27: See the street list to determine your eligibility to vote. Voting will be at the Town Hall, located at 259 US Route One, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

It's that time of year where we put away lawn mowers, boats, and other summer toys. The Planning & Codes Department reminds residents that shipping containers are not allowed in residential zones.

An Accessory Storage Container is “A roofed container placed outdoors and used for the storage of goods, materials or merchandise, which…is not limited to, containers such as boxcars, semi-trailers, roll-off containers, slide-off containers, railroad cars and ‘piggy-back’ containers…”. (Scarborough Zoning Ordinance)

Such containers may only be utilized in certain districts when the property has undergone a Site Plan Review by the Planning Board for a particular and usually commercial use (Zoning Ordinance Section IX.G. on page 13|46). Any shipping or storage containers on residential properties may cause the lot owner to be in violation of the Scarborough Zoning Ordinance and subject to fines accordingly. We kindly ask that residents not utilize such containers on their residential property and remove any known containers.

Register or renew your dog license in person at the Clerk's office or online. Dog license renewals must be completed by January 31, 2022. There is an additional $25 fee after January 31.

New Extended Hours for our Plover Pre-K Program. For more information, to schedule a tour, or complete registration, email comserv@scarboroughmaine.org.

Browse through the digital brochure for recreation programs and check back often, as programs will continue to be added. Community Services will also share updates on their Facebook page, so give them a 'Like' to stay informed.

Find the senior brochure for upcoming programs on the Senior page of our website. Paper copies are available in the Public Library or at the Hub (418 Payne Road).

Good news, Scarborough residents—our trusty Public Works Department will pick up your discarded Christmas tree during the month of January! When you are ready to dispose of your tree (only “real” trees please, nothing artificial), place it curbside on the same day as your trash collection any week during the month of January. Please place the tree far enough from the curb that it will not get hit by a car, covered by a snowplow, or tripped over by a distracted pedestrian, but not so far from the curb that it is difficult for our crew to reach.

Lastly, put it out on the day of your trash collection, as it is quite likely that by the time we come by to get it it will be frozen to the ground. While it is true that our crew is a fairly happy-go-lucky group of fellas, they tend to get a bit grumpy when expected to wrestle a frozen-to-the-ground tree from the side of the road. Lastly, please make sure all decorations are removed from the tree. These trees are ground into wood chips, and adding ground up decorations to the mix is not advantageous to the process.

Public Works will be coming to get your tree separately from Pine Tree Waste trash/recycling pickup. Your tree may still be there after trash collection, but we will still be picking it up.

If you prefer to drop off your tree, Christmas trees can be discarded at the Public Works facility at 20 Washington Avenue (Scarborough). Please drop off your tree next to the public sand pile in the first entrance just before the Public Works building (across from the fuel island and near the overflow dumpster for household trash). There will usually be some other trees there, so just add yours to the pile. If there are no other trees there, go ahead and start a new pile. (To the left of the for-the-public sand heap). Please make sure all decorations have been removed from the tree.

Thank you and have a safe and happy holiday season!

They are intended to ensure that our infrastructure is able to absorb the planned growth as a result of the development at the Downs. This is a requirement of the state, and the majority of the investments will be funded by Crossroads Holdings. The Town will also be contributing to these investments via our traffic impact fees, which are collected from developers building in Scarborough. More information on the projects that will be taking place can be found here.

Another project that you may have seen is a Maine Transit Authority (MTA) project to build a Gorham Connector, which would connect Gorham to exit 45 off of I-95. Traffic along Gorham road heading west and east is very congested as there aren’t many direct paths from western towns to Portland and I-95. If this project gets approval by the State, it will bring significant relief to traffic in North Scarborough. This particular project is exciting not only because of MTA’s willingness to work with the Town to relieve traffic congestion, but also because of their support in considering other land use preservation investments in the area as they acquire land for this initiative. You can view the workshop between the Council and MTA here as we discuss the project.

These are just some of the big initiatives that will improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in the next 5-10 years, and there are also several other smaller projects planned or underway. Our infrastructure needs will evolve and new solutions will continue to come forward, and we will rely on the state and developers in Scarborough to help invest in our Town’s traffic and multimodal transportation initiatives. Stay tuned and get involved if this is important to you!

This article has been condensed for the newsletter. Click Here to read full article.

John Cloutier, Chair • Ken Johnson, Vice Chair • Jonathan Anderson • Jean-Marie Caterina • Don Hamill • Paul Johnson • April Sither

Town Council meets the first and third Wednesday of each month. Visit our online calendar for links to attend and view agendas.

December 15: Early Release*

December 16: School Board Meeting

December 23-31: Winter Vacation

*Early Release Times:

K-5 - 1:45pm

6-12 - 12:25pm

Confused by what can and can't be recycled—especially items you’re disposing of after the holidays? Wonder what happens to all our trash? Ecomaine will be sharing pointers to help us make the most of our efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle! In this first “Sustainable Scarborough” program, we’ll offer a virtual field trip to ecomaine’s facility and answer all your holiday recycling questions! Register Here

A Project G.R.A.C.E. Giving Tree has popped up at the Library. We are thrilled to be collecting new toys for children, hats, mittens, socks, games & craft kits, and more until Thursday December 16. Thanks for the many gifts that have already been donated! We invite any interested Scarborough elves to stop by to grab a tag off the tree, fulfill the wish, and return the items in a festive gift bag. In addition to toys and games, practical items like gift cards and lightbulbs are also needed.

Click Here to view all Giving Tree locations in Town and other ways to support Project GRACE.

If you are heading over to the Payne Road Shaw's Supermarket to do a little shopping during this holiday season, consider purchasing a "Give Back Where It Counts" reusable bag. This program supports the environment and our nonprofit Library. For each bag purchased during the month of December, the Library will receive a $1 donation! We are honored to have been chosen to receive support through this special program. Thank you to the generous folks at Shaw’s and to all the people who purchase “Give Back Where It Counts Reusable Bags” in December.

Monday – 9am to 5pm • Tuesday – 9am to 7pm • Wednesday – 9am to 7pm • Thursday – 9am to 7pm • Friday – 9am to 5pm • Saturday – 9am to 5pm • Sunday – Closed

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