Biddeford to pay contractor remaining funds for Seeds of Hope project

The City of Biddeford will pay local contractor Jim Godbout the remaining $255,000 for renovation work done for local non-profit Seeds of Hope.

In June, the city approved the use of federal CDBG funding to make improvements to Seeds of Hope community center at 35 South St. so the facility could operate a warming center and accommodate up 60 people unhoused people overnight.

The work done on the non-profit was overseen by Godbout of Godbout Plumbing and Heating.

City Manager Jim Bennett said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that this was a private project and the city was only a “funding mechanism.”

“It was not a city project. It was not something that we put out to bid, we did not control the process,” he said.

The federal funding approved by the city was intended to cover $700,000 of the $1.2 million project, with Seeds of Hope raising the rest of the money. 

The federal funding was later withheld because work on replacing the windows on the building was conducted prior to getting the necessary approval from the Historical Preservation Commission. With the federal funding removed from the project, the City Council in November voted to pay Godbout, the contractor, $400,000 of the $655,000 bill for the work done on the Seeds of Hope building.

On Tuesday night the City Council voted to give Godbout the remaining $255,000. Councilor Roger Beaupre abstained from the November vote as well as Tuesday night’s vote as his wife works for Godbout Plumbing and Heating.

To help cover the initial $400,000, the city shifted money so that money from the general fund that was going to be used to make $250,000 in improvements on parks and playgrounds will be used to pay Godbout, and the park and playgrounds projects will now be funded by the federal CDBG funds, said Bennett.

The $255,000 payment approved on Tuesday will come from the city’s contingency, but the city will do some more shifting so that planned city projects will be funded through CDBG funding instead of city funding.

“I wasn’t happy with the project from day one,” said Councilor Marc Lessard. He said the outcome of the project was good, but the mechanics of the process was “ugly.” He said he hopes if the city moves forward with similar projects in the future the process will be different. He said there is no guarantee that after 2025 the current use will continue at the Seeds of Hope building. However, he did approve paying Godbout.

“We have to make things right. Regardless of how we got here, and how ugly it was, I’m not going to do it wrong. I’m going to do it right,” he said.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.