Saco ad hoc committee addresses citizen grievance

An ad-hoc committee has made some suggestions to the rest of the Saco City Council after reviewing a citizen grievance.

A citizen grievance filed in August 2023 asked the city to address questions regarding the manner some members of the Saco Planning Board and City Council conducted themselves earlier that year during a review for a conditional use and site plan for a 332-unit residential condominium project at 321 Lincoln St. The petitioners stated their concerns were bias, conflicts of interest, failure to follow appropriate due process, and failure to follow appropriate procedural requirements.

In December 2024, the City Council confirmed Mayor Jodi MacPhail’s appointment of an ad hoc committee to review and evaluate the grievance. The ad hoc committee was comprised of three city councilors: Joe Gunn, Nathan Johnston and Phil Hatch.

“I think we were very proactive in approaching the actual issues at hand, but at the same time, having those general longer conversations about what that means in the future for better governance,” said Gunn at Monday night’s City Council meeting, when the committee’s findings and recommendations were presented to the Council.

The recommendations included allowing only one planning board member to hold a job requiring a real estate license and allowing only one planning board to hold a job related to real estate construction or development. It also recommended that planning board members who worked in a field requiring a real estate license or who worked in real estate construction or development not serve as planning board chairman or vice-chairman.

The committee also recommended the city should prevent any attorney from representing the planning board if any member of their law firm is a planning board member.

The ad hoc committee also made some recommendations regarding the Lucia Kimball Deering Trustee Board after determining that the board historically neglected its responsibilities as outline in city code. The committee recommends the City Council vote to relieve all members of the trustee board and require the board’s records to be passed on to the city administrator and access to financial accounts be transferred to the city’s finance director. The ad hoc committee recommends the city approve a new management entity for the Lucia Kimball Deering Hospital Fund.

Johnston on Monday night thanked Mayor MacPhail for creating the ad hoc committee, as he felt the city council had an obligation to the citizens of Saco to examine the concerns brought to them by the petitioners. He said he hoped the rest of the Council was “willing to roll up their sleeves and dig into making these changes.”

Councilors Mike Burman and Tricia Huot had some concerns regarding rules that could exclude some people from being considered for the planning board. Huot said it could restrict people who could bring valuable insight to the board, noting that people can be recused from decisions if there is any potential for bias.

The City Council will further discuss the ad-hoc committee’s report and vote on recommended changes at a later date.

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