November 2008

By Carol McCracken

The snow is coming promise the local weathermen – maybe even next week. Whenever it does arrive, the City of Portland wants car owners to be prepared and ready so they will not be one of the many who have their cars towed when the first plowable snow hits the ground running.

To receive email notices from Portland when a city-wide parking ban is implemented, you can sign up on www.portlandmaine.gov. or by calling the hotline at 879-0300. Also check out the Time and Temperature sign in downown Portland for up-to-date postings.

When a parking ban is declared, all vehicles must be off city streets by 10 pm until 6 am the following day. Vehicles left on the street will be towed at the owner’s expense. (It’s not cheap). Vehicles will be towed to the city’s impound lot located at the International Marine Terminal on Commercial Street – please call 774-3025 should that be necessary.

One convenient designated parking area for Hill residents is in the lots off Cutter Street on the Eastern Promenade. Amother lot is across the street from the International Marine Terminal on Commercial Street – at the corner of Park and Commercial Streets.

There are other designated places as well in the City. Vehicles can begin to park in these designated areas at 5 pm the night a parking ban is declared. Vehicles must be moved from City lots by 7 pm the morning the ban is lifted.

And with this bit of information, let the snow bans come and the snowplows as well – MHN readers are ready!

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By Carol McCracken

Hill resident Matti Gurney testified in favor of a proposal put forward by the city’s transportation committee that could reduce the amount of downtown car traffic as well as serve as transportation for those who may be uninterested in car ownership.

Gurney works on Marginal Way and his wife works at the University of Southern Maine, Portland. The couple has a new baby. The couple has one car. Gurney said he’s been excited about this idea since the get-go because he can foresee times when his family might need another car. He testified before the city council last night urging it to support this plan. It did.

The plan goes like this: four PT cruisers will be stationed at two different sites in the city in parking spots designated for those vehicles specifically. Members of the car sharing program can reserve the use of one vehicle for $10. an hour. That fee covers the cost of gas, maintenance, insurance and parking. Reservations can be made on-line. The fee is bigger for longer uses of the vehicle. When the customer is finished with the vehicle, it must be returned to the original designated parking spot – which would be located at the Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal and Monument Square.

City councilor Kevin Donoghue is chair of the transportation committee.

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By Carol McCracken

Late last night, the city council voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Community Development Committee to terminate negotiations with Olympia Companies regarding the development of the Maine State Pier. Chair Cheryl Leeman of the CDC stated in her introductory remarks that the redevelopment of the Pier will go forward because the council is committed to that and that what happens next will be decided when the next council is seated in early December.

James Broder, attorney for the city’s negotiating team, stated that it came as no “surprise to anyone that title was unresolved” for the sea bed around the pier itself. The city had taken out title insurance with a reputable title company, but “title insurance could do a lot, but not everything.” Olympia Cos. was not comfortable with this unresolved matter and was advised by its attorneys not to continue with the process.

Broder went on to say that in mid-October a senior member of the staff of the state’s attorney general said: “You know that we have an argument. Don’t give away state property until someone tells us to do that.” The city is facing a lawsuit of 12 – 18 months to resolve the matter.

One public speaker noted the redevelopment of the pier has assumed strong political overtones and urged that politics not get in the way of redeveloping the pier.  At last night’s meeting the political voices were eerily silent.

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By Carol McCracken

Toby Jacobs, 24, is getting all his ducks in a row for a project he intends to begin early next year – one that he hopes will have a lasting impact on the country of Hondorus. He and a partner will be trying to restore land decimated by a hurricane in 1998.

In 1998 Hurricane Mitch swept over the country and destroyed forests of mangrove trees located on an island off the coast of Hondorus – called Guanaja. Ninety-five percent of the mangroves were destroyed and not much has been done to replace these valuable trees with the other five percent still thriving there. The area “looks like Casco Cay at low-tide,” said Toby. “Empty and desolate.”

So Toby and Scott are leaving New Year’s Day for Guanaja to reforest the area with mangrove trees on Guanaja – one of three islands off the coast of Hondorus – called the Bay Islands. So far, they have procured a place in which to live, a boat in which to travel since there are no roads at all on the island and located is a small, no-nonsense store to meet their basic food needs while working on Guanaja next year.

Mangrove trees bear no fruit, but they are important from an ecological perspective which is what draws the two young men to the project. In a recent interview at the Hilltop Coffee Shop, the soft-spoken Toby said that the root system of the mangrove is unique because it grows up to 3 ft. above the ground.

This feature permits the roots to serve as a nursery for small fish in the area as well as young fish of the larger fish. In fact, there are a large number of species of birds, fish, crabs and insects that can’t survive without the mangroves. Secondly,  the root system (stilt roots) also serve as barriers against erosion in low-lying areas. And, thirdly, and very importantly, the roots prevent the coral reefs from becoming bleached out from the run-off. Toby graduated two years ago from James Madison University (Va.) with a degree in biology and tropical ecology.

One of the ducks not quite in place yet is a grant request in the amount of $12,000. from the Rufford Foundation in England. It’s a foundation focused on conservation for third world countries with an goal of fostering interest in conservation in these local communities. Still, if the Foundation’s money does not come through the two are committed to the work and will go ahead with it on a smaller financial budget. While they both plan to replace the destroyed mangroves with seeds from the remaining five % on the island, a major part of their mission is instructive. That is to teach the locals the process of reforesting for themselves so that it can be developed into jobs with a future for them.

Fortunately, Toby has the support of his family in his endeavor. His mother teachs high school French and Spanish north of Portland and his father is an emergency room doctor. His mother has lived overseas in connection with her language education. So, she particularly supports her son’s living overseas and experiencing other cultures first-hand. Eventually, the poised Toby hopes to attend graduate school in South America to earn a doctorate. He would hope to teach at a university which would support his interest in studying biology and tropical ecology in the field. Meanwhile, he can’t wait to spend the coldest Maine months of the year in a tropical climate – what could be better he asks?

Toby’s web page is: www.guanajamangroves.org

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