November 2009

Duck - The Buildings Coming Down!

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 330)

The City ordered demolition of the three-story building at 6 Washington Avenue began this morning when Engineered Products Co. arrived on the scene. The job  is expected take about a week to complete said  Stephen Milley, owner of the company.  Part of the reason the demolition will take that long is the buildings’ proximity to traffic on Washington  Avenue as well as to power lines in the area.

On November 2nd, the City Council voted unanimously that the building be razed because it had become a safety and  fire hazard to the neighborhood at the base of the Hill. 

Complicating the situation is the city’s requirement that Alec Altman, owner of Bingas Wingas, pay the city $150,000. for removal of potential  rental units from the area by turning the property into a commercial property exclusively.  Back in 1957, there were plans to include rental units on the property, but they never materialized said Altman in a telephone conversation.  The space specificed for rental units actually was used for storage.  As of today, the conflict over the $150,000 has not been resolved.   It doesn’t appear that it will be resolved in the near future, either.

Altman’s plans for the property that for years housed a dry cleaning business are incomplete.  By the end of next week, he expects the job to be completed including filling in the area.  He might sell the property or if he decided at some later date to develop the property, he’d have to pay the City the $150,000 in question.

“I’ve created 120 jobs in the area and all people are talking about is my falling down building,” Altman said.  “I love Portland, but its sometimes very hard to do business here,” he said.

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Dan & Bethany Cox at the Hilltop Coffee Shop In April

By Carol McCracken (Post # 329)

Munjoy Hill is invited to celebrate the arrival of Bethany and Dan in Key West, Florida on Friday afternoon, December 11th.  It will be the final chapter of a long held goal of Dan’s to kayak from the eastern most point of the country – Lubec – to the southern most part of the Country; Key West, Florida.

This past April the attractive couple was interviewed by MHN at the Hilltop Coffee Shop just several weeks before embarking on the final leg of this journey.     They laid over on the Hill for the winter awaiting spring and an opportunity to complete the journey when the weather improved.  On Saturday, May 2, the couple left East End Beach in their separate 17 ft. kayaks for the trip of a lifetime which they are now close to completing.

This young couple is from North Carolina.  Dan was a business major in college and Bethany a wilderness leadership and education major in college.  The two hope someday to own their own business – perhaps in the Outer ‘Banks of North Carolina.

“This celebration  is a great excuse for a winter vacation,” said Bethany at the end of her email.  That is on the sandy shore of Key West, right at the southernmost point buoy.  Or at the very least congratulations for this awesome accomplishment!

Please see profile on Bethany and Dan Cox dated April 17, 2009 for more background information.

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Post # 328)

Sunday, MHN received a press release written by Susan S. Davis, Director, of the narrow gauge Museum dated November 15, 2009.  However, after putting up the above title and starting to write the story, a closer look at the press release MHN determined that  the content in the body of the press release is  several years ago.  MHN tried unsuccessfully to verify the press release with three Museum officials.  

Apparently, this WAS a press release used several years ago when the Museum launched a campaign  to  pay off its less than $175,000 mortgage so it could its money could go solely  toward the rent for the facility at Portland Yacht Services.  At that time, the rent for the facility at PYS was upgraded to about $60,000. from nothing.

The title of the press release was the above title.  MHN can only assume that someone close to the situation was having fun resending the press release.

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Markos Miller, co-chair of the Franklin Art. Study Group

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 327)

The long-anticipated Report of the Fanklin Study Group is scheduled to be presented to the City Council for acceptance Monday evening, November 16, said Markos Miller, co-chair of the group in an email.  “It is our hope that the work of the community and the study commiteee is properly understood and lays a solid foundation for the discussions and analysis that will follow.  Your support of the study process and findings will help contribute to the success of the work to come,” he added.

The Report provides for three different alternatives that would address certain issues the study group, with input from the community, flagged as needing an overhaul to make the best use of this property in the future – when the funding is available to carry out the Report.

In the meantime, the study group along with its consultant, Lucy Gibson, have identified some improvements that could be implemented in the short term:

(1) Reduce speed limit to 30 mph to increase capacity and safety,

(2) Coordinate traffic signals to improve traffic flow,

(3) Create left hand turn lanes where needed to reduce traffic conflicts,

(4) Restrict certain left hand turn movements to enhance traffic flow,

(5) Improve intersection functionality using a variety of technology options and

(6) Establish safe crossings where needed and through intersection redesign to improve pedestrian safety.

“The Committee is grateful for the opportunity to bring these possible solutions forward and to contribute to the public discourse of transportation and land-use planning in our city,” Markos said.

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