Two housing authorities in Maine will receive more than $450,000 from the federal government to improve opportunities for residents.Republican Sen. Susan Collins says the money is going to the Portland Housing Authority and Lewiston Housing Authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency grant program.
Source: Maine Public
Under the auspices of the Maine Development Foundation, Main Street Maine Communities and Maine Downtown Network Communities exist across the state, some with paid staff and others with volunteer labor, but all following a four-point program aimed at creating vibrant, healthy downtowns. Anne Ball, the state’s program director, spoke about the program alongside staff from Main Street programs in Bucksport, Belfast and Rockland. Each program exists independently, but all receive support, resources and training from the Maine Downtown program, which promotes economic development and historic preservation.
Source: Penobscot Bay Press
President Trump released a proposed budget for the next fiscal year Monday that if enacted would have serious consequences across Maine. The sweeping plan again proposes to eliminate the programs that provide heating oil to low-income Mainers, legal aid to indigent citizens, and grants to towns and cities to rehabilitate housing, infrastructure, and services. It also would stop federal funding for Maine Public’s television and radio outlets, the University of Maine’s Sea Grant research program, and the Wel
Source: Portland Press Herald
Maine’s home sales activity continued to set records in 2017 despite flat or declining sales in the hottest markets of York and Cumberland counties. For the third consecutive year, Maine set a statewide record for home sales volume in 2017 with 17,633 existing single-family homes sold, an increase of 0.7 percent from 2016, according to Maine Listings data released Wednesday.
Source: CentralMaine.com
A $4 million midcoast shipyard expansion cleared one of its final hurdles last week, as city officials put the rubber stamp on a credit enhancement agreement that could allow the business to service superyachts and build ferries.
For the past two years, Front Street Shipyard has been pushing to build Building 6, a 21,700-square-foot hangar-like structure that would allow the company to service and possibly build larger ships.
Source: BDN Maine
The Town Council this month unanimously approved a retail marijuana prohibition, joining more than a dozen communities in southern Maine that have said no to pot businesses. Faced with uncertainty about what rules state officials will set up for the recreational marijuana market, other communities are extending moratoriums or waiting to discuss local zoning until there is more clarity about the future of the industry in Maine.
Source: CentralMaine.com
The owners envision a long-term redevelopment of the property into a town center with housing, shopping, restaurants, offices and more.
Source: Portland Press Herald
“A Belfast seafood products company that was working on an expansion at a vacant warehouse will have to wait a little longer after a fire sparked at the warehouse Thursday morning. Ducktrap River of Maine, based in the city’s business park, purchased a former apparel manufacturing facility across the street last summer. The company then launched a $5 million push to convert the building to produce cold-smoked salmon.”
Source: BDN Maine
PORTLAND — City councilors Dec. 18 will vote on a proposed moratorium on tearing down Munjoy Hill buildings. The moratorium, proposed by District 1 Councilor Belinda Ray, was reviewed at a City Council workshop Monday, Dec. 11. “We don’t believe it is necessary,” Levine said,
Source:The Forecaster
A Portland Press Herald article published late in the evening of July 24, 2017, inaccurately cited the Maine Department of Labor’s guidance to employers regarding the state’s new marijuana legalization law as related to employment. This article was later corrected, but before that correction was published, the story was picked up by national media and circulated throughout social media, including blogs written by attorneys to provide guidance to clients.
Source: State of Maine (via Public)