BIDDEFORD — On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Biddeford City Council gave City Manager James Bennett approval to enter into a contract for a design for the 3 Lincoln Park Green Space.

The green space, which will be adjacent to the city’s first downtown/mill district parking garage — that is in the permitting stage — will be the “cornerstone” of the mill development, according to one councilor.

“It is a fabulous piece of property, it is really spectacular … and I really believe it could be a cornerstone of all the activities that we’re doing,” Councilor William Emhiser said.

Through a competitive bidding process, the City Council approved Saco-based Richardson & Associates to come up with the design for the area which will connect to the Biddeford RiverWalk that lies adjacent to the Saco River. The space is on land which the city purchased from Casella Waste Systems for $6.65 million in 2012 when the company closed and later demolished the Maine Energy Recovery Company waste incinerator that had been located on the Lincoln Street parcel.

In addition to creating an attractive park area, the green space will be a point of connectivity for the future parking garage, the mill district which the property lies within, the RiverWalk, the Saco River and the adjacent downtown.

The budget for the design is $15,000 and landscape architect firm Richardson & Associates was chosen from an applicant pool of five firms, later narrowed down to two, both of which members of Downtown Development Commission interviewed. The DDC, which took the lead on the design project, reviewed all bids and unanimously approved the winning proposal. The council followed suit and gave its unanimous approval Feb. 18.

Funding will come from the Route 111, Mill District Tax Increment Financing District fund. Through a TIF, a community can shelter a portion of property taxes from new value which can be used for certain projects within the district, among other things.

According to the contract, the firm’s schematic design will consider such items as: Planting/Vegetation Strategy Development, Gathering Spaces, Landscaped Areas/Gardens, Recreation Amenities/Facilities and Circulation/Parking. Richardson & Associates will also create an estimated budget to build the design.

During the planning process, public input will be an important component.

Richardson & Associates “will do a public process including a public charette where citizens can come and give their opinion on what that will look like,” Bennett said.

“What this (planning process) will allow us to do is actually engage the public in getting direct input on what we want to utilize within this green space, whether it’s bathrooms, whether it’s a public concert space, you know lots of different alternatives of utilizing this,” said Emhiser, who is also a member of the DDC.

Both Emhiser and Bennett noted that the council is only committed to spending the $15,000 for the green space design and has not yet approved spending additional funds for landscape construction at the 3 Lincoln Park Green Space.

“The concept is we’ll get public input, we’ll get designs, the council will see the designs, we’ll be intimately involved in that,” Emhiser said. “That’ll be completed sometime in late May. What that will then allow to do is to think over the next year or so, number one how we fund it, most of the funds will be coming from grants and external processes, and having a full design will give us that ability to do that. So I’m very comfortable with the process that we’ve taken. I think that it’s a very valuable piece of the community and will be a key cornerstone to the future development of Biddeford.”

Councilor Robert Quattrone said he was concerned about the cost of maintaining another public park or green space and asked if Public Works Director Jeffrey Demers was involved.

Public Works has and will be involved in the project, Emhiser said.

Councilor Amy Clearwater said she favored both the project and that planning for funding was already being considered.

“I really like the look of this proposal … I think it’s important that we make the most of this opportunity to get public input now and I like the idea of thinking through at this point how we would fund that, maintain that and this is part of a planning process, that I really appreciate seeing,” she said.

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