The following items are reprinted from Courant Reporter Linda Hersey’s blog at www.southportlander.com.

Home Depot seeks tax relief

Home Depot is seeking an abatement on its 2008-09 taxes, arguing that the total assessed value of its land and building is less than the city’s number.

Home Depot is valued at $12,383,400 by the city. The company pays $173,367.60 in taxes.

Home Depot does not quantify a specific reduction in its abatement request, said Tax Assessor Elizabeth Sawyer. But the company argues that the South Portland property is “disproportionately assessed compared to other Home Depots in Maine,” Sawyer said.

HD Development of Maryland made the abatement request on Jan. 9. The tax assessor has 60 days to issue a response.

Interestingly, HD Development has made a similar abatement request for the Home Depot in Windham as well. In that case, the company argued that Windham’s $8 million valuation is too high because a comparable Home Depot was recently put on the market at a lower price but failed to sell.

Sawyer said there may be a similar request for an abatement at the Biddeford Home Depot, because her office was mistakenly sent a spread sheet from HD Development intended for the Biddeford retail store.

“Abatement requests like this could be a sign of the times, but we got them at the height of the real estate boom as well,” Sawyer said.

Her office is reviewing the information HD submitted and is doing its own research before making a decision.

Layoffs at Fairchild

Fairchild Semiconductor will lay off 50-70 workers this week, MaineBiz is reporting.

The reduction includes voluntary buyouts as well as cuts to filled positions.

The company is slashing its work force by 12 percent worldwide because of a decline in demand for its semiconductors.

Fairchild has a total of 900 workers in South Portland.

Flea-market scratch itched

The South Portland Flea Market got the green light to open, when the City Council voted unanimously last week to license the operation.

But before the market won support, developer Louis Maietta Jr. appealed to the council to loosen the proposed hours to allow for vendors to set up their tables and booths at the indoor market, which is slated to open at an empty Broadway storefront.

Maietta said the vendors needed the ability to show up at 7 a.m. to get their items in place before the public arrives at 8 a.m. The hours the council had set up were for 8 a.m.-6 p.m. But Maietta noted that other businesses in the Limited Business Zone are allowed to open earlier. City rules allow for 6 a.m. openings in the limited business district.

In addition, he noted the previous tenant – Yerxa Garden Center – had opened at 7, often running lawn mowers and snow blowers.

Councilor Jim Soule proposed an amendment allowing for vendors only to arrive at 7, with doors opening for the public at 8. Maietta said the market would run from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Soule also proposed an amendment to have permit-only parking on neighboring Buttonwood Street, where neighbors raised concerns about cars coming and going early in the morning on weekends.

The dual amendments seemed to appease concerns on the council, with both Councilors Linda Boudreau and Tom Coward saying the city could revisit licensing standards if there are frequent problems reported by neighbors after the indoor flea market opens.

Coward said he sees the endeavor as something of an experiment, since the city has never before had an indoor flea market.

With those amendments adopted, the council voted to allow for the market to be licensed and open. It will be located near the Thomas Banquet Room and across from the new shopping plaza where J.P. Thornton’s is located.

Vendors will be able to rent space monthly. People who simply want to have their yard sales there can rent space on a one-time-only basis.

Grooming city’s dog rules

The City Council took a formal step toward adjusting rules on dog walking at Willard Beach by unanimously passing a first reading of a new ordinance last week.

The biggest change allows dog walkers from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. between May 1 and Sept. 30. Previously, dogs had been allowed on the beach from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. but neighbors complained about dogs barking waking them up.

The new ordinance also defines voice control and how a dog owner will be required to demonstrate voice control to a police officer or animal control officer; requires dog owners to carry a leash at all times; sets rules for how beach goers can decline to be approached by a dog, and sets fines for violations of the ordinance.

“This is a good start,” said District 5 Councilor Jim Hughes, who was the co-chairman of the task force that came up with recommendations for the council. “It’s a reasonable change to the existing rules.”

The ordinance as proposed had moved the time dogs are regulated on the beach up one month, from May 1 to April 1. This was changed back to the original months at Wednesday night’s meeting.

District 3 Councilor Jim Soule, who had been the swing vote at a workshop session, had wanted to time the regulation with Daylight Savings Time, but said he had erred. He let the time frame stand.

The motion passed 4-3, with Mayor Tom Blake and Councilors Tom Coward, Patti Smith and Soule voting for it. Councilors Linda Boudreau, Maxine Beecher and Hughes voted against the amendment.

Blake made a plea to residents after the vote, saying the newly revised ordinance can work if people “practice tolerance and common sense.”

“No one is going to get 100 percent,” he said. “Life is the art of compromise. Let’s get this behind us, work together and see what the summer brings.”

The council will give the ordinance a second reading on Feb. 2. It if passes the second reading, it will become law.

Benefits queries

still in limbo

The South Portland City Council has delayed responding to concerns raised about members receiving free and reduced health insurance through the city, so it can have time to first review a legal opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, a Texas court has ruled against the Corpus Christi City Council in a similar case involving free health benefits for councilors, because the compensation was not spelled out in the charter.

In South Portland, Mayor Tom Blake was scheduled to address three questions the public raised regarding the decades-old practice of granting free individual and discounted family insurance to councilors through the city’s plan for employees.

But an opinion the city received from legal counsel caused the council to cancel Blake’s comments.

The opinion is on whether the 1987 charter overrides a 1977 council order awarding the health plans to councilors. The city did not distribute the opinion at the Feb. 21 meeting.

The city is struggling with public complaints about Councilors getting health benefits at a time of cutbacks, job loss and hardship in the community.

Other cities and towns have faced public complaints recently about elected officials receiving health benefits for serving in office.

In Corpus Christi, a judge ruled in favor of a taxpayer group that sued the city, alleging that health insurance benefits for city councilors violated the charter. The city plans to appeal the decision.

The situation in Corpus Christi is similar to concerns raised in South Portland. Like South Portland’s charter, the charter in Corpus Christi specifies compensation for councilors but is silent on health benefits.

The Orange County Watchdog reports that a dozen county officials are receiving free health benefits for themselves and their dependents at an annual cost of $140,000 to the government (i.e., taxpayer).

In South Portland, the city will pay $70,000 in 2009 to cover six of the seven councilors and some of their dependents.

In the U.S., the annual premiums for single coverage averaged $4,704 in 2008, and $12,680 for families. SoPo councilors get their individual plans for free and pay up to $3,000 for family coverage.

For more information on the health insurance benefits for South Portland Councilors, click here.

Time to don

Earth Day duds

The South Portland Land Trust sent out the following press release about preparations for the annual Earth Day Cleanup in South Portland:

“This is a friendly followup reminder to the letter sent to your organization last week that the first public planning meeting will be held on January 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the South Portland Public Library.

For more information on the Great Earth Day Clean-up 2009, and how your organization can collaboratively get involved, please attend this first of several planning sessions prior to the event.”

Contact numbers are listed as 799-5686 and 228-5831.

On the ‘free menu’ at McDonald’s

You know retailers are having a tough time when even the local McDonald’s offers freebies to get folks through the door.

The ubiquitous fast food place plans to offer customers at its Waterman Drive and Gorham Road outlets free, small cups of McCafe (McDonald’s version of espresso-based coffees) on select dates.

The free beverages will be available at the Gorham Road McDonald’s (near the mall) on Jan. 31 and Feb. 7. They will be served only on Feb. 7 at the Waterman Drive McDonald’s, in the Shaw’s shopping center.

The espresso drinks include lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, iced lattes and iced mochas, as well as hot chocolate.