1. ByTAMMYWELLS
Senior StaffWriter
SANFORD — The
Planning Board next week
will hold a public hear-
ing to consider approving
a new marijuana-growing
facility to accommodate the
medicinal needs of up to 10
patients.
The proposal would see
an indoor medicinal mari-
juana grow operation at 27
Hancock Drive, in a por-
tion of a facility once used
for lumber sales, in south
Sanford, just off Main Street.
The proposal is coming
before the Planning Board
because of how the area is
zoned. It is in the urban
zone, where medicinal and
botanical manufacturing
is permitted as a condi-
tional use by the board. That
means the Planning board
will consider the plan and
may approve it, with condi-
tions.
The potential growers for
Local/Region A3
Community A4
Opinion A5
Obituaries A6
Sports B1-3
Comics B4
Television B5
Classifieds B6
Index: 12 pages
8 90090 00001 7
DEATHS, A6
• Lawrence Noone, Alfred
SeeMarijuanaGrowers
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SeeBeachSeaweed
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SeeMarginalWay
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angelo j.verzoni/JournalTribune
Boathouse Beach in Biddeford Pool is pictured covered with
seaweed on Thursday.
liz gotthelf/JournalTribune
Stringtheory
Musician Jessi McKinnon performs a free lunchtime concert Thursday outside Biddeford
Savings Bank at 254 Main St. Biddeford. Concerts will be held every Thursday through July 30.
Lunch can be purchased with proceeds benefiting local charities.
Resources available
for veterans struggling
with homelessness
By AMANDA MELANSON
Special to the JournalTribune
YORK — “Although
you find common themes,
every veteran is differ-
ent,” said Carol Kulesza,
the Homeless Programs
Coordinator for Veterans
Affairs Maine Healthcare
System.
That statement rings
all too true, as there are
stories all over Maine and
elsewhere of homeless
veterans. According to the
Volunteers of America
Northern New England
chapter’s website, “Nearly
154,000 veterans are home-
less on any given night and
twice as many experience
homelessness during a year.
Even here in Northern New
England hundreds of vet-
erans – hometown heroes
who served their country
– are being served at food
pantries, living in shelters,
under bridges, in encamp-
ments, or in cars on any
given night.”
The VA Maine
Healthcare System is an
expansive network, pro-
viding care to Maine’s
veterans statewide with a
large volume of resources
and programs to promote
outreach and to give help
to those who need it. The
Togus VA Medical Center,
located in Augusta, is one
of the oldest veterans’ facili-
ties in the country, leading
the umbrella network here
in Maine. They provide
benefits for roughly 22,000
veterans in the state of
SeeHomelessVets
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Permit
considered
formedicinal
potgrow
operation
Redevelopmentto
transformempty
Sacomillbuilding
By LIZ GOTTHELF
StaffWriter
SACO — A redevelop-
ment project that will trans-
form a long-vacant mill
building into residential and
commercial space will begin
this fall, according to a rep-
resentative from the devel-
opment firm.
Chinburg Properties,
based in Newmarket, New
Hampshire, purchased last
year what is commonly
known as “Building #4,” a
former mill building along
Main Street on Saco Island.
The four-story, 237,600-
square-foot building has
been abandoned for about
30 years. The city granted
Chinburg Properties a
Tax Increment Financing
District, or TIF, that will
grant the developer 80 per-
cent of tax revenue for eight
years, and then 60 percent
for the remaining 22 years,
with a cap of $5 million.
Officials from Chinburg
Properties said last year that
without the TIF, they would
not be able to move forward
with the project, which will
require an investment of at
least $18 million.
In a phone interview
Thursday, Matt Assia, direc-
tor of asset management for
Chinburg Properties, said
work on the project will
begin in the fall, after Labor
Day. Assia said the project is
expected to be completed by
December 2016.
Assia said the firm plans
to create 150 “market rate”
apartments that are a mix of
studios, one bedroom and
two bedroom units. Assia
said he envisions the pro-
posed apartments will attract
young professionals and
empty nesters.
The building, under the
proposed plan, will also
house commercial space.
Assia said he envisions some
SeeMillBuilding
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nathan lynch/SpecialtotheJournalTribune
Workers clear the path between the garden and the ocean on Thursday. Designer Thomas Lynch says the work is around“95 per-
cent done.”
‘Seaweedgate’causes
stironBiddefordbeach
By ANGELO J.VERZONI
StaffWriter
BIDDEFORD — Swaths
of reddish-brown sea-
weed covering a popular
Biddeford Pool beach have
in recent weeks angered
many residents and tourists
alike.
The seaweed washed up
during a storm in late June.
At its most abundant, about
a week ago, it blanketed
nearly every inch of the
typically sandy Boathouse
Beach, Trevor Canace, who
works as a lifeguard at the
beach, said Thursday.
Since the seaweed washed
up, Canace said the beach
has been scarcely populated
and he’s heard many people
complain about it. “This is
normally packed,” he said,
looking out at only about
a half dozen people sitting
or walking on the beach
Thursday afternoon.
Ogunquit’s Marginal Way revamped, revitalized
By NATHAN LYNCH
Special to the JournalTribune
OGUNQUIT — The area
near Devil’s Kitchen, along
Marginal Way, used to be
landscaped by one force:
invasive plants, like bit-
tersweet, which choked out
the native vegetation that
has historically grown along
Maine’s coast and guarded
against erosion.
But thanks to a $150,000
gift from Ogunquit resident
Wayne Griffin, the area
has been totally redesigned
and lanscaped with native
plants.
“It’s an amazing project
just in the installation. ...
It’s bringing more people,”
said Thomas Lynch, the
designer who was hired to
lanscape the area in April.
He’s been on site for about
two weeks, spotchecking
the transplanted vegeta-
tion, and he says that people
regularly approach him with
questions about the birds
that might visit the area, or
to comment on the heavy
scent of sweet fern from the
northern edge of the gar-
IndiancompanypartneringtocreatecallcenterjobsinUS
By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press
PORTLAND — An
Indian-based tech support
company is looking to U.S.
call center workers for help,
demonstrating how techni-
cal support is coming full
circle in an industry that’s
better known for outsourc-
ing U.S. jobs overseas.
The company, iYogi,
announced Thursday it’s
partnering with a call center
operator in Maine for its
first technical support cen-
ter in North America. The
operation will create 300 to
350 jobs over the coming
year, mostly in Lewiston.
The independent con-
sumer tech support compa-
ny is headquartered in India
but wants to be in the U.S.
market, which accounts for
the bulk of the company’s
business around the world.
“Every company is look-
ing at a globalized work-
force. We want to be closer
to the customer,” Vishal
Dhar, iYogi’s co-founder and
president of marketing, told
The Associated Press.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage,
who was on hand for the
jobs announcement in
Lewiston, said he was happy
to see jobs being created in
Maine instead of leaving the
state. The state’s shoe manu-
facturing has gone offshore,
and paper-making jobs are
also becoming scarce thanks
to lower manufacturing
costs elsewhere around the
world.
“It is encouraging a com-
pany like iYogi can reverse
what has typically been the
trend and outsource jobs to
America,” the governor said
in a statement.
Dhar said there are a few
reasons for a trend toward
putting call centers closer to
customers.
Legacy companies want-
SeeCallCenter
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Friday, July 10, 2015Vol. 131, No. 160
Massabesic wins in
extras, B1