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Council authorizes town manager to sign contracts for wayfinding and impact-fee studies funded from TIF district
Summary
The South Berwick Town Council voted to authorize the town manager to sign a $25,800 contract for a wayfinding/signage study and a $45,650 contract for an impact-fee study, both to be paid from previously allocated tax increment financing (TIF) funds. Councilors debated timing and scope; one councilor voted against the wayfinding contract.
The South Berwick Town Council on April 22 authorized the town manager to sign two contracts — a $25,800 wayfinding and signage design study with Wright-Pierce and a $45,650 impact-fee study with TishlerBise — to be paid from previously allocated Pompent (TIF) district funds.
Carlo DeFarlane, the presenter for the proposals, said the two studies are intended to help the town plan downtown signs and calculate legally defensible impact fees tied to capital costs. "Impact fees are a tool to support and direct growth that is already happening," DeFarlane told the council, explaining that an impact-fee study sets a lawful maximum and that the town may choose a lower rate.
The wayfinding contract drew the most council discussion. Councilors and staff questioned whether conducting a full wayfinding study now is the right sequence because an intersection reconfiguration planned under a 2022 engineering plan will change travel patterns downtown. A councilor who said she served on the former downtown revitalization committee raised concerns that the Wright-Pierce proposal excludes parking-area mapping and public meetings and that parts of the client's responsibilities would require town staff time.
DeFarlane and town staff told the council the parking mapping is being completed separately by SMPDC and that design locations in the wayfinding study already account for the 2022 intersection plan. "The plan has been set by 02/2022," DeFarlane said when describing how the studies incorporate prior planning work.
Councilors voted 3-1 to allow the town manager to sign the Wright-Pierce wayfinding contract; Councilor Melissa cast the lone no vote, citing timing and scope concerns. The council unanimously approved the TishlerBise impact-fee contract, 4-0.
Town Manager Tim said respondents to the request for scopes varied widely — "one was 45,000 for the impact-fee study, the next closest was 105,000" — and that staff had sought firms who could deliver on the town's timeline. DeFarlane noted that the TIF funds are temporary and must be used for approved projects or returned.
The council's actions establish the studies the town will use to guide future signage purchases, sign placement and, if the council later chooses, a formula for charging impact fees to new development. The town manager said the firms have agreed to hold the quoted prices for the town; staff pledged to return to the council if any price or scope changes occur.
The contracts will be signed by the town manager and paid from the Pompent (TIF) district line items included in the FY25 budget.
