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Downtown Bangor Partnership asks council to pursue shopping‑cart, abandoned‑property, sidewalk changes; discusses ambassadors and holiday snowflakes
Summary
The Downtown Bangor Partnership reported on marketing, public‑safety ambassadors and three proposed local policy changes and offered to donate holiday street decorations; committee members asked for solicitor review and more business feedback.
The Downtown Bangor Partnership delivered its quarterly check‑in to the Business and Economic Development Committee, reviewing marketing efforts, the ambassador program and a set of proposed policy and ordinance changes meant to improve safety and hospitality in downtown Bangor.
The partnership’s executive director said the organization has used collaborative tourism marketing campaigns and that about 75 percent of website visitors come from outside the immediate Bangor market. The director framed three potential policy moves for the committee’s consideration: (1) a shopping‑cart ordinance to address abandoned carts on public and private property; (2) a revision to the city’s abandoned personal property policy to reduce the time hazardous items remain in parks; and (3) clearer sidewalk ordinance language to define and make enforceable sitting or lying on sidewalks while preserving ADA accessibility.
On the ambassador program — safety ambassadors who patrol primarily nights and weekends — the director said ambassadors do not have enforcement authority and that ambassadors notify people about boundary or behavior issues; the director told the committee that “90 plus percent of the time when they say, hey, you’re blocking the sidewalk, people just automatically move.” Several committee members asked for more data about ambassador patrol hours and outcomes; one member cited the program’s roughly $340,000 annual cost and asked for more business feedback on performance.
The partnership also proposed donating 50 large lit snowflake decorations for downtown lamp posts and said funding for downtown programs comes primarily from a special assessment, the downtown TIF and sponsorships. Committee members asked whether the city’s general fund would be used; the partnership said no general‑fund dollars are being requested for the snowflakes. Committee members asked staff and the city solicitor to review proposed ordinance language and the abandoned‑property process before further action. The transcript contains no recorded committee vote on any ordinance change or the decoration donation.
