City manager updates committee on federal funding, encampment work, tariffs and City Hall renovations

City Manager Debbie Lohrey provided an update to the Racial Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights Advisory Committee on federal and state budget activity, outreach to people living in a local encampment, international trade impacts, and the City Hall renovation schedule.

On funding, Lohrey said the federal government adopted a continuing resolution and the Maine Legislature passed its budget, averting an immediate shutdown at both levels. "At this point, we have not seen a reduction in grant funding," she said, adding the city is receiving renewals and will inform the committee if any grants change.

Lohrey described meetings with the city's federal delegation during a trip to Washington, D.C., and said senators and representatives were responsive to Maine's concerns about tariffs and energy-supply issues. She said Senator Collins had spoken with provincial leaders and energy-company executives about maintaining stable supplies and that conversations also included electricity providers in New Brunswick. "She has spoken with the chief executives at Irving," Lohrey said, referring to transit and heating-fuel concerns raised by municipal officials.

On a local encampment, Lohrey said outreach workers and housing case managers have been present "in that space for five months every day" and that most individuals there had engaged with outreach or left the site. She said the city coordinated notice and offered transport, storage and shelter options and disputed social-media claims that the city "demolished a tent with somebody in it." Lohrey recounted an instance where an individual returned to retrieve a propane tank during debris removal and said staff had worked to avoid harming residents or workers.

"There are very few households left," she said, and staff aim to complete cleanup and debris removal soon, while noting that unremoved sites can be reoccupied. She said the city has coordinated with shelters to hold beds for people who agree to move into shelter.

Lohrey also updated members on City Hall renovations, saying the first-floor work is nearly complete and that departments displaced to upper floors will need time to move back. Estimated timelines discussed during the meeting placed substantial completion of renovation work in May–June, with a realistic goal of being fully moved back in by the end of summer. She said the council chamber will be located on the first floor and that the city is coordinating with the historical society about artifacts and a timeline display for council chambers.

The committee heard the update as an informational report; there were no votes or directives because the meeting lacked a quorum.