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MAINE DOWNTOWN CENTER
CONTACT LIST - MESSAGE ARCHIVE
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2008-05-08
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Maine Downtown Center's 8th Annual Downtown Conference
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Greetings Downtown Enthusiasts! Registration materials for the June 6 Maine Downtown Conference in Biddeford can be found at www.mdf.org/downtown. We look forward to seeing you all there!
A Challenge to All Downtowns – Long time Maine Downtown Center Advisory Council member, Bill King, is issuing a challenge! The town with the most registrants will receive $250 for their downtown program! He will give $250 to two towns: One Main Street Maine Community and one non-Main Street Maine Community. So rally the troops and register today!
Please go to www.mdf.org/downtown for a full brochure and conference information. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Merrill at 207-626-3119 or lmerrill@mdf.org
Thank you!
Kristen Cady
Program Director, Maine Development Foundation
Statewide Coordinator, Maine Downtown Center
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2008-04-15
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UNIFORM BUILDING CODE PASSES THE SENATE!!!
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FYI on the Building Codes!
Kristen M. Cady, Program Director, REALIZE!Maine & Maine Downtown Center - Home of Main Street Maine!
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Dear Friends and Supporters of the Historic Tax Credit and Uniform Building Code:
The Senate just passed the Majority report on LD 2257 with several narrow votes. First vote was 18-17 in our favor. They then defeated an amendment by a vote of 21-14. And the final vote on enactment was 20-15, as we pulled a few more supporters out for that one.
This follows a 78-58 previous vote on Friday in the House.
We will be watchdogging this for the next few days as it goes up for final passage in the House and may or may not end up in Appropriations. THANK YOU to everyone for your phone calls, support and good work over the last couple of months. And if I've asked you to make a call today- nevermind!
LD 262 AND LD 2257 pass? Are we dreaming!?
:)
- Maggie
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Maggie Drummond
Policy Director
Office: 207-847-9275, ext 304
Cell: 207-838-8658
www.growsmartmaine.org
Your membership sustains our efforts to move Maine forward. Join us at http://www.growsmartmaine.org
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Visit the website of the Maine Downtown Center at www.mdf.org/downtown
The Maine Downtown Center
is a program of the Maine Development Foundation.
"New vitality at the heart of Maine communities"
If you are not interested in being part of the Maine Downtown Center's interested parties list or if you would like to make changes to your name or email address, please go to http://www.mdf.org/downtown/ipedit.php to make changes or remove yourself from the list, or send an email to lmerrill@mdf.org requesting removal.
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2008-04-11
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Your help needed NOW on LD 2257, the statewide uniform building code!
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Good Friday morning all! This message is an FYI regarding the uniform building code. I heard they are voting on it today!
Kristen M. Cady
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From: Maggie Drummond [mailto:mdrummond@growsmartmaine.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 1:53 PM
Subject: Your help needed NOW on LD 2257, the statewide uniform building code!
Dear Friends in the Downtown Coalition & Historic Tax Credit Supporters:
As you may have heard, the House and Senate are likely to begin voting on the proposed statewide, uniform building code bill (Majority report, LD 2257) this coming weekend, or perhaps by the end of this week. It is critical important that our swing votes in the Senate hear from you in support of this legislation as soon as possible.
The key swing votes are:
Senator Paula Benoit
Senator Bill Diamond
Senator Dana Dow
Senator Earle McCormick
Senator Peter Mills
Senator John Nutting
Senator Joe Perry
Senator Christine Savage
Senator Nancy Sullivan
We need an additional seven votes in order to pass this bill in the Senate, so every one of these swing votes is important.
Numbers you can call (you can also email):
· To reach your Senator:
1-800-423-6900
TTY number is 207-287-1583
· If you wish to speak to a member of the staff to leave the message, you may call the Office of the Secretary of the Senate at 207-287-1540.
It will be particularly important for these swing vote Senators to hear directly from developers.
Key points are:
- Please support the majority report on LD 2257
- this bill provides flexibility for towns to decide how the building inspections should be done, including via 3rd party inspectors like we do with plumbing codes.
- the bill will level the playing field, providing consistency and predictability (and one-stop-shopping!) to the business community, and eliminating the need to negotiate code solutions on a case by case basis.
- without enforcement, that predictability and consistency is lost, because we'll have a patchwork of enforcement and different interpretatations from town town.
- all training and support, as well as amendments and code conflict resolution, will be accomplished by the technical codes board- which eliminates the need for each town to do all of this work.
- training and materials will be free to municipal officials.
- this bill is an essential implementation tool for the historic tax credit, because it will ensure widespread use of the rehabilitation code (right now only adopted in three towns, and no training available) just as numerous projects will begin to move forward because of LD 262's passage.
Obviously feel free to use whatever key points are important to you. Please call today if you can- if not, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday- to help us move this important legislation forward!
Let me know if you have any questions.
- Maggie
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Maggie Drummond
Policy Director
Office: 207-847-9275, ext 304
Cell: 207-838-8658
www.growsmartmaine.org
Your membership sustains our efforts to move Maine forward. Join us at http://www.growsmartmaine.org
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Visit the website of the Maine Downtown Center at www.mdf.org/downtown
The Maine Downtown Center
is a program of the Maine Development Foundation.
"New vitality at the heart of Maine communities"
If you are not interested in being part of the Maine Downtown Center's interested parties list or if you would like to make changes to your name or email address, please go to http://www.mdf.org/downtown/ipedit.php to make changes or remove yourself from the list, or send an email to lmerrill@mdf.org requesting removal.
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2008-04-08
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TODAY - FREE Main Street Webinar - Fostering a Café Society: Preserving the Spirit of Jane Jacobs
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Greetings Downtown Enthusiasts! There is a great Webinar TODAY at 1pm that you might be interested in. I apologize for the lateness of this message, but we were just told yesterday about it and we just got permission this morning to send it to non-Main Street communities. I hope you’ll take advantage of this FREE webinar if you are able. Simply follow the information below. Enjoy!
Kristen Cady
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Are you struggling to recruit dining and entertainment to your Main Street? Is nightlife an asset or a nuisance in your downtown? How can you address the conflicting visions for your commercial district between longtime residents and nightclub patrons or college students who flock to your Main Street on weekends? Does restrictive liquor licensing doom any restaurateur trying to bring fine dining to town?
If you are a Main Street manager grappling with these issues, you are invited to join in the National Trust Main Street Center's April 8 Webinar, co-hosted by the Responsibility Hospitality Institute. Join our discussion about:
Fostering a Café Society: Preserving the Spirit of Jane Jacobs
Join in the Tuesday, April 8 Webinar on Sociability and Safety: The Impact of Jane Jacobs on Nightlife and Multi-use Sidewalks, presented by Scott Haine, author of the World of the Paris Café and other books and articles on the history of the café and a café society. Scott will present his thesis on the role Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), has played in the evolution of public space through her powerful critique of 1950s urban renewal policies in the United States.
The Responsible Hospitality Institute and National Trust Main Street Center will co-host this Webinar. RHI Director Jim Peters and NTMSC Director Doug Loescher will moderate the discussion.
Don’t miss this joint NTMSC/RHI Webinar on Tuesday, April 8 at 1:00pm EDT.
To register online: http://www.rhinetwork.org/webinar/register/index.htm. This webinar is free of charge, but advance registration is required. Instructions for telephone and web connections will be provided.
This is the first in a monthly series of webinar format training sessions and conversations for members of the Main Street Network.
Peter Armato
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2008-04-01
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LD 262 - FUNDED!
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Contact List Update 244
We are very excited to share the news that funding for LD262 was passed by the House and Senate last night!
Congratulations to everyone for your hard work on the Historic Tax Credit! We are looking forward to the changes this will make around our state and in our downtowns!
Thank you all for your perseverance and dedication!
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Visit the website of the Maine Downtown Center at www.mdf.org/downtown
The Maine Downtown Center
is a program of the Maine Development Foundation.
"New vitality at the heart of Maine communities"
If you are not interested in being part of the Maine Downtown Center's interested parties list or if you would like to make changes to your name or email address, please go to http://www.mdf.org/downtown/ipedit.php to make changes or remove yourself from the list, or send an email to lmerrill@mdf.org requesting removal.
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