(Editor’s note: Looking Back is a new weekly column including news items reported 10 years ago in The Current, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in September 2011.)

Issue of Jan. 24, 2002

Several Scarborough Town Councilors would consider using a local sales tax to raise money for capital projects if the idea is approved by the state Legislature.

“I’m not necessarily saying that we would use such a tax in Scarborough, but it would be nice to have such a tool available to us,” said Town Council Chairman Jeffrey Messer.

“Such a tax would make a lot of things doable in town. We will be looking at millions of dollars to fix the Route 1 intersections in Dunstan. We might even be able to use some money for improvements to the Haigis Parkway.

The version before the House calls for a one percent local sales tax to be tied to specific capital improvement projects, like new schools or construction, which would serve a regional audience.

“This would not be a permanent source of revenue,” said Scarborough Town Manager Ron Owens. “It’s a way to raise money for a project of regional significance without putting an added burden on property taxpayers.”

Cape Elizabeth has set a $1 million fund-raising goal for a new education foundation which would give grants to local teachers and schools for innovative teaching projects.

In the planning stages for a year, the tax exempt Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation could begin fund-raising as early as this fall.

The foundation would use the interest from the money it raises to make the grants. The program is based on the success of the Rye (N.H.) Education Foundation. Rye is a similar town to Cape, in its proximity to the coast and general affluence. And with a smaller population, Rye was able to raise $1 million in a single year to kick off its foundation, giving Cape organizers confidence in their success.

Superintendent Tom Forcella, who is an adviser to the foundation, said the plan is to lay the groundwork now, as the economy recovers, and have meetings in various neighborhoods to prepare for the capital campaign kickoff in the fall.

Brian Welch of Scarborough found out he made the U.S. Olympic Ski Jumping Team last Wednesday, two days before he turned 18.

Welch will be one of five U.S. ski jumpers to compete in Utah.

Brian attended Scarborough High School until his junior year, when he transferred to the academy in Lake Placid, N.Y. Before then, he had been traveling to New York on the weekends to train.

“Linda and her family have been the wind underneath his skis,” said Dianne McLellan, his grandmother and a Scarborough resident.

The traffic engineer hired by the town to complete a traffic improvement study for the Payne Road, Route 1 intersection in Dunstan told the Town Council, “it’s no surprise that this intersection is at a level of service F,” and things are only going to get worse.

In 2001 3,412 cars went through the Payne Road, Route 1 intersection at peak hours. According to figures provided by traffic engineer, Bill Bray, in 2025 there will be 4,777 cars going through the intersection at peak hours, or an approximate 8 percent increase.