Color run

The date of the second annual Color Run in South Portland has been set for Sunday, June 22. At its Monday meeting, the South Portland City Council authorized the closure of several streets on the city’s west end on that day from 8-11 a.m., to facilitate the 5K race, in which runners are pelted with colored corn starch at several points along the route, turning them into mobile rainbows.

Next year’s event has been increased from 5,000 to 6,000 participants. City Manager Jim Gailey said event organizers have agreed to donate $1 per runner to a maintenance fund for Bug Light Park, while the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital stands to reap $35,000 from entrance fees.

One person, Lowell Street resident David Orbeton, decried the event because it is run by a for-profit company. “For the amount of disruption that those of us in the Willard Square neighborhood go through, I think it’s a really poor deal for our city,” he said. However, Councilor Patti Smith expressed the council’s strong support for the event. “I hope that next year we double it to 12,000 runners,” she said.

New brew

Village Park Variety, which opened at 586 Westbrook St. in January 2012 under owners Augustine and Alicia Hartman of Scarborough, will be expanding to include a 40-seat dining room for its pizza and sandwich offerings.

At its Dec. 16 meeting, the South Portland City Council approved a liquor license for the expanded business, although Councilor Tom Blake offered a “word of caution.”

“That is a very large problem area for our community,” he said. “I can’t stress how important it is from the city’s perspective that we exercise great caution with a business that is going to serve alcohol in a problem area for the first time.”

Brew cruise

The South Portland Police Department has received a $10,000 grant from “DriveSober Maine!” -– a program of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety. The grant will cover 200 hours of overtime costs through Sept. 30, 2104, allowing police to set up additional patrols to spot drunk drivers.

New cruisers

The South Portland City Council voted unanimously Monday to lease three new 2014 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor SUVs from Yankee Ford of South Portland, the lowest of three bidders at $83,030. The sale of three existing police cruisers will be used to pay for set up of the new vehicles when they are delivered this spring. The city will own the vehicles at the end of the two-year lease/purchase deal.

Demo deal

The South Portland City Council moved unanimously Monday toward a substantial change to permit fees tied to demolition of existing structures in the city. Currently set at $15 per $1,000 of assessed value of the building being torn down, the new fee will be a flat rate of $50 for principal structures and $25 for accessory buildings. The council first addressed the permit fee at a July 2012 workshop during a comprehensive review of the city’s code of ordinances. At that time it was noted that at higher building values, the demolition permit fee “becomes grossly unrelated” to the city’s actual costs for permit administration and site inspection. The concern, said City Manager Jim Gailey, is that the “exorbitant fee could deter owners from pursuing desirable redevelopment teardowns.” The council will conduct a final vote on the fee change at its Jan. 6 meeting.

Road closure

The transition of construction at South Portland High School from the rear to the front of the building has prompted the closure of Mountain View Drive from Williston Road to Nelson Road, effective Jan. 1 and lasting through the end of 2014. During that time, the old 1970s-era annex between the original building and Beal Gym will be torn down and replaced. A 12-foot emergency lane will be maintained on Mountain View Drive for emergency vehicles. Superintendent Suzanne Godin said parents and students should approach the school during the road closure from Evans Street and Nelson Road, using the new drop-off point behind Beal Gym.

Ribbon cutting

Superintendent Suzanne Godin has issued an invitation to the public for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of Phase I construction for the $47.3 million renovation project at South Portland High School. The event, to include tours of the new cafeteria, library and presentation center, along with the new administrative and science wings, kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5. The new building will open to students the following day.

Zone change

In a workshop session Monday, the South Portland City Council gave the go-ahead for a zoning map change on Cummings Road, near the Westbrook city line. Truchoice Federal Credit Union bought an 8,000-square-foot building at 332 Cummings Road in 2009 for use as a processing center and administrative office. It would now like to expand onto an adjacent lot it owns at 336 Cummings Road. In addition to a common driveway and parking area, the credit union would like to build a bank branch, a use not allowed in the Light Industrial Zone. However, that construction could happen if the lot was joined to the abutting Professional Office Zone. Following Truchoice’s request, Spectrum Reality at 324 Gannett Drive and T&T Development at 324 Cummings Road agreed to a city request to make the same zoning jump for their nearby lots.