Four years into a 10-year plan to restore the health of Long Creek, an “urban impaired” stream that flows in four branches through parts of South Portland, Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook, the Long Creek Watershed Management District has named eight people, businesses and institutions that “have gone above and beyond” toward that goal.

The inaugural list of honorees was unveiled at the management district’s third annual meeting, held on Monday, Feb. 3, at the South Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks.

Ellen Fontaine of Ginn Real Estate was named Outstanding Retail Property Manager. One of the first projects in Long Creek was a “major retrofit” to the stormwater runoff infrastructure at the Ginn-owned Mallside Plaza that houses Dick’s Sporting Goods.

“Throughout that process and in the ensuing years, as we have monitored and maintained those systems, Ginn Real Estate was always cordial and great to work with, to the extent that they frequently allowed us to invade their offices on cold, wet days,” said Chris Baldwin, district engineer for the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Texas Instruments was named Outstanding Industrial Property Manager. In 2013, the company invested more than $250,000 of its own money to upgrade stormwater facilities on its property, off Foden Road. Far from simply digging a simple hole in the ground to create retention ponds, Texas Instruments created a system so aesthetically pleasing that district staffers have taken to calling it, “the Disney Ponds,” said Tamara Lee Pinard, executive director of the management district.

Todd Dominski of East Brown Cow won the award for Outstanding Commercial Property Manager. “We worked closely with Todd on both his Darling Avenue and Foden Road properties,” said district Project Manager Kate McDonald. “He was a great partner in that process and has always been very quick to respond to our requests.

“When he began planning to expand his parking lot at 100 Foden Road, his engineer worked very closely with us to address snow storage issues on the property, as well as to fix a detention basin that we had identified as failing,” said McDonald.

Deborah Lust and her team at Dead River Co., described by McDonald as “one of the most proactive landowners in the watershed,” was given the award for Maintenance Excellence.

“When our inspection team found they had a retention basin at 82 Running Hill Road that needed a little bit of work, she immediately arranged for us to meet her contractor to discuss the problem and figure out the best solution for everybody,” said McDonald, adding that Lust reached out to the management district when repairing Dead River’s parking lot even before the management district identified an issue with seal coating that proved detrimental to stream health.

Matt TenEyck, maintenance supervisor of the Sable Oaks golf course, was recognized for Best Management Practices.

“He’s done a really superb job of balancing the needs of the golf course with the needs of Long Creek,” said district Urban Watershed Coordinator Patrick Marass. “Over the past several years, he has spearheaded an effort to get Sable Oaks certified as an environmentally friendly gold course through Audubon International. This is not an easy feat. There’s actually only one other course in the state of Maine that’s fully certified.”

South Portland was named Outstanding Municipality, with the award picked up by City Manager Jim Gailey. Scarborough Town Planner Dan Bacon, who chairs the Long Creek Management District Board of Directors, gave a nod to Gailey for initiating this year’s landscaping work around the Maine Mall, including a $150,000 city contribution for that effort.

Bacon also praised South Portland’s Stormwater Coordinator Fred Dillon “for his work on a variety of initiatives,” as well as “leadership provided by South Portland Mayor Jerry Jalbert,” a longtime management district board member recently elevated to be the group’s vice-chairman.

Another longtime board member, Dave Russell, was given the Outstanding Individual Steward Award. Described by Bacon as “one of the founding fathers of the effort to restore Long Creek,” Russell was instrumental in securing adoption of the 2009 plan that led to creation of the watershed district.

Finally, Bacon handed out a surprise award to Pinard, a district stormwater program manager who serves as executive director of the Long Creek Watershed Management District. Named the “Watershed MVP,” Pinard was lauded for “working tirelessly for the restoration of Long Creek with a lot of heart, energy and dedication.”

“The Long Creek Watershed effort would not be the same without Tamara,” said Bacon.

Matt TenEyckDave RussellTamara Lee PinardDeborah LustJim GaileyEllen FontaineTodd Dominski