IF YOU DON'T PARTICIPATE, DON'T COMPLAIN LATER!

We're bringing 7---count them---7---Gubernatorial candidates and one Congressional candidate to the Cliff House tonight to meet you and hear what YOU think is important for the future of your business. This primary, and the election in November, will determine the direction Maine will take in the next 4 years. Can you afford not to participate?
 
IF YOU ARE UNENROLLED, you can still vote in the PRIMARY election on June 8th!  At the polls on primary day, you can declare yourself as a Republican or a Democrat. You can also visit your town hall in advance of the primary and register there, vote by absentee ballot. You can switch back to un-enrolled after 90 days. It's as simple as that. If you don't participate in the primary, then you lose the opportunity to shape Maine's future. Instead, your neighbor will be making the decisions for you!
 
So show up tonight between 5:00pm and 6:30pm at the Cliff House on Shore Rd. in Cape Neddick, meet the candidates, ask them your questions or just listen to what they're saying to others, and then VOTE on June 8th. We can't make it any easier for you. So let your voice be heard! 
 
 
Chamber Board Takes Position AGAINST the Bike/Ped Option for Memorial Bridge
 
Your chamber board has taken a position against the option to replace the Memorial Bridge with a bike/pedestrian bridge, based on a recent economic impact survey done by the Maine/NH Connections Study group. Your chamber is a member of the Stakeholders Group on the study team. The survey showed that 88% of all businesses in the areas most effected by the bridge arrive by car. Our board believes that vehicles must be able to continue to use this critical link between our two states. Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole is leaning toward replacing the bridge with a bike/ped only option. While the study committee has not made a final recommendation yet because our work is not completed, our chamber thinks that NOW is the time to make it known that, on behalf of our business community, we would not support this option. We  encourage you to write or call Gov. Baldacci and your local legislative representatives, just as Jim Spencer has done (see his letter below) on behalf of his two businesses---Carl's Meat Market and the Golden Harvest, and his neighbors at Beach Pea Bakery and Terra Cotta Pasta.
 
Cathy Goodwin, Pres./CEO
 

Letter Regarding the Memorial Bridge from Carl's Meat Market & Golden Harvest owner Jim Spencer:
 
   I am writing to you today representing four locally owned and operated businesses on Gourmet Alley, Kittery Maine.  We are Terra Cotta Pasta Company, Beach Pea Bakery, The Golden Harvest Produce Company and Carl's Meat Market.  The Golden Harvest and Carl's Meat Market have been doing business in Kittery for over 60 years.  Terra Cotta and Beach Pea have strategically located their business next to these two businesses over the last ten years.
   These four businesses collectively generate over $10,000,000.00 in gross sales per year, employ on average 75-85 people, have annual payroll that exceeds $1,981,857.00 per year, and have a weekly customer count of over 25,000 people per week.  Based on the current "Customer and Business Survey" that was conducted on behalf of the Maine-New Hampshire Connections Study we would stand to loose up to 40% of our business that comes from New Hampshire should the Memorial Bridge close and be turned into a Pedestrian Bike Bridge.  Let me ask you... how many Maine business's along the New Hampshire border can say they get 40% of their business from New Hampshire?  When the Memorial Bridge was closed in October-November 2009 we experienced this same loss of business so we agree with that study.
   The following is a brief summary as to why we would like Maine to adopt New Hampshire's plan and re-build both bridges for vehicular traffic.
 
1.   Loss of the Memorial Bridge will effect the local area both socially and economically.  Kittery Foreside has developed over the last ten years into a quaint downtown area that now has a number of successful restaurants and art gallery's.  Without the Memorial Bridge this area would no longer be the vibrant area it is today.
 
2.   Pedestrian Bike Bridge makes no sense do to the limited use it would receive due to the changing seasons.  Not many people ride bikes from November to April and people avoid walking in cold and bad weather.
 
3.   Pedestrian Bike Bridge is a short sighted way for the State of Maine to cut costs and not be responsible for the operation and maintenance of a new bridge and therefore shifting all costs to Kittery and Portsmouth.  Think about the loss of sales tax, loss of income tax, and the loss of payroll taxes just from these four business's.  There are at least another 20-30 Kittery businesses in this immediate area.
 
4.   Pedestrian Bike Bridge will completely destroy the existing Kittery neighborhood with the need of a four lane Sarah long Bridge.  There is a lot of adverse possession and re-designing of complete roadways to make this a successful plan.
 
5.   Building a new Memorial Bridge and a new Sarah Long Bridge will cost the same as building a Pedestrian Bike Bridge and a new four lane Sarah Long Bridge.  The disadvantages of a Pedestrian Bike Bridge far outweigh two new vehicular bridges.  Traffic flow, continued commercial growth. peoples homes, and real estate values on Badgers Island and throughout Kittery and Portsmouth area are a few to mention.
 
   In closing we support New Hampshire's plans for re-building both the Memorial Bridge and Sarah Long Bridge to support vehicular traffic.  At all the public meetings the communities have shown overwhelming support for both bridges.  New Hampshire elected officials have demonstrated far more concern for these Maine businesses than our own elected officials.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jim Spencer
The Golden Harvest
Carl's Meat Market
Terra Cotta Pasta
Beach Pea Bakery