📰BIDDEFORD | "You Can't Park There" | Parking Lots & Parking Garage | MAYORAL DEBATE
- JW Business Solutions LLC
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
📰BIDDEFORD | "You Can't Park There" | Parking Lots & Parking Garage | MAYORAL DEBATE
“We pay nearly a million dollars a year on [the parking garage]... there may be a need for a parking garage in Biddeford, but the contract that we signed is one of the worst i've ever seen and it is costing us every single year” -Mayoral Candidate Liam LaFountain
October 16, 2025, This past week, a debate was held in the City of Biddeford between the 3 individuals running to serve as the City’s next Mayor. The debate took place at the Biddeford High School and was attended by members of the community, city staff, current and past city councilors, the Biddeford Chief of Police, and others.
The evening covered an array of topics and questions submitted both by the community as well as the panelists (Biddeford Gazette, Saco Bay News, and Portland Press Herald). The debate was moderated by Craig Pendleton, the former executive director of the Biddeford Saco Chamber of Commerce + Industry.
Approximately 45 minutes into the event ,Liz Gotthelf of Saco Bay News, asked a community submitted question to the candidates pertaining to the City operated parking lots and the parking garage located on Pearl Street.
Q: “Biddeford needs to take control of the parking lots and garage. The money should be coming back to the city. What will you do to move that forward?”
The first of the 3 mayoral candidates asked to respond was current Ward 7 Council President Liam Lafountain, followed by Mayor Marty Grohman, and lastly Ward 6 Councilor Norm Belanger.
Below are several of the statements made by the candidates while answering the question. We encourage you to WATCH THE VIDEO PROVIDED TO HEAR EACH OF THE CANDIDATES FULL RESPONSE
When answering the question, Liam Lafountain expressed, “we pay nearly a million dollars a year on [the parking garage]... there may be a need for a parking garage in Biddeford but the contract that we signed is one of the worst i've ever seen and it is costing us every single year”
Martin Grohman stated, “this has been a signature issue of mine…I agree that the original deal is unfortunate… I don’t think we want to go the Portland route where we drive away projects and we drive away new ideas to the city…”
Lastly, Norman Belanger relayed that, “I do not think it’s the worst deal I've seen, I’m a lawyer and I’ve seen plenty of bad deals. When we built the parking garage, no one was expecting COVID… the development around the parking garage would have been very very different had COVID not occurred.”
In closing, this question provided viewers an opportunity to see some stark differences from the candidates regarding the current and future parking issues the city faces. Development has been a hot button topic in the City of Biddeford and will surely be a deciding factor in the way residents vote on November, 4, 2025.