York Town News
What a difference a week makes...
As York Beach businesses dry out, most are ready to open for the season
By Jennifer L. Saunders
It's a sign of the times, and it says exactly what York Beach business owners want residents and visitors alike to know. Flood or no flood, York Beach is open.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
John Biagioni, who founded The Candy Corner on Railroad Avenue in York Beach and has run the homemade candy shop and gift emporium with his family for years, listens as Sen. Olympia J. Snowe discusses options for his family's shop. The Candy Corner was one of the businesses hit hardest in the Mother's Day flooding in York Beach.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
York Beach businesses were, as Joe Lipton of Inn on the Blues put it in the sign pictured above, "Down but not out" after the Mother's Day weekend flood that filled many of their streets, basements and shops with water. Lipton and his fellow beach business owners are urging other towns and states to "send tourists" as they are open for the season.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe reacts to the damage at Sweet Josie's as a result of last week's flooding in York Beach. Despite the damage, Peggy Fennelly said her shop will be open in time for Memorial Day weekend.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
That, however, does not minimize the extent of the damage suffered by many beach businesses - local, state and federal officials are quick to point out.
And, Town Manager Rob Yandow confirmed that preliminary estimates of the damage to town total about $11 million in roads, infrastructure and property.
A request has been sent to the federal government seeking a declaration to allow federal funding to offset the costs to local businesses and property owners, as well as to the town.
But less than one week after floodwaters ravaged local roads, bridges, homes and businesses, there was a very different picture to be seen in this little community by the sea.
By the middle of last week, just as flood waters began to recede, business owners in York Beach were out and about working to throw away the items that were destroyed in the flood, and to rebuild and to reopen in time for Memorial Day Weekend's official start to the summer tourism season.
With the help of the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce, businesses throughout the beach were hard at work as early as last Wednesday, May 17, taking inventory of what had been lost and focusing on what could be done to rise above the flood.
Then, on Friday, May 19, Gov. John E. Baldacci returned to town for his second visit since the flood, praising the community spirit in York to rebound from what the state has deemed a true disaster.
"A wonderful story here is how a community responds," Baldacci told Rick and Kathy Boston of York Beach's famous home for saltwater taffy and homemade ice cream, The Goldenrod.
The Bostons, in fact, had not been focusing on their own struggles with the storm and the flooding and damage it caused at their restaurant and shop, but on the losses of their Railroad Avenue neighbors who bore the brunt of the storm.
And, they were focusing on the outpouring of support that came to residents and businesses affected by the flood.
"That's what we like to see - everybody pulling together," Baldacci said of his return to visit to York on Friday, describing his arrival in town just days earlier to survey the damage. "It's changed dramatically. It looked like Venice."
Baldacci praised the character of local residents and business owners in coming together after the storm, and also applauded the work of Police Chief Doug Bracy as the town's emergency management director.
Those were comments heard time and again throughout the beach on Friday - even from those business owners who will not be open this week because of the damage.
Kathy Boston said The Goldenrod will be open this Thursday, and offered thanks for all those who have come forward to show their support.
"I wish I had documented the phone calls, the e-mails, even on Sunday when it was still raining," she said.
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, York County Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration were also in town on Friday, meeting with some of the York Beach business owners hardest hit by the flood just days earlier.
Cheryl Kitts of FEMA explained that four teams from the agency were on hand in York throughout the day on Friday assessing damage and working to document the losses to town infrastructure as well as private property.
Bob Bohlmann of York County Emergency Management urged residents in need to contact Bracy or his office directly as their goal is to help those in dire situations due to the flood.
Yandow confirmed the required information has been sent to the federal government for York to be eligible for FEMA assistance.
Snowe told local officials, including Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cathy Goodwin and Yandow, as well as an array of local business owners, that her support is there to be sure York gets the assistance needed to rebuild.
"We've all asked for the federal declaration so this can happen in a seamless fashion," Snowe said, standing on Railroad Avenue as she surveyed the damage and the efforts to rise above the flood.
As she toured such businesses as Sweet Josie's, Bill and Bob's and The Candy Corner, Snowe shook her head.
"It's unbelievable," she said of the torn up flooring, soaked sheetrock and disarray of businesses that just a week earlier had been preparing for one of the key weekends of the summer season.
Snowe encouraged business owners to connect with the Small Business Administration and said she would advocate for bridge loans with area banks to make funds available to the businesses as they await the FEMA funds she believes will be approved for use in York.
"We want to make this as seamless as possible between the local, state and federal," she told a gathering of York Beach business owners. "I'm just sorry that you've had to endure this."
Bob Fennelly urged federal and state assistance in addressing drainage issues in the beach, adding this is not the first time in recent years that such a flood has caused major damage to Bill and Bob's and Sweet Josie's.
Both he and his wife, Peggy Fennelly, praised Bracy for the positive response from the town to the plight of York Beach businesses.
"I can't say enough about that guy," Fennelly said of the chief.
It was a sentiment echoed by many business owners, including John Biagioni of The Candy Corner, who also thanked the chamber staff, the police, local firefighters and Yandow for their support.
For John and his son Jim, who own and run The Candy Corner with their family, there will be no Memorial Day opening this year. The shop, which features handmade candy, gifts, decorations and more, had opened for the season on May 13, only to be decimated by the flood one day later.
"The water got into the walls and the sheetrock and insulation just absorbed it right up," Jim said, standing in the center of what one week earlier was a store that blended the charm of yesteryear with whimsy from today.
As of Friday, friends and family of the Biagionis were hard at work pulling down walls, cleaning out ruined boards and inventory, and starting over.
Jim said it has been very difficult to face the loss - and the reality that their season this year will probably not begin until the weekend of July 4 - but added they are not giving up.
"Now that this has happened, we're thinking of how we can make the store better," he said. "You can't feel sorry for yourselves. We want to make it better than before."
Like so many others in town, Jim and Johnny said the outpouring of support from the community has been inspiring.
"Everybody has just been phenomenal," Jim said, "but I have to be realistic. We're probably looking at early July before we open."
And while the York Beach business district is perhaps the most high profile area in town to be affected by the storm, it is not the only one.
Yandow pointed out that the state has acknowledged the need to focus on such losses as the Passaconaway Bridge over the Cape Neddick River. In meeting with Maine Department of Transportation officials, Yandow said they understand that bridge must come down and an effort to rebuild must begin.
The bridge, he and Bracy have pointed out, not only stands as an impediment to vehicle traffic but also, in its unstable condition, has landlocked commercial fishermen who work the Atlantic's waters from Cape Neddick Harbor.
Goodwin said the chamber is pleased to see such a united response from state and federal agencies, the governor and Snowe.
Snowe urged businesses like The Candy Corner to connect with the Small Business Administration and pledged her support in the effort to get all York Beach businesses back on their feet.
In the meantime, Goodwin, the Bostons, the Fennellys and even those business owners who will not be up and running this weekend sent out a message to those planning a long weekend trip for Memorial Day.
"York Beach is open," Goodwin said.
Or, as Joe Lipton summed it up in a sign hanging from his Inn on the Blues, "Down but not out. Please send tourists."
Associate Editor Jennifer L. Saunders can be reached via e-mail at jsaunders@yorkindependent.net.
