3 min read

Sanford officials say they are working to address health and safety issues at the old Woolen Mill that prompted an emergency closure of Heritage Crossing last week.

The Sanford City Council voted Tuesday night to extend that emergency closure until public safety officials advise it’s safe to lift it and the council votes to do so.

The city announced Thursday that it was temporarily closing the road near the mill complex to both vehicles and pedestrians because the area has been continually accumulating trash and other waste, establishing an “attractive nuisance and extraordinary public safety hazard.”

Officials say it has been frequented by homeless residents, and that’s caused nearby residents and business owners to raise concerns about safety, particularly syringe waste and fire hazards. The City Council voted in July to declare the mill officially abandoned, which city officials say allows them to take further action.

Multiple council members, city staff and the police chief stressed at Tuesday’s meeting that they have been working for months to address issues at the former mill. Some specifically refuted claims that they had only taken action due to recent media reports.

“I don’t police on media reports,” Police Chief Eric Small said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I police on facts and to keep the public safe. … To do an operation like we did today is complicated.”

In a social media statement earlier Tuesday, Small said officers swept the area that morning and arrested three people for criminal trespass, violating release conditions and outstanding warrants and issued three other summonses for criminal trespass. The chief added that officers also conducted a sweep last week that reduced the number of people allegedly trespassing.

“We recognize that this closure may cause some inconvenience,” Small said in a statement on Facebook last week following the emergency declaration. “However, protecting the public, neighboring businesses, and emergency personnel must remain our priority.”

Police Maj. Mark Dyer said in an interview Tuesday that the department has been aware of the concerns for a while and has been working to determine how to tackle the issue.

Because the town doesn’t own the mill, enforcement has been difficult, Dyer said. Now, with the property declared abandoned and permission from the mill’s now-defunct owner, police have been granted more leeway to sweep the property.

Dyer said police will continue to pay close attention to the area.

“We’re not gonna just do this operation and be done,” he said. “We have been stepping up our drive-bys, our footbeats, officers just parked in the area — that will continue.”

Small went into detail on the recent sweeps, the lead-up, and potential paths forward at Tuesday night’s meeting when responding to questions from councilors.

Among recent safety concerns raised, the chief said, was someone throwing objects off the roof.

“That’s why it needs to be closed: so someone doesn’t get hit with a cement block off the roof,” Small said.

He stressed that the sweeps and increased presence have already had an effect. However, he noted that large-scale operations likely aren’t sustainable in the long run.

Tuesday morning’s operation required 18 law enforcement officers, including members of the Maine State Police, York County Sheriff’s Office and Old Orchard Beach Police Department, with additional assistance from the fire department. Small said they’d ideally like to have 25 people on scene to conduct a safe sweep.

“Frankly, we couldn’t have done it without those other agencies,” Small said, noting their ability to consistently assist Sanford with such operations “will run out eventually.”

The chief also suggested the city bring on a consultant or other expert to help.

“We’re law enforcement,” he said. “We work with people with homelessness and substance use disorder, but we’re not the ones who are going to solve homelessness and substance use disorder.”

Small also pushed back against comments he said he’s seen on social media, including people asking the city to “get rid” of the homeless population. He noted many of the people officers have encountered at the old mill are longtime residents of the area.

“They live here; they have their whole lives, just like you,” Small said. “They just encountered different circumstances than all of us sitting in this room that made them turn a corner in a different way.

“We’ve got to remember that.”