7/20/2006 - PORTLAND — The city has formed a 19-member steering committee to oversee the development of a parking garage and other buildings on six acres of former railroad land on Somerset Street, said Jack Lufkin, Portland's economic development director.

The steering committee includes Collette Bouchard and Casey O'Callaghan, Bayside Neighborhood Association; Tom Toye and Ross Furman, Bayside property owners; David Queeley, Trust for Public Land; Nan Cumming, Portland Trails; and several city administrators.

The committee will oversee a design team led by Scott Simons Architects. The design team was among six that bid on the project, which calls for a conceptual plan for the former railroad land and a site plan for a parking garage. The team will do the work for $768,000, according to city records.

Lufkin said the committee plans to move quickly to access a $650,000 federal economic development grant that's available through Sept. 30. The remainder of the design project will be paid with a $50,000 grant from the Greater Portland Public Development Commission and as much as $68,000 in Bayside tax increment financing, Lufkin said.
The Planning Board is scheduled to review the project in a Sept. 12 workshop and vote following a Sept. 26 public hearing.