From: 	Marc Poulin <Marc@poulinfinancial.com>
To:	JF@portlandmaine.gov
Date: 	7/12/2011 6:02 PM
Subject: 	171 Warren Ave
Attachments:	171 Warren Ave - Drawing.pdf

Hi Jean,

Thanks for taking a moment to discuss this with me.

Attached is the contractor's hand‑drawn plan for cleaning up my driveway and parking area. To give you perspective, look at the plan so that the writing is readable, Warren Ave is along the bottom [as noted], driveway entrance to the property is to the left of the Office building. Here are my comments for you to consider:

 1.  To the left of the driveway, along Hemingway Street ‑ I was having problems with local traffic cutting through my driveway (as the snow banks melted) and over the "divider" that was there through the winter. This flattened any divider that was created during construction and paving of the driveway last fall.
 2.  Water draining from the roof of the property, into the down spout to the area under the wheelchair ramp was creating some erosion of the "grassy knoll" that was present near the wheel chair ramp.
 3.  It was important for me to "clean up" the bush area toward the back of the property and to replace the existing paving as that was torn up quite a bit during construction. By squaring off the rear parking area, I can create more parking without much change to the overall footprint of the paved area and create a better turn‑a‑round for the handicap space.

As a result of these concerns/goals, this is the plan:

 1.  To the left of the driveway, along Hemingway Street, we will remove the exiting berm (dirt and bark mulch), lay in a bituminous curb (on the driveway side of the divider) with sod and bolders. This will be more pleasant a presentation then the mound I had created and will prevent local traffic from cutting through the property. The contractor is grading properly so drainage occur. The boulders will compliment the rip rap rocks near the wheel chair ramp for a better looking presentation.
 2.  In the back of the property, where old pavement exists, we are squaring off the property, removing the old pavement and laying proper gravel and pavement graded appropriately for drainage so exiting areas that puddled are eliminated.
 3.  By the existing Handicap Parking space, we will extend the pavement so that the vehicle can have easy back up and turn space without affecting other parked vehicles
 4.  Now, how to explain the "grassy knoll". I was able to remove that dirt. This will allow us to move the driveway access to the back parking area by placing it closer to the building/wheelchair ramp. This will make for better access, in case of emergency, since traffic will not have to go around parked cars as much. To cover the exposed dirt and ledge (near and under the wheel chair ramp), we will install "rip rap" with appropriate drainage ability. Along the bottom of the rip rap, the contractor suggest installing a bituminous curb to hold the rip rap in and give a clean & finish appearance. This will compliment the bituminous curb on the other side of the driveway.

Since the attached plan is not to scale, I am hoping my explanations make sense. Essentially, I have tried to stay within the paved footprint/parameter in the original plan (give or take), make for better access to the rear of the property for handicap drivers and emergency vehicles, organize the parking better ‑ this will increase the # of parking spaces ‑ plan only showed the minimum # of spaces required, clean up the site once and for all and limit access to the property from Hemingway Street

I am trying to avoid having the surveyors draw this up and revise the previous plan submitted as I expect that will be a costly exercise.

I appreciate you help on this.

Marc

 Marc M. Poulin, CPA
 Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisorTM
 Marc@PoulinFinancial.com
 Phone: 207‑773‑1040
 Fax:     207‑773‑1583

Poulin Financial Services, LLC, PA
171 Warren Ave
Portland, ME 04103

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