WHEREAS,  Sanford, Maine's newest city, is located within beautiful York County, Maine's southernmost county and gateway; and

WHEREAS,  the City of Sanford displays a visually breathtaking area of Maine, as it is bordered by ridges and is complemented by brooks and streams as they flow into the pristine Mousam River and then on to the Atlantic Ocean; and

WHEREAS,  in 1661, Major William Phillips, an owner of mills in Saco, purchased from the Abenaki Chief Fluellin a tract of land, the western portion of which would become Sanford; and

WHEREAS,  the first settlement in this area was established in 1739, and on February 27, 1768 it was incorporated as the Town of Sanford, named after Peleg Sanford, the son of Major Phillips; and

WHEREAS,  Sanford held its first town meeting as ordered by the General Court of Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS,  by a Special Act of the Maine Legislature in 1935, Sanford changed its form of governance to a representative town meeting; and

WHEREAS,  in 2010 a charter commission developed a new charter, and, on November 6, 2012, the people of Sanford voted to establish Sanford as a city with a Council-Mayor-City Manager form of governance, effective January 1, 2013; and

WHEREAS,  Sanford is a vibrant service center and economic hub with investments in exceptional infrastructure, economic development partnerships and quality of life and has now implemented a progressive and responsive form of governance reflective of its business-friendly accreditation, and the City of Sanford has been proclaimed "Open for Business"; now, therefore, be it