Professional award Former Harrison resident receives national Parks & Recreation honor Page 2A
Top 10 of 2011
Inside News
Who were the people making headlines? What were the leading sports stories? Check inside
Calendar . . . . . . . 6A, 8A
Pages 2A, 7B
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 5B Country Living . . . 7A, 8A Directory . . . . . . . . . . 4B Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 5A Opinions . . . . . . . 1B-3B Police/Court . 4B, 6B, 8B Sports . . . . 7B, 9B, 10B Student News . . . . . . . . Towns . . . . . . . . . 7A-8A Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5B
www.bridgton.com Vol. 143, No. 1
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 20 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
January 5, 2012
(USPS 065-020)
SIXTY CENTS
No parking on Depot St. section
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer There’ll be no parking allowed anytime on either side of Depot Street from Renys to the Community Center, and no overnight parking allowed in the municipal lot, Bridgton Selectmen decided Dec. 27. In their unanimous vote, the board rejected recommendations by the Community Development Committee, which suggested that cars could be allowed during the day on the Community Center side of Depot Street. The committee also wanted the town to allow overnight parking for six cars in the municipal lot, so that residents of two apartment buildings could keep their cars off the narrow side street to help with snow removal. “I took a look over there,”
after the item was tabled at their last meeting, said Selectmen Paul Hoyt, “and it seems there is some parking on both sides of the building” for one of the apartment buildings, while the other has its own designated parking. The apartment buildings are owned by Chuck Renneker, a member of the Community Development Committee. Board Chairman Art Triglione Jr. said the Planning Board has consistently ruled that if downtown property owners want to rent out apartment space, they need to provide their own parking. “We already said no to the Wales & Hamblen building (in Pondicherry Square) and I don’t think we should be establishing a precedent,” Triglione said. Selectmen agreed the Reny’s
end of Depot Street is too narrow to allow for parking, especially near the jutting end of Renys store close to Main Street. The board agreed to have no parking signs put in place on both sides from Main Street to the Corn Shop Brook bridge. Prior to their vote, Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz pointed out that allowing some parking on the street would foster a sense of economic vitality as envisioned when residents gathered a few years back for a charette to brainstorm revitalization ideas. But Selectmen Doug Taft noted that when the nearby elementary school lets out for the day, schoolchildren make heavy use of the sidewalk on Depot Street, and cars often drive up over the sidewalk when they park. The municipal parking lot has
some spaces reserved for Down East, Inc. and selectmen agreed the lot’s use should stay as it is until the town decides whether to turn over the Community Center building to the nonprofit entity. A part, or all, of the town’s portion of the parking lot may figure in some way with that transfer agreement, they noted. Public Works Director Jim Kidder said the street is only 20 feet wide, and would be safer as a one-way street. Berkowitz said he will be in touch with Renys’ officials to inform them of the no parking rule, which will need to be written into the town’s parking ordinance and brought back to the board for final approval. In other action, the board
DELIVERING AS PROMISED — Bridgton Economic and Community Development Director Alan Manoian shows a page and a sketch from draft development standards for the Portland Road and Main Street that he delivered shortly before leaving Bridgton this week.
Editor’s note: Always enthusiastic, often controversial, Alan Manoian officially ended three and a half years as Bridgton’s Economic and Community Development Director this week. His open personality, can-do style and frenetic work ethic was both cheered and derided by Bridgtonians, unsure just how to respond to this cheerleading change agent from Lowell, Mass. in their midst. Bridgton News Staff Writer Gail Geraghty caught up with him Tuesday, and transcribed and edited the following reflections on his major challenges and accomplishments.) Passion, baby, yeah! “My very first time I drove down Main Street (months before Oct. 18, 2008, his first day on the job), I realized this town is a very special place, with exceptional potential. It has a very distinctive, unique feel to it. Having
worked in larger metropolitan city environments, I wanted to have a good professional experience of doing planning and economic development in a small town. I can say that this will always be one of the most valuable and rewarding professional experiences of my career. In the city, it’s all about getting in and making it happen; small towns are more about letting it happen. Two very different dynamics. In small towns, whatever the community is seeking to achieve, it can’t be something you come in and force. Towns function on their own tempo, their own rhythm and their own timelines. You don’t go in and sort of lord it over. I’ve really come to appreciate and learn (that lesson) and improve upon (my style) as I go forward. I think it all can be contained in one word: patience and being exceedingly
PARKING, Page 10A
Manoian reflects on his legacy
INTERVIEW, Page A
Casco reviews revaluation strategies By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO – The Casco Board of Selectmen got a crash course on property revaluations recently. During a post-Christmas meeting, John O’Donnell, the president of O’Donnell Assessors, provided the board with information on determining
property values in Casco. The board will be tasked with hiring a team of assessors to start the process of revaluating both commercial and residential properties in town. Ideally, the board would like revaluations to begin this spring or summer – so that seasonal residents with waterfront parcels would be in
In the absence of the sacred
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer CASCO — When I first met Gordon “Donnie” Fowler, I couldn’t speak. I was gasping for breath, after jogging all the way to the summit of Hacker’s Hill. My sudden appearance and heavy breathing jolted him up from the chair where he sat meditating. “I thought you were a moose, making all that noise,” he blurted, his mouth agape. I was just as shocked to see him standing there, alone amid the tall pines of the panoramic picnic area. It was 17 years ago, the summer of 1994, and — other than the beer-drinking locals on a Saturday night — Hacker’s Hill didn’t get too many visitors back then. Certainly not a solitary man, sitting in silence. But his face was kind, his smile was quick, so we sat and talked for a while. I told him how good it felt to finally jog all the way to the top without stopping, and how daily jogging on the Quaker Ridge Road (I lived nearby at the time) forced me to focus on the essentials of life — my breathing — and quiet my monkey mind. He told me he’d gotten permission from Hacker Hall, who owned the land, to park a little camper
up on the hill, so he could still his mind, too — and figure out what God wanted him to do. Being a spiritual seeker myself, I admired his resolve. He’d left his job with an interfaith group in North Dakota, working with state prison inmates, to return home to southern Maine after his father got sick. Now two competing interests were calling him, and his heart was conflicted. So where did he decide to go to get answers? To the same spot that he, as a youth, had once gone to hang out and party. He had sat there and fasted for a week. He struck a deal with Hacker, who had become discouraged by the trash and had pretty much closed it off — he’d keep it clean, monitor people’s comings and goings, and, in return, daily access could be restored. “I figured if I cleaned it up then they couldn’t resist God,” he says now. The spirit of the Quakers, who settled Quaker Ridge in the early 1800s and built a Friends
HACKER’S, Page 10A
Maine and available to give assessors access to the interior of those homes and cottages. When residents went to the polls in early November, the majority supported a citizensdriven initiative for the town to perform another revaluation, which would bring property values more in line with the prices at
which homes are currently being sold. The cost of the revaluations is capped at $290,000; and that money will be spent from the Undesignated Fund Balance. According to O’Donnell, the spike in Casco’s property taxes – mostly to support the budget of School District Administration STRATEGIES, Page A
The Top 10 story lines
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer 2011 certainly had its share of up and down moments. Some might say it had more “downs” and they will gladly turn the page in hopes of brighter prospects in 2012. News making major headlines included: 10. Realizing a dream. It took a lot of hard work, volunteer time and financial help, but projects sitting on a shelf finally were realized by Mother Seton House, Bridgton Recreation Advancement Group (BRAG) and the Rufus Porter Museum. As the year came to a close, news came that thanks to a matching $65,000 donation by the Kendal C. and Anna Ham Charitable Foundation, Mother Seton House — a shelter for pregnant women, new mothers and infants — would be able to purchase a home. The idea came up as a service project in 2007, and evolved into a bigger project. BRAG has worked over a decade to develop more athletic field space for local youth. Persistence ultimately paid off as a new, energized group took the baton from the BRAG Founding Fathers and finally moved the project from a blueprint to actual grass, infield playing surface, fencing and dugouts. Although baseball and softball play will likely begin in 2013 at the new sports complex (to allow grass time to mature to be able to withstand use), BRAG officials will hold some type of open house in 2012 to celebrate the arrival of the long-awaited sports fields. With a growing collection of Rufus Porter items and a major donation of Jonathan Poor artwork, the local museum will be on the move. Museum trustees announced the purchase of a Main Street building, located adjacent to the Bridgton Public Library. 9. Happy birthday! Celebrating birthdays in 2011 were the Bridgton Lions Club, 85 years of community service; Deertrees Theatre, 75 years of quality stage performances; Tom’s Homestead Restaurant on North High Street in Bridgton, 30 years of fine dining; and Circle of Tapawingo, 10 years of providing youth camp experience in August to girls who have lost a parent or sibling — free of charge. 8. De-Railed. Bridgton saw Gray lure the Narrow Gauge Museum in September, a crushing setback to a local drive, “Return of the Rails.” 7. People on the move. Change was certainly felt as some folks entered retirement in 2011, while others moved on to new or different opportunities. People on the move included: Peter Mortenson resigned as Lake Region Middle School principal, and was replaced by Tonya Arnold; Jeannette Almy retired after 33 years in education, including time as C.A. Snow School principal, she was replaced by Emily Kirkpatrick; Cathy Larson retired after 33 years in the Postal Service; Paul Wescott retired after 34 years at Howell Labs, and was succeeded by David Allen as executive officer; Mike Mendonca resigned as Lovell Rec Director, and was succeeded by Jay Lyons; Elwin Thorpe left as Casco’s Code Enforcement Officer after about 30 years; first he was going, then he decided to stay, but in the end Alan Manoian left as Bridgton’s economic development director (see related story). 6. Dispatch out. Facing rising taxes, Bridgton residents felt the price was right to contract with Cumberland County for police and emergency dispatch rather than maintaining their own communication center. 5. Protecting the environment. The Lake Region is known for its environmental charm, but sometimes that charm comes at a big price. SAD 61 had to dip deeper into taxpayers’ pockets to pay for PCB removal at a cost close to $1 million. High PCB levels were discovered around exterior windows and doorways prior to construction and renovation at the high school. Milfoil continues to be a problem near Songo Lock. Lakes Environmental Association tried unsuccessfully to close the Lock area down until milfoil there could be eradicated. LEA then urged boaters to keep traffic there limited until a plan can be developed. Loon Echo Land Trust hopes to keep the spectacular views from Hacker’s Hill in Casco open to the public by purchasing the scenic hillside. Fundraising efforts continue. 4. Tragedies. 2011 had a dark side as a young mother was murdered; a family continued to hold out hope that someone would come forward with information leading them to their son’s remains; and two hunters were accidentally shot in separate incidents. “Missing” signs appeared throughout the Lake Region in April as former LRHS grad Krista Dittmeyer disappeared. Her vehicle and young child were found in the Mt. Cranmore Ski Area in North Conway, N.H. Her body was eventually found in a pond nearby, and three men face charges surrounding her death. A vigil was held in Bridgton, attracting over 1,000 people. TOP 10 STORY LINES, Page 10A
NATURE’S MIRACLE — Donnie Fowler’s stepdaughter, Abby Morrison, then 12, stands under the cross on Hacker’s Hill, created by nature during a 1997 lightning storm, and since lovingly reinforced and cared for by the hill’s caretaker, Donnie Fowler. With the pending sale of the hill to Loon Echo Land Trust, Fowler and the hill’s owners, Conrad and Jeff Hall, hope that at least this religious symbol, if not others, can remain, without violating laws governing separation of church and state.
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