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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 148, No. 4
20 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
January 26, 2017
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . 10A
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Naples to waive interest on paid tax bills
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The Town of Naples is making an offer that might be worth taking action for some business owners. This year, the town will waive the interest on personal property tax accounts if the past due amount is
paid. The interest-forgiveness offer goes through the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. This is for personal property, or business equipment, taxes only and does not apply to the property tax accounts. On Monday, the Naples Board of Selectmen unani-
mously approved going forward with this offer. “If everyone came in and paid it, it would be roughly $60,000 in principal and $35,000 in interest waived,” according to Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak. He said the form letter, copies of which were provided to the selectmen, was courteous. A paragraph in the form letter says, “I highly encourage you to take advantage
of this one-time opportunity to pay only the outstanding principal balance on past due personal property tax accounts to have the interest waived.” When taxpayers receive the letter, they should contact the town staff before pulling out their checkbook. “You cannot automatically mail a check in,” Paraschak said. “You have to contact the town first.” The letter includes the
phone number to call for business owners to get “more specific information on the amount due.” The personal property tax accounts amnesty offer applies to last year’s taxes (2016) and anything prior to that year. Some accounts date back to 1996. This offer was spawned when the Naples-based business P&K Sand and Gravel, Inc., paid the principal on past due personal property
taxes to the town and subsequently had the interest waived. The Town of Casco was poised to provide the same offer to businesses within its town, but the weather forced a cancellation of the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night. The personal property tax is not only applied to business equipment, but also to travel trailers and recreational vehicles.
Less restrictive shoreland zone for summer businesses?
Author Caroline Grimm
One on One with...
Caroline Grimm
By Zoe Silvia BN Intern Caroline Grimm describes herself as possibly certifiably insane, a writer, an accountant, an educator, and a musician. “We’re just waiting for the test results to come back.” Grimm, a resident of Bridgton, has just finished writing a book. In fact, she’s just finished writing her tenth book. Her newest book, The Guest Book, is a fiction piece that takes place in a small cottage on Mount Desert Island, here in Maine. The excerpt from amazon.com reads: “The impact of the crash woke her, panic clutching at her heart, squeezing her throat. She sat bolt upright in her bed, gasping for breath, eyes wide with horror. The early morning light touched the dark corners of the room, landed gently on the brightly colored quilt wrapped in confused contours around her legs. She looked around the room, trying to calm her night terrors. All was familiar and far from the horror she’d seen in her dreams. She felt the peace returning, creeping quietly like the mist over Seal Cove. She reached for her silk robe, soft peach, sliding its shimmering lightness over her back and arms, hiding the ugliness of the scars that would never fade. Much to be done, she reminded herself with gentle sternness. Folks are coming.” “At the heart of it, The Guest Book is about overcoming grief and loss,” Grimm says. “That makes it seem like a very serious book, but it actually is a good mix of ugly crying and snorting laughter. The story takes place in a cottage on the Quiet Side of Mount Desert Island and has as its backdrop all the beauty of Acadia National Park. The cottage is rented out to a variety of people who are each asked to fulfill a request by Dominique, the owner. That’s where The Guest Book comes into the story. The book weaves together five different stories of people who have experienced some type of loss in their lives. They come to the cottage for different reasons, but they are all seeking peace and healing.” CAROLINE, Page 10A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The local selectmen and some audience members had a discussion about revising the Town of Naples Shoreland Zoning Ordinance to allow lowimpact seasonal structures in the shoreland zone of businesses. This conversation took place during the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday. The topic of seasonal structures such as picnic tables, awnings and tents was brought up after the issue was discussed during a Naples Planning Board meeting last week. The proposed, less restrictive Shoreland Zone Ordinance would apply to the Naples Village District, which runs from Route 35
to beyond the area where the Naples Fire Station is located. The Village District is also a Limited Commercial District, which allows homeowners in that district to operate a business. The board kicked around the idea of putting the ordinance revision on the plate of the Naples Ordinance Review Committee, which has recently been meeting almost every Tuesday morning to revise the town’s Sign Ordinance. Ultimately, the board gave approval for Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak to engage an ordinance consultant. The money to hire an ordinance advisor was approved by residents at Town Meeting two years ago, he said. “We allocated money for
ordinance consolidation,” Paraschak said. “That wasn’t to say what conflicts or what is wrong. That was to compile them in a user-friendly format. They have been so piecemealed together over the last 20 years.” “I am not saying make it more restrictive or less restrictive, just make it clearer. (The town needs to) clarify it — so that it makes sense to the next code enforcement officer,” Paraschak said. Chairman Bob Caron II agreed. “Make it clear. Make it black and white,” Caron said. Paraschak said he would work on the Referrals for Proposals (RFPs) to send out to ordinance consulting firms. “That would be great. That way we can see what
Getting ‘ready’ to move ahead
ENJOYING A WINTER VISIT — This beautiful bobcat tried to stalk her breakfast one morning...but went hungry this time! (Photo by Loraine Janelle, West Bridgton)
SAD 72 budget factors, school progress FRYEBURG — It’s early in the budget process, but SAD 72 Superintendent of Schools Jay Robinson tried to paint a picture of what factors will come into play this year. Robinson outlined “factors” that will influence the fiscal year 2018 budget during the Jan. 11 school board meeting at Molly Ockett School. The three key factors are: • Debt service for the new school project. The bond payment (principal and interest) will be $1,422,113 — creating a rough increase of $172,724 to taxpayers. “The good news is that with the circuit breaker, even towns that do not meet the minimum mill expectation will receive some state subsidy to cover debt service for the bond,” Robinson noted. • Governor LePage’s proposed budget does not include funding for system adminis-
tration, which includes $66 million for central office expenses that cover superintendents, business office staff, clerical staff, legal costs, insurance and contracted services. Superintendent salaries in 2016 were just over $12 million. Another element is ending the practice of subtracting Title 1 funds from state allocations. Thus, there will be a change in student/teacher ratios to make up for the change in Title 1 practice. The recommended staffing ratios will go from 16-1 at middle school to 17-1; 15-1 at high school to 16-1; and no change at the elementary school level. Ratios for education technicians will also go up to 114-1 at elementary school and 321-1 at middle school. Currently, both are 100-1. The ratio at high school goes
our ordinances are and where they overlap,” Caron said. Earlier in the conversation, Caron favored handing over the applicable ordinances to the Ordinance Review Committee “as soon as possible.” “If it fits the needs of what she (Marie Kushner) is doing and there are others that would like to do this,” Caron said, referring to the planning board applicant. Two people spoke up, saying it was not prudent action to tailor an ordinance revision for one business owner. “This wasn’t necessarily for one applicant,” Paraschak said, “It’s to look at the ordinance. Are 12 picnic tables going to negatively impact the environment? Or a tent?” “Whatever you send ZONE, Page 10A
up from 250-1 to 316-1. Finally, under the governor’s proposal, there will be a restructuring of the funding formula for special education, which costs $352 million annually. • Stand up for Students/ Question 2 effect. The 3% surcharge on households with income greater than $200,000 approved by voters last fall will generate an additional $157 million for public schools statewide with money to be used for direct classroom instruction benefiting Maine’s 180,000 students. On the school project front, Superintendent Robinson pointed out to SAD 72 directors that the main school office, cafeteria and music room are currently in use. Work has started on existing Middle School areas. Robinson has been impressed and has admired
the “great cooperation” displayed by Middle School staff throughout the building process. In the end, SAD 72 will realize a top-flight facility, but it did require a lot of patience in the process. In other school board news: Back to evaluating. Director Norma Snow noted that there has been no evaluation of the superintendent of schools for a while, but it should be done. Following a discussion by board members, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent Heather Sheehan was instructed to find forms used in the past for evaluating the superintendent and pass them on to Ad Hoc Committee members Kay Lyman, Laurie Weston, Christopher Burk and Linda Card. Getting budget word out. Earlier this month,
Superintendent Robinson sent a letter to district town selectmen and town managers outlining how SAD 72 formulates the budget and extended an offer to meet with officials during any phase of the process to answer questions and give information to assist them in preparing their own town budgets. Robinson reminded town officials that SAD 72 will not have “solid” budgetary information to share until at least mid-March. Internships during May SAD 72, Page 2A
Determining whether a student is “ready” to attend college or enter the workforce can be measured in a number of ways. There are the PSAT and SAT measuring sticks. Lake Region Principal Erik Good told the SAD 61 school board Monday night another way is to challenge students to strive higher by signing up for a college-level class (and pass it) or enroll in a vocational program that suits an interest. Good said 50 students currently take a college-level class with an 85% passing rate. But, the principal would like to see those figures grow. “I’d like to see every student, who plans to go to college, take at least one college (level) course and pass it,” he said. He also pointed how vocational programming helps students become “career ready” if they enter the workforce following high school graduation since courses are designed to teach skills identified by potential employers. Good described vocational programs offered here as “vibrant” and successful in preparing students for real world jobs. SAD 61, Page 2A
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