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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 151, No. 7
14 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
February 18, 2021
www.bridgton.com
(USPS 065-020)
95¢
Return on returnables
How is the money spent? By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer HARRISON — With many civic organizations scrambling for money as the result of Covid-19 shutting down usual fundraising drives, one person eyed returnable bottles and cans collection at Harrison’s Transfer Station as a possible source. Currently, proceeds go to the Harrison Youth Boosters, but a local citizen recently inquired to Town Manager Tim Pellerin whether the group had exclusive rights to those funds, and whether the town has any accounting of how much money is turned over to the nontown committee and how it is spent. After Pellerin filled VOICING THEIR OPINIONS about the possible sale of Nestle’s sale of its U.S. bulk bottled water business in some of the blanks, and what it means to the future of Fryeburg’s water. About 100 people took part in Saturday’s ‘sound the the individual — who alarm’ effort on Main Street in Fryeburg. (Photos by Julian Zhu) asked to remain anonymous — requested the issue be brought before the Selectboard. Admittedly, Pellerin does not know the back story as to when the arrangement was made between the town and
Sounding the Alarm
Group pushes to regain water control
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer FRYEBURG — Nickie Sekera felt Saturday was the time to sound the alarm regarding the future of Fryeburg’s water. About 100 concerned residents gathered this past Saturday outdoors first at Bradley Park to hear a handful of people speak and then positioned themselves on Main Street in Fryeburg to “Sound the Alarm” about the largest private transfer of water for bottling in U.S. history. Nestlé, the world’s largest corporate water bottler, is planning to sell its North American bulk bottled water business, which operates the brand Poland Spring and several others, to private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners. Nestle announced last June that it was considering selling its bottled water brands in North America. In Maine, Nestle has more than a halfdozen water sources and two bottling plants, employing 860 people. This massive transfer of “water
wealth,” estimated at $4 billion, is an especially ominous development in light of Wall Street’s accelerating interest in ‘water futures’ trading, according to Nickie Sekera, a Fryeburg resident and co-founder of Community Water Justice. Community Water Justice is a network of front-line communities fighting water privatization in Maine, determined to secure protections, rights and accessibility to our groundwater through education and action for future generations. “Wall Street and water don’t mix,” Sekera said. “Rural communities cannot afford to compete with Wall Street speculators for Maine’s groundwater. This water connects to all of us and should be stewarded by the local communities who depend on them, not negotiated away behind closed doors, exploited and exported by corporations for private profit.” The first hour included speeches at Bradley Park given by Sekera (who read a statement from Penobscot
Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana), her son Luke, Nora Schwarz, Heather Retburg, Nels Liljedhal and Laurie LaMountain. Then, attendees took up places at the town’s busiest intersection, at the traffic lights, where Main Street intersects with Route 113. “About half the cars passing us were honking in support. Many who slowed down and rolled their windows down to shout their support. No one reported any hostile interactions,” Sekera reported. Protestors and residents called for Nestle’s existing contracts to be nontransferrable, and for local stewardship over the groundwater. At the event, a list of demands was stated as a “road map” to restore public stewardship of the community’s groundwater source. Sekera said those demands include: • Stop the privatization of Maine’s water — Keep stewardship in the hands of the local community, not corporations or Wall Street. WATER, Page 4A
Snowmobilers:
Let it snow, a lot
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Gary Drew and his wife Carol Drew and Bob Symonds — all with the Crooked River Snowmobile Club based in Casco — spent three days clearing debris and downed trees from the 42 miles of trail system. It took three days to get the trails ready for the first snowmobile riding of the season, according to Trail Master Symonds. Then, it was time to play in the snow. “Yep, we went out [riding]. Really good trails. They are in pretty good shape for the amount of snow. Still hitting rocks in a few spots,” Club President Gary Drew said. The first nor’easter in February didn’t dump as much snow as was needed, and it wasn’t until later this month that subsequent snowfalls finally added up and brought out the snowmobiles. “This last weekend, people were out a lot,” he said, adding, “I’ve seen a ton of sleds on the trails”
on Monday, which was Presidents’ Day and a holiday for some. On Tuesday afternoon, Drew said it was “a disappointment” that the forecasted snow turned out to be sleet. “If we can get this storm on Thursday or Friday, it will help. We have a good base now. This will help. We need 5 to 8 inches to cover the rocks and the washouts and such. Any storm helps,” Drew said. Symonds was up north this week, and he was watching the weather and wishing for snow. “I called home to see what happened, and heard there was just sleet. It shouldn’t affect our trails any though. The sleet will actually help the base a little bit, cover everything,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some [snow] by the end of the week,” Symonds said. Drew learned to snowmobile before he was in kindergarten. It’s an activity he loves as an adult. “I started snowmobiling when I was 3 or 4 years old.
Boosters, and whether there was any formal agreement. Pellerin told the board last Thursday night that the individual justifiably raised a red flag since the collection point is on town property and transfer station personnel do spend time on it. Since tax dollars are involved, the town has a right to ask how the bottle money is spent. The town’s auditor agrees. Selectman Ray Laplante pointed out that there is a fine line the town can walk regarding seeking certain information because the group is a private entity. Selectman Rick Sykes agreed with the letter writer that the questions raised should be answered. “We should be able to stipulate what we want to know, and if they say ‘no,’ we say good-bye,” Sykes said. Selectboard member Penny Bean, who is involved in the town’s Christmas is for Kids effort, added, “There’s a lot of non-profit HARRISON, Page 3A
Avesta grades Berry property
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Two people on the Casco Board of Selectmen brought up the idea of using the Berry property as a space for affordable housing. First, Mary-Vienessa Fernandes said that affordable housing for the elderly is one of the services that the Town of Casco lacks. Later, Fernandes read an e-mail from the director of Avesta Housing, which listed some of the drawbacks that would make it less likely for Casco to get picked as a site for affordable housing. The e-mail concluded that other neighboring towns were able to develop senior-citizen housing, so there was hope that Casco could work toward doing the same, Fernandes said. “I put this on the agenda for current information. We can keep it on agenda to discuss from time to time,” she said. Then, Chairman Thomas Peaslee presented a concep-
tual sketch of what housing could look like in that space. “The basic intent is just to show that it can be done. That’s all,” Peaslee said. The purchase of the Berry property was approved by the majority of voters at Annual Town Meeting in 2016. It is adjacent to the Casco Town office, and it is behind and beside the Casco Fire Station. The lot has beachfront property, too. During the Casco meeting on Feb. 9, Fernandes said constructing affordable housing would fill a void in the community. The selectmen had in their packet an email from the CEO of Avesta Housing. “I want to tell you a little bit of how this came about in your package,” she said. “For a number of years, people have had concerns about limited housing, housing that is not available” for people on a limited income such as the elderly, Fernandes said. AVESTA, Page 5A
Airport lands $13,000 grant
FRYEBURG — Eastern Slopes Regional Airport in Fryeburg will receive $13,000 as part of $9.7 million awarded Maine by the federal government to help alleviate financial pressures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Ranking Member of the Transportation CHAINSAW IS A TOOL involved in snowmobile trail A p p r o p r i a t i o n s maintenance as shown in this photo of Crooked River Subcommittee, announced Snowmobile Club President Gary Drew. A lot of volun- Monday that 31 airports across Maine have been teer hours go into maintaining wintertime trails. (Photo courtesy of Crooked River Snowmobile Club) It was a small motor ski, the first sled I grew up on. My parents told me they had me out on a sled when I was 3 or 4 years old, putting around the driveway,” he said. “When I was younger, I used to like to go fast. As
I’ve gotten older, I like to enjoy the scenery and look for wild animals,” he said. “I like being the president of the club, and people comment on how good our trials are. All the work we put into it to make it a SNOWMOBILE, Page 3A
awarded financial assistance. This funding was provided through the Covid19 package that was signed into law in December. Senator Collins co-led the bipartisan group that negotiated the package. “Like other airports around the world, Maine airports are struggling to make ends meet given the sharp downturn in passenger traffic caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Senator Collins AIRPORT, Page 5A
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