SAD 61 budget numbers ‘chilling’

By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer

Quick takes from Tuesday’s Bridgton Select Board meeting:

Superintendent visit.

Town officials were given a rundown of the proposed $34-plus million SAD 61 budget by Superintendent

Al Smith (figures and assessments were reported last week by the BN, see report on our website).

Smith noted that Stevens Brook Elementary is slated for various upgrades including adjustment to the main entry area to give the office secretary a better view of individuals attempting to enter the building. Other improvements include carpet replacement and roof painting.

Smith also informed the Select Board that SAD 61 is hiring an architectural firm to evaluate district buildings. Lake Region HS is 60% renovated, but several portables currently being used along the backside of the facility are exceeding their projected lifespan (20 to 25 years). The study will look at options on how to address those spaces.

SBES enrollment increased by 60 this year, and Smith said the building could require four to six more classrooms.

With the district hoping to build and complete the new storage facility on the high school campus by fall, Smith said SAD 61 will start emptying items out of Bridgton Memorial in preparation of turning the property back over to Bridgton. Some items will be headed to the transfer station, some possibly sold and others can still be used.

“We plan to hang on to the grandstand,” Smith added. The building “provides a lot of storage,” he added. The district plans to make various improvements there this summer.

As Select Board members mentioned various figures the superintendent reported on before tackling the next item on the agenda, Board Chair Carmen Lone added a little perspective calling some figures “chilling.”

Recycling textile products. One way to reduce the town’s solid waste bill is to remove unwanted textile products and accessories from the trash stream.

While a Salvation Army bin is a place to donate usable items, old t-shirts or worn out socks or cloth often land in the compactor.

The Recycling Committee might have a better answer. Committee member Theresa Johnson pitched the idea of teaming up with Apparel Impact, a New Hampshire company, which recycles textiles. The company has recycling bins at 90 Maine locations, including Fryeburg.

Based on Bridgton’s full-

BRIDGTON, Page 2A