Sports previews How will local teams fare this spring? Coaches offer their insights in scouting reports Page 1B
Go figure
Inside News
Fryeburg Academy wins the state math championship at Augusta Civic Center
Calendar . . . . . 11A-12A Classifieds . . . . . . 6B-7B Country Living . . 7A-12A
Page 5B
Directory . . . . . . . . . . 7B Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6A Opinions . . . . . . 8B-12B Police/Court . . . . . 4A-5A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1B-5B Student News . . . . . . 5B Games . . . . . . . . . . . 11B
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 147, No. 15
24 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
April 14, 2016
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 8B
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Crooked River project fails, once again
Now what? For the second time, SAD 61 voters rejected a plan to renovate and build additional classroom space at the Crooked River school facility on Route 11 in Casco to ease overcrowding at Songo
Locks School in Naples. The $7.88 million proposal was defeated by 419 votes, passing in Naples and Casco, but falling in Bridgton and Sebago. Despite comments made at a public hearing that there was no move to
Casco — 325 yes, 254 no close Sebago Elementary Naples — 419 yes, 406 School, there was no change in the direction of local vot- no Sebago — 33 yes, 423 no ers there, who defeated the Total: 1,156 yes, 1,575 no proposal by a hefty margin There were 2,731 votes Here’s the final tally: Bridgton — 379 yes, 492 cast. SAD 61 officials scaled no
the project down after voters rejected a previous plan calling for $9.6 million. At a meeting prior to Tuesday’s vote, Superintendent of Schools Al Smith said if the project was defeated, the school
board would re-examine several options and would likely need to rent portable units to address Songo Locks overcrowding until a permanent solution is developed and approved by taxpayers.
Tour bus stop on Nulty Street? By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen are negotiating to buy the Depot Street Redemption Center and the parking lot across from it on Nulty Street for redevelopment as a Welcome Center/Bus Tour Stop with long-awaited downtown public restrooms. Selectman Chairman Bernie King made the announcement at the beginning of Tuesday’s regular meeting, after holding an executive session to discuss the deal.
A SPIRITED TRIP TO ADMIRAL PEARY INN in Fryeburg. Maine Afterlife Research Society members recently spent time seeking paranormal activity at the historic bed & breakfast. Pictured are (left to right) Inn owner Donna Pearce, MARS investigators Toby Hartford, Toni London, Kassie Scott, Dan Scott, Tim Michaud and Phil York.
‘I became a believer’
Society seeks out proof of ‘spirits’ • Paranormal — Adj.
of or relating to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena. By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer When Toby Hartford was a child, he always wanted to see a ghost. But, he never did. “I wanted ‘something’ or ‘stuff to happen.’ I read a lot about it, but never had anything happen to me until about eight years ago. I had some paranormal stuff happen and became very curious about it,” he said. Toby and his brother started a group in Waterville investigating paranormal activity. He was later joined by Tim Michaud of Casco and Phil York. Dan Scott works with Toby, and when the two started talking about “spirits,” Dan joined the investigative team. Toni London and Toby started Maine Afterlife Research Society last October with just three people, and are trying to grow its membership so they can take on bigger investigations. “I’ve always watched the ghost hunting shows on TV, and was skeptical. I was curious, is it true? I became a believer after the first time going out with the group. It was a blast. It’s scary. If you give out a sense of fear, they seemed to come after you. It’s the real deal,” says MARS investigator Tim Michaud of Casco. Phil York also watches ghost hunter
TV shows and has done a lot of reading about paranormal activity for 10 to 15 years. “Tim told me about Toby and his brother’s group, and I joined. I’ve always wanted to know more about after life. I definitely believe now that there is ‘something’ in the after life. It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. Dan Scott of Farmington has been interested in a lot of things in the unknown — unknown creatures like Big Foot, UFOs. “I’ve always been intrigued, and being an adrenaline junky, this has been a fun ride,” he said. Kassie Scott has had “things happen, seeing and hearing things, for a long time, ever since I can remember.” Since she was a child, she has experienced “shadow people, and some very strange occurrences.” She described one experience on the MARS Facebook page: “I was outside playing in the snow with my younger sister at our apartment in Auburn. There was an abandoned apartment building right beside ours. It had been empty the whole time we lived in that building. I’m not sure what or why, but for some reason that day, I couldn’t take my attention off of the building. I walked up to the side of the building and just stood there staring at
However, the board did vote on the completeness of the application, and it agreed to schedule an additional meeting two weeks from Monday to consider approval on the site plan. The policy that came into play on Monday night requires that all paperwork for all applications must be turned into the town office at least three weeks before the planning board’s monthly meeting. If that deadline is not met, the application will
Bridgton reval nearly complete By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The town-wide revaluation is all but complete, and soon there will be a new tax value for every property in town. Assessor John O’Donnell of John E. O’Donnell & Associates told Bridgton Selectmen Tuesday he and his staff over the past year “have gone to every home, every business” of the around 5,000 taxable properties in town, and have also studied sketches, photos and other tax information on file at the Bridgton Municipal Complex. While he said “a significant number of properties will change in value,” O’Donnell did not say by how much, or whether the increases will be more than the decreases. “Some will go up, some will remain the same,” he said,
echoing a quote commonly heard with town-wide revaluations. One piece of news he provided was that “The core of your market — the breadand-butter market, the starter homes — they’ve gone down a little bit” in value. The reasons can be tied to the current market, the wear and tear on properties since the last revaluation a decade ago and the fact that there are fewer buyers. “It isn’t such a robust market” for real estate sales right now, said O’Donnell. He said his team came up with values based on sales from 2013 to the present, with an average sales ratio of 99%. Including several years of sales rather than a narrow window maintains a high ratio and is more consistent, he explained. REVAL, Page 2A
Petition seeks help for H.E.L.P.
SPIRIT IN THE ROOM? This image was photographed facing doorway of the Serengeti Room at the Admiral Peary Inn in Fryeburg. The blue and black of the object means that it is colder than the area around. It’s approximately 5’6” to 5’10” tall. it. As I was staring at it, it seemed to change colors right in front of me, but it was more like watching a dream than it was seeing it in front of me, it went through a series of colors then stopped at either pale yellow or light grey (I’m having a hard time recalling the color). The apartment had occupants in it and SPIRITS, Page 5A
Policy delays town hall decision By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The planning board drew the line in the sand — at the risk of delaying the breaking of ground on the future Casco Town Hall construction project. The majority of people sitting on the Casco Planning Board decided to uphold an application deadline policy, which led to the board not considering an approval of the Casco Town Hall site plan on Monday.
“While we can’t get into specifics, we are in negotiation (on) a purchase and sales agreement with the Redemption Center and parking lot across the street, from owners Lisa and Andrew Clark,” King said. No price was specified, but King said voters will be asked to approve taking money from the undesignated fund balance for the purchase at the June 15 Town Meeting. The assessed value for the redemption center and its footprint next to Corn Shop TOUR BUS, Page 2A
not be considered during that upcoming meeting. While the town hall site plan application adhered to the deadline date for the March meeting, a handful of changes to the plan were received on April 1 instead of March 21, according to Chairman Lynne Potter. “As a voter in the Town of Casco, I would like to have the town hall moved forward expeditiously. The documents were turned in two weeks late, on April 1,”
Potter said. “Another (unrelated) item was postponed because it was turned in two hours after the deadline,” she said. “If we accept this application we are setting a precedence. It is up to the board as to how they want to proceed with it,” Potter said. “The town employees who are involved in this should be held to a higher standard. Eleven days late is really pushing it,” she said. TOWN HALL, Page 3A
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Community H.E.L.P., a Bridgton nonprofit organization providing clothing and other assistance to needy families, wants to be more visible. Despite its success in growing its operation since it began several years ago, Community H.E.L.P. still isn’t widely-known to residents because of its location on Nulty Street, a side street off Main Street in the downtown. Efforts by Manager Patti Wininger to have a sign put up on Main Street directing people to the charity have also not been successful. Supporters, therefore, decided recently to take the matter into their own hands, and start a citizen’s petition to ask voters to help subsidize a move to a better location. According to Code Enforcement Officer Robbie
Baker, the organization wants to rent the front part of the Squeaky Clean Laundromat on the Portland Road, where Western Maine Dance Studio was once located. “There’s some code issues that need to be resolved” before such a move could take place, Baker added. The nonprofit is seeking $10,000 from taxes to cover moving expenses, purchase new fixtures and cover rent for a period of time after the move, until the store can become self-sustaining through increased sales. On Tuesday, Town Manager Bob Peabody said the signatures on the petition have been certified and the petition is valid. He suggested to Bridgton Selectmen that they move the referendum question forward. Several selectmen, however, had questions, and the PETITION, Page 4A
The Bridgton News Established 1870
P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. Bridgton, ME 04009 207-647-2851 Fax: 207-647-5001 bnews@roadrunner.com