Good guess Several people were right on the mark regarding the Ice Out date on Moose Pond Page 7A
Over 50 seasons
Inside News
‘Spring comes to the Farms’ profile takes a look at Sherman’s and Weston’s
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 8A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 4B Country Living . . 7A-10A
Page 2A
Directory . . . . . . . . . . 5B Obituaries . . . . . . 6B, 7B Opinions . . . . 1B-3B, 7B Police/Court . . . . . . . . 4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 9B Student News . . . 8B-9B Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 146, No. 17
20 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
April 23, 2015
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 4B
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Two chiefs will help pick new BPD leader By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen are hoping to have not one, but two police chiefs serve on the interview panel that will select a new police chief to replace Kevin Schofield, who left on April 10 to become Windham Police Chief. At a Tuesday workshop, selectmen agreed to ask Scarborough Police Chief Robbie Moulton to serve on the panel, as well as either Oxford County Sheriff Ron ‘HAPPY TO BE HERE’ — Gallant or Cumberland Interim Police Chief Jerry County Sheriff Kevin Joyce. Hinton introduced himself at last Tuesday’s Bridgton Selectmen’s meeting, saying he was “happy to be here” in Bridgton, helpBy Gail Geraghty ing out with the transiStaff Writer tion to a new police chief Sparks flew between over the next two or three Bridgton Selectmen and months. Hinton’s role Deputy Fire Chief Todd with the Bridgton Police Perrault Tuesday when Perrault Department will be primar- expressed his frustration that an ily administrative. overdue fire department study
Selectman Doug Taft said Joyce would be a good choice, because he once patrolled the town of Bridgton and is familiar with its needs. Along with the law enforcement officials, the panel will consist of a citizen, yet to be named, Town Manager Bob Peabody and Deputy Town Manager Georgiann Fleck. It will be the panel’s job to review all of the applications and whittle their number down to a list of finalists that will be given to the board for review. A decision will be made at next
Tuesday’s meeting as to how many finalists will be named. The interview panel will be guided throughout the process by the Tideview Group, which was hired by the town as a consultant. The Kennebunk firm has provided former Brunswick Police Chief and Tideview consultant Jerry Hinton to serve in an administrative role as Interim Police Chief. Ads for the new chief have been placed in the Maine Sunday Telegram, the Saturday edition of the Bangor Daily News, the
Maine Municipal Association, Maine Criminal Justice Academy and International Association of Chiefs of Police. Applications have already been coming in, said Peabody, with a submission deadline of May 12. Selectmen agreed not to have a Board of Selectmen member serve on the interview panel, since the full board will be reviewing the finalists, and having someone serve in both capacities would be “like passing it on to themselves,” said Selectman Paul Hoyt.
Taft said he planned to apply as a private citizen to serve as the citizen member on the interview panel. After all the applications have been screened and initial interviews conducted, the finalists will undergo a second and possibly a third interview, along with a background check. As Town Manager, Peabody will make the recommendation, and final confirmation will be made by the board. The process is expected to take between three and six months, Peabody estimated.
was preventing the board from acting on the department’s budget requests. “To put everything…I mean everything…on hold — I think that was wrong,” Perrault said. He said keeping the fire department budget at “status quo”
from the previous budget may cause shortfalls in covering such expenses as fuel, water and dispatching expenses. The department had requested $246,858 in the operational portion of its upcoming budget, an increase of $10,312 over last year. Town Manager Bob Peabody and the Budget Advisory Committee shaved around $3,500 from
the department request, but selectmen elected to recommend $235,453, slightly less than last year’s budget amount. In addition, the board is also recommending holding off on funding capital improvement equipment requests. The Public Safety Strategies Group began studying fire department operational, equipment and manpower needs last
summer, and was expected to have the work completed by the end of last year. On Tuesday, Peabody said the town’s contract with PSSG did not require submission of a final report by Dec. 31, 2014, but he acknowledged the town’s own frustration with the delay. “There is a great level of STUDY, Page 3A
Sparks fly over late fire department study
Casco voters accept offer; business gets long lease
HEADED TO NATIONALS — The Lake Region team of Galen McLaughlin (left), Evan Kellough and Taylor Davis (right) captured third place in state competition, earning them a trip to the National robotic competition in Boston. (Rivet Photo)
Making splash in robotic wars By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Taylor Davis likes to design things. Someday, he would like to be an engineer. Ryan Mccauley had similar aspirations when he was in high school. Today, he is an engineer at Howell Laboratories, Inc., in Bridgton. The two, along with LRHS students Evan Kellough and IN THE WATER — Galen McLaughlin, developed a robotic craft that emerged Lake Region’s Seaperch as the third-place winner at a statewide competition held in model. Bath. The Laker threesome punched a ticket to the national competition next month in Boston. The winning team credited their success to a partnership between Lake Region H.S. and Howell Labs. “The experience working with Howell Labs was phenomenal. Ryan (Mccauley, an engineer) could point out this could work or this won’t work, but he also gave us our own space to try things and not tell us what to do, at the same Lake Region students time,” Kellough said. will need to raise $1,300 Mccauley advised and helped students troubleshoot to attend the National during the design and production phases of the Seaperch Seaperch Challenge to project. be held on May 29–30 “The biggest challenge we faced was the time constraint at the University of in the design process. Six to eight weeks from start to finish. Massachusetts, Dartmouth. It’s a pretty rapid process,” he said. “They (the students) did Donations or questions a great job at adapting.” regarding the fundraising LRHS teacher Joe Dorner said there were three teams effort may be sent to team that worked with Mccauley, yet what impressed him most advisor, Joe Dorner, at joe. was how the students interacted — they were competitive, dorner@lakeregionschools. yet also were willing to help each other. org or call him at Lake “All the groups — we had three involved in the Seaperch Region High School at 693project — really worked well together. They helped each 6221. other, bounced ideas off each other. Their experience from last year really paid off. Hopefully, these students in their first year will come back next year and provide the kind of leadership these guys did this year,” he said. The project was a perfect example of SAD 61’s educational approach of tapping into the local community to team up professionals who can bring their “real world” skills to the student body. “The business partnership SAD 61 has developed with Howell Labs benefits us as a community. I believe an effective education system provides a strong foundation for ecoROBOTICS, Page 10A
How to help out
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Welcome to the Village. Watch your water usage. When it was all said and done, the majority of the Casco voters in attendance at Special Town Meeting decided to give a new business the opportunity to move into the bank building — amid concerns that the structure had been considered as a possible site for town hall. Residents at Thursday’s meeting also learned that the town would soon have to budget for a new septic drain system. After all, the almost 40-year-old leach field is shared by the Casco Community Center, the Casco Public Library, and the small building adjacent to the library. Many of those present at the public meeting wanted the basic details about the business owners interested in renting the town-owned edifice dubbed by locals as “the bank building.”
SOMETIME THIS SUMMER there will be a welcome mat on the steps of the former TD bank building. During Casco Special Town Meeting on Thursday, residents backed a multiyear lease of the town property to a new business. (De Busk Photo) The couple stepping into the picture with a detailed business proposal lives in Otisfield, according to Town Manager Dave Morton. For the past 20 years, Dave and Robyn Kimball have operated Homestead Hairstyling
in South Portland. When their business relocates to Casco, it will get a new name — All About Raven Hair Salon. In addition to the beauty salon, a portion of the space will OFFER, Page 5A
for the allocation they use? Selectmen had initially approved the questions without adding the board’s recommendation, but later learned that secret ballot articles that request an appropriation of money must be accompanied by a recommendation of the municipal officers. Because the three questions don’t include a specific dollar figure, however, the board learned that the recommendation is optional after seeking legal advice. Selectman Paul Hoyt had sought a “yes” vote on funding the bus service, but his motion failed for lack of a
second. Hoyt voted against the “no” vote recommendation on the bus service, but Selectmen Bernie King and Doug Hoyt were in favor. Selectmen Bob McHatton and Ken Murphy were absent. McHatton submitted his votes in writing, however, and he sided with Hoyt in recommending “yes” on the bus route question, while recommending a “no” vote on both the Town Hall and sewer allocation questions. The board also decided to hold a public hearing on the referendum questions, which also include several ordiPETITIONS, Page 6A
Selectmen recommend ‘no’ votes on petitions
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Selectmen voted Tuesday to recommend that Bridgton voters reject all three of the referendums submitted by citizen petition for inclusion on the June 9 election ballot. The board’s “no” vote recommendation will be added to the ballot on these questions, whose wording has been summarized for simplicity: • Should the Lakes Region Bus from Bridgton to Portland be funded by raising Bridgton’s mil rate by 1 cent? • Should there be no spending on Town Hall repairs, other than from insurance claims, until the cost of both interior and exterior repairs are known and approved by voters? • Should the town exempt sewer allocations bought before July 1, 2014 from any and all amendments to the Sewer Ordinance, and allow exempted users to pay only
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