Hall of Famers Bill and Bruce Chalmers inducted into the Maine Business Hall of Fame established by Jr. Achievement Page 2A
Home destroyed
Inside News
2011 continues to be a bad year for fires as a blaze leaves a Casco home a complete loss
Calendar. . . . . . . 3B, 5B
Page 8A
Classifieds . . . . . 4D-5D Country Living . . .4B-7B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 3D Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6D Opinions 1D-3D, 5D, 7D Police/Court . . . . . . . .6A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1C-5C Student News . . . . . . 6C Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B Weather . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com Vol. 142, No. 20
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 28 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
May 19, 2011
(USPS 065-020)
SIXTY CENTS
SAD 61 clears hurdle, deep concerns aired Proposed budget intact, validation referendum Tues.
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Although the SAD 61 proposed $26,838,233 budget cleared its first hurdle Tuesday night, a red flag may have been raised. School officials told 79 voters they made many tough decisions to produce a budget that has the best interest of children and taxpayers in mind. Initially, there was little discussion on the first 11 warrant articles as voters approved recommended figures (see Page 5A for breakdowns). Yet, Elaine Heuiser of Casco reminded school officials that a depressed economy has resulted in many losing their jobs, while others fear their homes could be foreclosed upon. “There are people in the community that can’t afford any more money coming out of their pockets (especially as everything keeps going up, like $4
for milk and gas is at $4 per gallon). It would be wise to make some cuts,” she said. “People are already strapped. Education is important, but have you really researched whether or not people can afford this (the proposed budget)? We have no place to go to get more money, and this economy will only get worse.” Superintendent Patrick Phillips pointed out that limiting taxpayers’ burden has been a major consideration over the past six years, especially as SAD 61 continued to lose state aid under the Essential Programs and Services funding formula. “The board has worked hard to keep the expenditure budget at a bare minimum. Our costs — labor, fuel, paper, food — are inflating, just like households,” he said. “Yet, we’ve managed an average expenditure increase of less than 1 percent per year.” Finance Director Janice Barter of Naples said SAD 61 has been
“handcuffed” financially by the state, which has deemed the Lake Region as “land rich,” thus cutting education aid and creating a greater burden for local taxpayers. One line creating a major impact on the budget is Debt Service. With SAD 61 starting the high school renovation project, the district saw its debt service jump $705,5554 to a proposed $1,093,460. Naples Selectman Rick Paraschak said the proposed budget would have a “major impact” on the town’s tax rate. “It’s a huge number — a big hit,” he said. With all articles passing, moderator Steve Collins of Bridgton closed the meeting at 7:54 p.m. Now, taxpayers head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not “to validate” the district budget CASTING NO VOTES — Elaine Heuiser of Casco raises her blue card to indicate a “no” meeting vote. A “no” would send vote on one of the warrant articles at Tuesday’s SAD 61 District Budget Meeting held at Lake the budget back to school offi- Region High School. Heuiser called for cuts in wake of tough economic times. (Rivet Photo)
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer B r i d g t o n ’s new Comprehensive Plan Committee has broadened its charge from selectmen from a strict focus on Portland Road to include all of Route 302 from the Naples to the Fryeburg town lines, as well as Route 117 to the Harrison town line. They did so to ensure that there will be consistency in the development standards they will be recommending, while realizing their primary focus will still need to stay on Portland Road
if they are to deliver amendments to the site plan review ordinance as promised in time for a November vote. Cart before the horse? At their first meeting on May 2, member Greg Watkins had concerns about “putting the cart before the horse” by focusing only on Portland Road, where pressures from national chain stores and fast food restaurants are greatest. Selectmen created the committee following the March 1 referendum, in which residents decisively defeated proposed bans on fast-food
restaurants and big box stores along the corridor. The committee considered asked selectmen to attend one of their meetings and help them clarify their charge, since there was disagreement among several members about what they were supposed to do, and concern that the state would not support a comprehensive plan developed from a “spot-zoning” approach. Co-chairman Ray Turner said the town delayed action on imposing stricter regulations along Portland Road follow-
BUDGET, Page 5A
Comprehensive Plan Committee broadens charge ing passage of the 2004 comprehensive plan, and “now the barbarians are at the gate and we don’t have sufficient protection.” He reminded member Fred Packard that the town already had an approved comprehensive plan, and that the amendments would be based on that. Packard responded, “that’s one opinion,” and reminded others that a conventional comprehensive plan typically takes up to two years to complete. He said it was his opinion that residents, during debate leading up
King: No thanks
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Stephen King doesn’t want Bridgton to attach his name to a literary festival. It goes against the main reason he loves western Maine: it’s one place on the planet where he’s treated just like everyone else. That was the word from King spokesman Rand Holston on Tuesday, who called Bridgton Economic and Community Development Director Alan Manoian after reading in The Bridgton News about Manoian’s plans to hold a “Bridgton Celebrates Stephen King Festival” this October. “He said that Stephen would prefer that you do not conduct this event,” Manoian said Holston told him. “It has to do with the nature of Stephen King’s lifestyle here, he loves the area, and it’s somewhere where he’s not subjected to that type of intense public exposure.” Calls to Holston’s Los Angeles, Calif. office were not returned by press time. Despite King’s preference, Manoian said he wasn’t prepared to immediately rule out the idea of the festival, for which a June 1 exploratory meeting has been planned. He KING, Page 6A
DEFENDANTS — (Left to right) Michael Petelis, Anthony Papile and Kyle Ferguson.
Man charged in Dittmeyer murder; 2 face conspiracy By Lisa Williams Ackley Staff Writer OSSIPEE, N.H. — The three men arrested last week in connection with the death of Krista Deann Dittmeyer may have lured her to an apartment so they could steal money and drugs from her, according to investigators. One of the men, 28-year-old Anthony Papile, of Ossipee, who allegedly struck her in the head three times with a rubber club, has been charged with seconddegree murder. Judge Robert Varney ordered Papile, who faces up to life in prison if convicted, held without bail. According to the criminal complaint filed in Ossipee District Court, Papile killed Dittmeyer by “suffocating and/or drowning” her. Two other men, 28-year-old Michael Petelis, of Ossipee, and 23-year-old Trevor Ferguson, of
Tamworth, N.H. were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Petelis and Ferguson could each face up to a maximum of 15 years in prison, if convicted. Bail for both men has been set at $250,000 cash. Dittmeyer’s mother, LaNell Shackley, who was inside the courtroom when the three men made their initial court appearance, was visibly shaken as she sat through the court proceedings and heard the alleged details of her daughter’s death. Documents, such as the autopsy results and information obtained via search warrants, have been sealed for 90 days, as of May 12, and no further information will be made available, according to prosecutors who have 90 days to bring the case before a grand jury for indictments.
The 20-year-old single mother was found dead in a small snowmaking pond at the base of Mount Cranmore in North Conway, N.H., on April 27, four days after her Nissan Sentra sedan was found running and abandoned and in a nearby parking lot with her 14-month-old baby girl inside and unharmed. Her death According to documents filed by investigators and prosecutors in the case, Petelis sent Dittmeyer a text message at 9:43 p.m. on April 22 telling her to call him when she was about to arrive at his apartment on Route 16 in Ossipee. Prosecutors allege that Papile hit Dittmeyer in the head with a rubber club and then he and Petelis bound her with duct tape. It was Papile, prosecutors said, who placed Dittmeyer in the trunk DITTMEYER, Page 5A
to the referendum, wanted the town to focus on impacts to the downtown stretch of Route 302. He added that there were parcels along Route 302 west that would appeal to motel developers, and those concerns should not be ignored. “One of (those parcels) is large enough to become a Marriott” Hotel, he said. “That’s as much a possibility as something happening on (the Portland Road),” adding that a 50-unit motel-hotel is planned along Route 302 in Windham. Member Chuck Renneker
said it just made sense to include all the town’s major gateways in the committee’s review. Alan Manoian, Bridgton’s Director of Economic and Community Development who is providing staff direction to the committee, said the selectmen’s charge, as outlined in a memo from Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz following the board’s March 15 workshop, referred to the creation of “standards that would be applied to the Route 302 corridor for future development” CHARGE, Page 3A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — This week’s weather has thrown a wet blanket on the paving schedule for the Causeway, according to an official with the state transportation department. “The rain is messing with everything. It’s pushing our schedule back,” said Craig Hurd, the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) resident engineer involved with the Bay of Naples Bridge project. On Monday through Wednesday, downpours and drizzle stopped Rampart Paving Crews from completing the shoulders of Route 302 along the Causeway. “It’s a trickledown effect,” Hurd said. “We have to pave the rest of the road before we install the curbs. We have to install more curbs, before we can install the gravel sidewalks.” “We have the main road paved,” but crews cannot put down the next layer of asphalt mixture until the road dries, he said. Approximately 800 feet of shoulder needs to be paved,
according to Hurd, who calculated paving crews will require between three and four dry days to get job done. In addition to the shoulders and the parking spaces on the Long Lake side of the Causeway, Route 114 and Lakehouse Road are on the paving list, he said. Contractors account for a few days of uncooperative weather during the construction period — it is something built into the expected work schedule. “But they can’t account for it to happen five days or six days in a row,” Hurd said. “I am hoping for a spell of dry weather so the road can dry,” he said. At the National Weather Service based in Gray, forecasts aren’t favorable for paving during the remainder of the week. “It’s just constant showers. It’ll be more rain through the week,” NWS meteorologist Dan St. Jean said. “We’ve got a slug of moisture coming up from southern New England this afternoon,” he said on Monday. “A low pressure system that is down over the MidDRIZZLE, Page 6A
Drizzle dampens construction clock
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