Time to remember
Change in policy?
Inside News
Memorial Day services are planned throughout the Lake Region area
For her capstone project, Alyvia Wilson raises issue of allowing hats to be worn at LRHS
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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870 Vol. 150, No. 21
32 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
May 23, 2019
www.bridgton.com
(USPS 065-020)
95¢
Super charger
Selectmen like idea, not initial Depot Street location
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Jimmy Ellis sees an opportunity for Bridgton that has him supercharged. Ellis is the program development point person for ChargePoint, which is proposing to install two DC fast charging stations for electric vehicles. Working with Efficiency Maine, ChargePoint is looking to place the fast-charging stations in seven locations statewide. Ellis recently met with Bridgton selectmen as a follow-up conversation to one introducing the idea a few months ago. Founded in 2007, ChargePoint is the “largest and most open” EV charging network in the country with 60,000-plus charging spots with 49 million-plus charges delivered.
cles. The DC fast stations provide a charge range of up to 250 miles per hour, and has the ability to monitor number of uses. Bridgton has a Level 2 charger located at the rear section of the municipal parking lot between the Community Center and DownEast Industries. Ellis had hoped to move the charging units closer to Depot Street to provide greater visibility for users and likely easy access to a three-phase power source. The “licensed” area would require four to eight parking spaces and two equipment pads measuring about 6-feet by 9-feet. There would be no cost to Bridgton for the lifetime of the project, but ChargePoint would look for a site license agreement for a minimum of seven years. ChargePoint maintains the stations and pays all fees associated with installation. Ellis hopes to have a site license agreement in place by August so the charging stations could be operational by September or November. Selectmen liked the idea of upgrading the charging capabilities here as well as the possible lure of the EV community to make stops CHARGER, Page 3A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — This Memorial Day will be a historic one in Naples. It will be the first time that Memorial Day services are held at the new location of the Veterans’ Monument. In fact, on Memorial Day, a brief, rededication of the monument will be part of the observances. The services in Naples start at 11 a.m. on Monday. Several weeks ago, the large, granite Naples Veterans’ Monument was moved by a professional monument-moving company to a spot at the Naples Town Beach, at the top of the hill in the area locals
refer to as Kent’s Landing. “It looks a lot better. People can see it a lot better. When they look at the lake, they see the monument,” according to American Legion Post #155 commander Curtis Merrill. At the old location, which was on the corner of the Village Green, on a sliver of property between Route 11 and Village Green Lane (the exit from the town hall) the monument often got overlooked by passersby, Merrill said. “It looks great now. I am getting a lot of comments on how nice it looks,” he said. “Everybody (at the Legion) is delighted by
UPCYCLING BAGS — After researching and writing an essay on climate change, Ella Sulloway, of Bridgton, decided to do away with plastic bags at the grocery store. From an old pillow case and gauze curtains, she created bags for produce. (De Busk Photo)
Voters in Bridgton, Casco and Naples validated the $29-plus million SAD 61 budget, and will keep the current validation process in place. The budget, which was approved at the district meeting held May 7, passed at the ballot box Tuesday in
all three towns. Here’s the breakdown: Bridgton: 53 yes, 13 no Casco: 48 yes, 17 no Naples: 170 yes, 56 no Total: 271 yes, 86 no Despite persistent low turnouts at town polling places, voters retained the current validation process
by a 227 to 75 margin. The process of holding a district meeting followed up by a validation vote will remain in place for the next three years. Here’s how vote breakdown: Bridgton: 41 yes, 27 no Casco: 34 yes, 27 no Naples: 152 yes, 71 no.
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer State of Maine lawmakers are still taking testimony on LD 1532, a bill that would eliminate the use of single-use plastic carry-out bags. Those are the plastic bags in which customers’ purchases are
ing week, the bill goes to Gov. Janet Mills’ desk. The bill language states paper bags will be used with a fee attached to encourage customers to use recycled bags instead of paying each time. Recipients of SNAP (food stamp program) would
not pay the paper bag fee. Also, the paper bags must be made from recycled materials. It was fitting that at the same time that a plastic bag ban could become state law, a group of community members sat down in Bridgton and watched,
Bag It, a documentary on the plastic bag. On Tuesday, Lakes Environmental Association (LEA) hosted a screening of the 2010 movie “Bag It” and held an informal discussion afterwards. In the nine years since the PLASTIC, Page 2A
IN SERVICE NOW at the Bridgton municipal parking lot between the Community Center and DownEast Industries. Ellis said the charging equipment is “state-of-theart” which allows for future flexibility. It has the ability to charge all electric vehi-
MORE VISIBLE LOCATION — The Naples Veterans’ Monument is situated in a new space, on the hill above the Naples Town Beach. (De Busk Photo)
Legion rededicates veterans’ monument
Validation vote stays
Get ready, plastic is on the way out? placed to carry out of a store or during drivethrough transactions. Already this month, the Maine Legislature’s Environmental and Natural Resources Committee has held workshops and public hearings on the bill to ban plastic bags. This upcom-
what has happened. We’ll be there on Memorial Day,” he said. The Naples services will start at 11 a.m. “We’re planning on doing a short rededication of the monument. We thought it would be nice since it was put in a different spot to rededicate it,” Merrill said. Also, the American Legion is putting the word out to make sure there aren’t any veterans whose names should be on the monument. “We are looking for any veteran who entered the service from the Town of Naples whose name is not on the monument,” Merrill said. If anyone was a Naples resident when they enlisted with the U.S. military or knows a family member who was, please contact Willis Stuart, (207) 6933281. The move of the Naples monument took place last month. For selectmen and members of the American Legion, the project was a long time in the talk-aboutit stage. In fact, it was about seven years ago that Merrill starting talking with selectmen, at the time when Fred Adams and Bob Caron, Sr., were sitting on the board. Later, it was Selectman Bob Caron II who staked the area where the monument would go. Several years passed after Caron first staked out a place at Kent’s Landing. Finally, this April, everyMONUMENT, Page 2A
Relics: tough to put price tag on By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — A set of ice skates, an antique ice box, a restored sleigh, ice saws and photographic documentation of workers cutting blocks of ice on Brandy Pond — those are a few of the items inside the Naples Museum. It is difficult to put a price on such items. They might be irreplaceable antiques to Naples residents who appreciate and want to preserve the past, but the general public might not see the dollar value of such items. Despite the difficulty of this task, a group of local appraisers is working on putting a price on the varied contents of the Naples Museum, according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley. On May 13, Hawley reported that the cost for inventorying and appraising the museum items was TOOLS FROM ANOTHER ERA Antique tools used $900. for icehouse businesses and for timber harvesting are The expense had not been displayed at the Naples Museum. (De Busk Photo) budgeted for in this or the
next fiscal year, he said. The town manager recommended using the Unanticipated Expense account. The Naples Board of Selectmen voted to pay for the service using the Unanticipated Expense account. Since board members usually ask about the remaining balance, Hawley said that there is $5,565 left in the Unanticipated Expense account. Every year, the Town of Naples sets aside $25,000 as a contingency fund in that account. There are about six weeks left until the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. For the past few months, Hawley has been giving updates on the museum. “The appraisers have taken the inventory of the contents inside the museum. Three appraisers documented and photographed all the items and have begun the appraisal process to provide us with a complete report,” Hawley said on May 13.
VINTAGE ICE SKATES sit atop the snow roller inside the Naples Museum. The snow roller was attached to a sleigh and used to press down snow on Maine roads before motorized vehicles became commonplace. (De Busk Photo) “Although I have not this work was about $900,” received the exact quote, the he said. verbal estimate to complete MUSEUM, Page 2A
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