Happy to celebrate
How they finished
Inside News
Despite some light rain and a delayed start, Bridgton and Naples celebrated the 4th
Over 900 runners and walkers completed the 45th Bridgton 4 on the Fourth
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 6B
Pages 3A, 8A
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 7B Country Living . . . 5B-7B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 3B
Page 5A
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 4B Opinions . . . . . . . 1B-4B Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8B Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A Student News . . . . . . . . Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 3B
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870 Vol. 150, No. 27
16 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
July 8, 2021
Legal Notices . . . . . . . 2B
www.bridgton.com
(USPS 065-020)
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Some paving pushed to 2022 By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer While some in-town roads will sport smooth surfaces by fall, others will remain scarred from new sewer line installation into 2022. Engineer Brent Bridges of Woodard & Curran gave a road work overview to Bridgton Selectboard members Tuesday night during a workshop meeting. Presently, Sargent has three crews working on the sewer project, while the Bridgton Water District has one. “Between designing drainage and the street upgrades, things are meshing together well,” he said. Bridges noted that the Water District added Wayside Avenue and Kennard
Street to the water main improvement list. Meanwhile, a draft plan has been developed regarding paving and drainage work slated for completion by this fall. Because of pipe cost and availability, along with time remaining in the construction season, Bridges said the target is to do 50% of road paving and drainage work this year. “Pipe is hard to come by and its cost is 50% higher than a year ago,” he said. “To not pay premium prices, we looked at what we can do effectively and efficiently this year and push the rest of the paving and drainage work to next year.” A color-coded map illustrated work to be completed in 2021, as follows: Gage,
Fowler, Walker and Cottage Streets; Wayside Avenue, Nulty, Park and Elm Streets, Hillcrest Avenue; Gibbs Avenue; Crockett, Meadow, Mechanic, School and Pine Streets, and a small section of Willett Road. The cost breakdown: paving $368,000; drainage $161,000; 10% contingency $52,000; total cost, $581,000. The goal is to complete construction by the end of August, and pave at the end of October. Paving and drainage work to be completed in 2022: Pleasant, North High, South High, Kennard, Bacon and Bennett Streets. Roads to be reclaimed and paved PAVING, Page 3A
Aroma Joe’s headed to Plaza By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The caffeine fix is not cut and dried. In fact, in the near future, people in Naples will have two choices for getting to-go coffee. The Naples Planning Board approved the site plan for an Aroma Joe’s drivethrough in the Lakes Plaza — a stone’s throw from Dunkin’ Donuts. Essentially, the board approved the project as presented, pending approval of a traffic study by the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT). As part of the motion that was OK’d on Tuesday night, no Certificate Of
Occupancy permit can be approved until DOT signs off on the project. “They are waiting on a traffic study from DOT, but that has no impact on the site plan,” according to Planning Board Chairman Doug Bogdan. It is likely that DOT will require a center turn-lane for the additional traffic into the Lakes Plaza, but that has yet to be determined. Initially, the planning board saw the Aroma Joe’s site plan on May 18. The primary changes to the site plan since then were a more defined drivethrough area with an extra lane for vehicles to exit and
also a reduction in lighting for neighbors. Additionally, landscaping plans were more specific. James Seymour, civil engineer with Sebago Technics, presented the amended site plan to the board and audience members. Aroma Joe’s will be located in an end unit in the building, he said. “If you look at the plan, the entrance toward the drivethrough is closer to Route 302,” he said. The drive-through entrance starts sooner than the original plan, allowing for 10 vehicles to be in the queue. There is an island that the vehicles will drive around.
The island will be seeded and will have a few maples growing there. Two-way traffic is permissible in the parking lot, up until the point that people AROMA, Page 8A
POWERFUL PERFORMANCE was given by Dave Albert of Fryeburg, who received a loud ovation after singing the National Anthem prior to the start of the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth road race. Under mostly misty conditions, over 900 runners and walkers completed the race. Albert also ran the race, finishing with a time of 34 minutes, 45 seconds. See results and photos on Page 5A. (Rivet Photo)
Moose Landing expands with Rte. 302 showroom
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Moose Landing Marina will be constructing a 10,800-squarefoot boat show room on its Route 302 property overlooking Brandy Pond. The Naples Planning Board unanimously approved the major site plan for the structure that will be designed as a retail space, rather than a boat storage space. The two things that the board asked the applicant to compromise on were: Planting more trees and not parking trailers on portions of the lot closest to Route 302. The motion was to approve the site plan as amended, which included planting 17 trees in two rows around the building, except on the side where boats will be transported to and from the show room. Another caveat of the site-plan approval is that no trailers will be parked to the north side of existing
septic, or between the new building and Route 302, only retail display boats on trailers will be situated between the plantings and Route 302. Present at Tuesday night’s meeting were Chairman Doug Bogdan, John Thompson, Jimmy Allen and Martina Witts. Alternate Marty Zartarian acted as a voting member. Esther Bizier, of Main Land Development Consultants based in Livermore Falls, presented the site plan for Moose Landing Marina. Witts was the one who suggested more plantings after hearing the presentation. She questioned why there were only seven trees proposed to be planted in an area of such a large expanse. Clearly by arborist’s standards there was room for more trees. “Planting them 15 feet apart, I was thinking more two rows of 17 trees,” Witts
FRYEBURG — If there was something actually good that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic for Will Marshall, it was inspiration and creativity that ultimately landed him a state film and video first prize. The recent Fryeburg Academy graduate claimed the Maine Public Grand Prize for his 8-minute, 54-second production at the 43rd Maine Student Film and Video Festival. Titled, Days Before Summer, the short film/ video was praised by judges, “The experience of being a student during the pandemic is perfectly encapsulated in this dreamlike, expansive cinematic journey.” The Festival received submissions from K-12 students from around the state. The selected short films reflect the skill of young Maine filmmakers and the invaluable support they receive from their teachers, parents, and communities. A ceremony celebrating the students’ filmmaking achievements will be held during the Maine International Film Festival on July 17, at 12:30 p.m.
at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. The event is free and open to the public. Masks will be mandatory for all attendees of the event. Marshall’s work is one of the selected films. “I’m insanely proud of this EP and accompanying film I put together for my capstone project at Fryeburg Academy. If you don’t know, a capstone project is a showcase and culmination of your work in art classes, in and outside of school,” wrote Marshall on his Facebook page. “I took my skills in music production and videography and put this together with the help of Bryn Leonard.” Marshall posted the link there to the 8:54 clip posted on YouTube. He recognized Leonard “for constantly motivating me and inspiring me to push my boundaries,”
said. Bizier explained the logic of fewer trees. “We staggered the plantings. It is a relatively tall building. We do want them to grow up,” she said. Witts said, “And they will. An evergreen, a balsam needs 15 feet of spacing to grow to maturity.” Bizier said the applicant was open to adding more trees if that is what the board wanted. Planning Board member Thompson asked how many more Witts was suggesting. She said ten more trees. “Seventeen (17) total,” Bizier said. “The building, the whole thing is set down from the road. It is not really at that same level.” Witts spoke again. “We are clearly not trying to hide the building — just soften the appearance,” she said. Naples Planner Ben Smith started the discussion EXPANDS, Page 7A
FA grad’s short film lands state grand prize
QUITE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT — Local hiker Scott “Scotty” Bruns completed the rigorous White Mountains 4000 Footer Grid this past April. He proudly shows a sign marking the moment. (Photo by Neal Lyon)
Local hiker conquers the ‘Grid’ gauntlet
By Andrea Elder-Bruns Special to The News Quick, what’s 48 x 12? Unless you’re a math whiz, the answer is probably not on the tip of your tongue. For one Bridgton resident, the answer — 576 — is automatic, and leads to an incredible story of perseverance and accomplishment. That Bridgton resident is Scott “Scotty” Bruns. Scotty has long been a fixture in town, working behind the scenes at The Black Horse Tavern since before he graduated from Lake Region High School in 1991. What most may not know about this unassuming man is the extent of his recent accomplishments outside the kitchen. As of Wednesday, April 14, Scott became only the 108th individual to complete the “White Mountains 4000 Footer Grid.” The definition of “The Grid” helps to shed light on our math problem, 48 x 12 = 576. 48 happens to be the number of peaks in New Hampshire with an elevation
of at least 4,000 feet, and 200 feet of prominence (criteria determined by the Appalachian Mountain Club). 12 represents the months of the year. To conquer The Grid, one must summit each of the 48 peaks in each month of the year… for a total of 576 peaks — a herculean undertaking by any estimation! The New Hampshire 4,000 footers sit in many different mountain ranges including the Carter Moriah Range, Franconia Range, Western White Mountains (Kinsman Range), Northern Ranges (Pilot Range, Pliny Range), Presidential Range, Pemigewasset Wilderness, Twin Range, Sandwich Range and the Willey Range. The peaks range in elevation from Mt. Tecumseh and Mt. Isolation, each at 4,003 feet, to the legendary Mt. Washington at 6,288 feet. (For reference, our own beloved Shawnee Peak stands at 1,350 feet.) A hiker can earn a patch for hiking all 48 of the New Hampshire 4,000 Footers, also known as the NH48. But to comTHE GRID, Page 2A
Will Marshall
and thanked Academy Arts Department Chairman Michael Sakash and FA “for believing in recognition of creatives.” The production begins with Will shutting off a light and a darkened bedroom with an alarm clock displaying 2:54 a.m. The next scene shows Marshall FILM, Page 4A
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