Hall of Excellence
Sports capital?
Fryeburg Academy announces six inductees to be honored during Homecoming
Inside News
At least for a weekend as Lovell hosts bike ‘Tour’ and Mason Tennis Tournament
Page 7C
Page 1C-2C
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 7D Classifieds . . . . . . 4D-5D Country Living . . . 5B-8B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 3D Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6D Opinions 1D-3D, 5D-6D, 8D Police/Court . . . . . . . . 4A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1C-6C Student News . . . 7C-8C
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 145, No. 33
32 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
August 14, 2014
(USPS 065-020)
Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 5C
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Residents voice short-cut dislike
Depot Street bid bit pricey By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Some work will be done on Depot Street this fall, but the entire project will not be completed in six weeks as originally planned. The reason? Only one bid came back for the rebuilding of Bridgton’s Depot Street, and it was way over what the town had budgeted for the project. The lone bid by Dearborn Brothers Construction of Buxton came in at $625,676, which is nearly $250,000 more than the $378,034 cost estimated by the town’s project consultants, Milone & MacBroom. As a result, the Bridgton Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday to reject the bid, and rebid the project as soon as possible after reviewing items that can be removed from the bid and done inhouse. In addition, they voted to have the work be completed in two phases — some this fall, some late next spring. That way, the rebuilding of BID, Page A
I CONQUERED THE TOUR! — Although rider numbers were down a bit, there was no lack of enthusiasm at the annual Tour de Lovell race on Saturday. Here, Wilford Scott shows his emotion as he approaches the finish line at the New Suncook School on Route 5. Results on Page 1C. (Rivet Photo)
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO – As the animal control officer for Casco, Raymond and Naples, Jessica Jackson puts in a lot of hours in the field. The most time-consuming task tends to be catching dogs that are running loose. Whether the dog is willing to come when called or is illusive, another problem arises when the canine is not licensed. With no indication of who owns it or how to contact the person, Jackson sometimes drives through a neighbor-
hood and up and down back roads. Frequently, the end result is a trip to the Animal Refuge League. “Then, we are heading to Westbrook. And that is time. And time is money,” she said. She added she would prefer to see money from the animal control budget spent on public education. On Tuesday, Jackson provided the Casco Board of Selectmen with a report on recent activities in her department. Jackson also had a wish list, which included a uniform
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Creamery Street resident Vanessa Jones opened a can of worms Tuesday when she suggested restricting through-traffic from using the street as a shortcut. Neither the Bridgton Board of Selectmen or town department heads were keen on the idea, but the board agreed to take a month to study the problem and look for solutions. In a July 28 letter to Town Manager Bob Peabody, Jones said, “Commuter traffic continues to be a problem, as people cut through this street at top speed.” She wanted selectmen to reconsider an idea, floated in 2005 by Creamery Street resident John Andrews, that would prevent right-hand turns onto Creamery Street from Highland Road and would also prevent left-hand turns on to Creamery Street from North High Street. Creamery Street would remain a two-way street, but only if drivers entered it from the opposite lanes of Highland Road and North High Street than those they currently do. In other words, they’d have to turn right on Creamery Street from North High Street and turn left
on Creamery Street from Highland Road. At Tuesday’s meeting, Jones said Creamery Street is a “major foot traffic area” for people coming from and going to Highland Lake Beach. Because there are no sidewalks and the street is narrow, she said, “I don’t even feel safe to walk to the beach with my kids.” Jones said restricting through traffic would make it safer for pedestrians, which would further Bridgton’s pedestrian-friendly business image in the downtown. Selectman Bob McHatton wasn’t persuaded by Jones’s arguments. “When it’s come before this board before, it’s filled this room up with people who use that street” and want to keep it open for their use, he said. The 2005 proposal by Andrews was preceded by other proposed solutions, also rejected, to make the street one-way or to add speed bumps. Fire Chief Glen Garland didn’t like the idea of oneway traffic on the street, saying it can cause confusion for firefighters, even though fire trucks would be exempted from the one-way restriction in emergencies. “In Portland, one-way leads to a lot of SHORT-CUT, Page A
ACO: Loose, unlicensed dogs a headache
Tires hit the road, Jack!
and technology for recording animal-related calls. An official uniform would make Jackson more recognizable to the public, especially when she shows up on someone’s property. “I have spoken about this before: The proper attire,” she said. An animal control officer has a lot of public contact so a uniform would help to establish that rapport, she said. “It would be great if we had a uniform. It helps our morale. Also, the public would know we are an animal
control officer,” she said. Currently, Jackson relies on a paper notebook to record incidences in the field. But, considering the technology available in this age, the pen and paper seem archaic. Additionally, when cases are investigated by either law enforcement officials or the District Attorney’s Office, handwritten notes on pieces of paper just don’t cut it, she said. Selectman Mary-Vienessa Fernandes suggested that Jackson write down a specific list of what an official uniform entails as well as what
technology or tools might be helpful in her job. In addition to those items, Jackson hoped to embark on a campaign to get locals to license their canines. “We have had positive things. I have seen a huge change in the number of animal abuses we have had to deal with. Those have gone down,” she said. “Right now, the biggest thing is the dogs-at-large (that are not licensed with the town.) It’s a real headache,” she said. “We need to go out and solicit people to get this done.
I won’t be out chasing animals and then not knowing where to take them,” she said. One thing on Jackson’s wish list was renaming the Animal Control Committee to the Animal Resource Committee. Committee members are not trained animal control officers, but could be helpful in answering less urgent calls and providing information to the public. The board agreed with that idea. It voted unanimously to change the name of the committee.
Drip, drip, drip
Pleasant Lake dam is leaking
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The Pleasant Lake Dam has been leaking because of cracks in the 80By Dawn De Busk foot long structure. Staff Writer “Some of the cracks were CASCO — On Friday, letting a significant volume the rubber hit the road. of water through. The bigger Old tires that had been concern is that it was letting dumped in the woods in Casco gravel through, which could were loaded onto a truck further deteriorate the dam,” bound for Massachusetts. according to Casco Town After being hauled off by Manager Dave Morton. Bob’s Tire Company, the The problem is comtires will be transferred to a pounded because the dam is business that recycles them. jointly-owned by the towns Almost 500 tires were of Casco and Otisfield. Yet, removed from the woods neither town has money in near the power line trail off the budget to fix the infraLeach Hill Road. The abanstructure. doned tires were partially on However, the timing of private property owned by discovering the problem with Rita Estes and partially on A MOUNTAIN OF TIRES was pulled out of the woods using an excavator. Almost 500 the dam coincides with an Hancock Lumber land. tires had been dumped and were removed from the ATV trail off Leach Hill Road. “It is nice to drive through (Photo courtesy of Don Murphy) there, and not see them anymore,” said Bill Chute, who removes a potential fire haz- them. They were easy to three-foot-deep chasm in the spot, especially during the middle of it. Gushing water belongs to the Lake Region ard. The tires, which had been fall when the leaves went from rainstorms had eaten Established 1870 ATV Club. away at the sandy earth on According to Casco Code dumped over the decades, away,” Chute said. P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. So, what sort of manpower the downhill slope, and future Enforcement Officer (CEO) were an eye sore for those Bridgton, ME 04009 Don Murphy, getting rid who enjoyed the trail system was involved in making 495 water runoff needed to be 207-647-2851 diverted. of the massive amount of that travels parallel to the tossed-out tires go away? Fax: 207-647-5001 This summer, a portion of So, the Lake Region ATV tires not only protects the power lines. bnews@roadrunner.com “There was no missing the trail had eroded, leaving a groundwater supply, but also TIRES, Page A
upcoming scheduled state inspection of the dam. On Tuesday, Morton reported this recent finding to the Casco Board of Selectmen. He said we would know more later in the week after the engineer inspects the infrastructure. According to Morton, the new president of the Pleasant Lake-Parker Pond Association, Peter Barber, came into the town office and asked if there was a maintenance budget for the dam. “The answer was no. There are no plans in place. There are no funds for that purpose,” Morton said. Until the state engineer that reviews dams statewide LEAKING, Page A
The Bridgton News