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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 148, No. 34
32 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
August 24, 2017
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 6D
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Bridgton’s new calling card... Promotional campaign launched; video revealed By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer When Diana Nelson of Black Fly Media was looking for a catch phrase for Bridgton’s new marketing venture, she found it carved into the side of Pleasant Mountain. L-O-V-E. “It’s the best billboard ever created,” Nelson told about 130 people gathered in the Mayfair Theater of the Magic Lantern Monday for a special reveal of Bridgton’s new tagline. Through research and interviews with business owners, residents and tourists, Nelson found a prevailing theme — people have a true love for the town. Thus, the tagline, “Love Always, Bridgton.” Monday’s “reveal” included the premiere of a two-minute film “celebrating the town MARKETING THE TOWN — This is one of several we love.” The video captured promotional posters created by Black Fly Media as part a number of Bridgton’s scenic spots, while also featuring of Bridgton’s new marketing campaign.
interviews with Lee Eastman, owner of Everlast Roofing on South High Street, Carrye Castleman-Ross, owner of Depot Street Tap House, and resident Jim Dillon. The video can be seen on the town’s redesigned website: bridgtonmaine.org The town hired Black Fly Media of Portland to define Bridgton’s unique characteristics from which to build an integrated branding and marketing campaign, which includes logo and advertising design, public relations and social media outreach through 2017. The towns’ campaign goals include creating a sense of pride among existing residents, encouraging young families to return home, attracting active retirees and enticing developers and investors to look to Bridgton for their next project. “This is our Renaissance and the perfect time to launch this national campaign; real
Small town, big love. That’s Bridgton estate prices and interest rates remain low, development is happening and you can walk in any direction and hit a body of water,” said Bridgton Town Manager Bob Peabody, who opened the reveal program. “We’re not just a pass through town on 302 – Bridgton is a destination and we want everyone to know about us.” Peabody said the marketing effort was prompted by the 2014 Comprehensive Plan, which laid out strategies for improving buildings and streetscapes, growing the full-time population and local
economy, and enhancing dayto-day life in Bridgton. Taxpayers raised $19,000 in the 2016–17 budget to hire Black Fly. In the current budget, $25,000 from the TIF money is being used for Phase 2 of the project, Peabody pointed out. “They hit the ground running in February to research, interview, film, write, design and bring to life a brand that honors Bridgton’s past and present, while also inviting a new generation of neighbors and business owners to see their futures here,” Peabody said. CAMPAIGN, Page 3A
Plants pulled, hopeful news for Long Lake By Christian Oren LEA Milfoil Control Coordinator The discovery of invasive, variable leaf milfoil in Long Lake earlier this month came as a devastating shock. This aquatic weed has
Pot pause on track
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — How does the delay of hiring a new law firm impact the expedition of a marijuana moratorium for the Town of Naples? In other words, if elected officials wait a few weeks to hear presentations from the law firms that bid for the legal services contract, will a moratorium still be drafted in a timely manner? Yes, it will. Plus, the decision in Augusta to not issue retail marijuana licenses until February 2018 will in essence protect the town while an ordinance governing businesses that grow and sell pot for recreational use is drafted. During the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, the board held off on selecting its legal services until those firms appear before the board to do a presentation and answer questions. Resident Roger Clement was the person who brought up the concern. “Why can’t the law firms show up next week? Why are we waiting two more weeks? The sooner we get a law firm, the sooner we get the moratorium,” Clement said. The chairman answered his question. “There is no immediate rush for the moratorium,” Chairman Jim Grattelo said. The reason that the bidding legal firms are being scheduled in another two weeks is that the board wants to spend as much time as needed discussing the town manager’s transition, Grattelo said. Sitting Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak POT, Page 7A
the potential to choke out large portions of Long Lake, disrupting recreation and destroying native habitats. Lakes Environmental Association knew it had to act quickly if it wanted to prevent milfoil from taking
over in Long Lake. With each passing day, boats were creating more fragments that could re-root and spread milfoil to new places throughout the lake. Aware of the urgency, LEA’s Milfoil Control Team
suspended operations in the Songo River and Sebago Lake to tackle this new infestation, and began removal within a week of the discovery. The milfoil crew found nearly an acre of dense milfoil, primarily within the Four Season’s
Campground’s small marina, but also scattered around the larger Mast Cove. LEA employed benthic barriers and a Diver Assisted Suction Harvester (DASH) to remove the milfoil. Barriers are large mats laid over the
milfoil to block sunlight, and the DASH is a boat equipped with a pump and suction hose — a harvester that removes plants after divers pull the milfoil from the lake bottom. After two weeks of hard MILFOIL, Page 2A
Manager pool little shallow
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — More than three years ago, it was Ephrem Paraschak’s resume that caught the attention of the committee charged with finding a new town manager for the Town of Naples. At the time, former Naples Town Manager Derik Goodine was heading to Bucksport — a decision that was made in late April 2014. Goodine left at the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30; and Paraschak took over the Naples Town Manager job on July 1, 2014. Now, it is Paraschak who is privy to the incoming resumes for the next Naples Town Manager. Paraschak is poised to move on in his career, having SUN GAZING — Watching Monday’s solar eclipse on Long Lake were members of the Salvaggio family Veronica, been chosen for the station being vacated by the retireAli (left), Joshua and Ann Marie. They have a summer home a mile off the Causeway in Naples. POOL, Page 5A
Naples to start writing parking tickets
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Parking your vehicle in a no parking zone on the Naples Causeway might have the excitement of a night at Oxford Casino. Instead, the payoff will be a parking ticket. The Town of Naples likely will be writing parking tickets to the owners of vehicles parked in the crosswalk spaces and other no parking zones that are clearly marked, according to Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak. But, those parking tickets will be written rather randomly. Paraschak was hesitant to give a date this might happen.
“The town may or may not be putting parking violations out,” Paraschak said. He advised anyone receiving the dreaded parking ticket on their windshield to come into the Town Office. Selectman Bob Caron II said the town can enforce the ’96 traffic ordinance adopted by the townspeople. “Parking is an issue. People are parking in no parking areas, marked for a reason [such as] line of sight, emergency vehicles,” Caron said. “It may come down to hiring a seasonal constable on the Causeway,” he said, adding that person will be writing parking tickets “that the town can enforce.”
More or less, the decision is a remedy to a couple of specific vehicles which repeatedly park illegally or “save” parking spots with an orange cone. “Just two vehicles. Safety is the biggest issue,” Caron said during the Naples board of Selectmen meeting. “I wish everyone would please adhere to that.” Chairman Grattelo took the topic as an opportunity to talk about compliance of many or all of the town’s ordinances. “One of the problems the town faces right now is compliance. It is compliance, whether it’s liquor violations, inspecting boats, parking,” Grattelo said.
“We have no compliance whatsoever other than the town manager taking it upon himself to do this,” he said. “If you go to Portland, they have fire inspectors. The police department will come in, check the liquor license and ID a handful of people,” he said. “We don’t have any of that in this town.” For now, the illegal parking problem is something the
town plans to enforce with tickets. How frenquently the tickets would be written and whose job it would be — those details were not decided. During the parking discussion, Naples resident Phillip Morton said the biggest thing is that some business owners park in the prime spots. TICKETS, Page 5A
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