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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 144, No. 34
36 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
August 22, 2013
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Option B or C?
SAD 72 weighs building plans
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer FRYEBURG — As the new school year approaches, Jay Robinson finds himself wearing two hats. He enters his first fall as SAD 72’s Superintendent of Schools, and will face many new challenges compared to a year ago when he occupied the principal’s seat at Molly Ockett Middle School. “I view our biggest challenge as continuing to meet the needs of students given budgetary constraints. We have many students who have significant needs, and I would like nothing more than to be able to provide every
student what he or she needs to achieve success,” he said. “However, providing alternative programming, afterschool and summer-school programming, and out-ofdistrict placements for our most needy students comes with significant costs.” Balancing student needs and a budget taxpayers can afford will be a major juggling act. “When many families in our communities are struggling financially, the district has an obligation to make sure that our school budget is reasonable and will be supported by the public,” Robinson said. “The local-
only costs associated with the building project will only complicate matters further.” The “building project” represents Robinson’s second hat — that of a salesman. How will SAD 72 address replacing the deteriorating C.A. Snow School? The project landed as Number 5 on the state’s school construction list. Now, SAD 72 must decide whether to build a new wing onto Molly Ockett Middle School or make a more drastic change — build a facility large enough to house the entire district’s K8 student population, all on one campus. OPTIONS, Page A
Board to hear unusual setback appeal tonight By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The Bridgton Board of Appeals will meet tonight to consider a variance appeal by Central Maine Power Company that will allow expansion of its substation at HAVING FUN AT THE FOLK FESTIVAL — While children played hopscotch and 80 Power House Road. musicians filled Depot Street with lively tunes, this young lady spent a few minutes with The amount of setback a hula hoop. Folk Festival photos and winner of the Bean Contest appear on Page 1B. variance being requested from Stevens Brook is much
larger than what is typical, but CMP said its only alternative would be to build an entirely new substation on a separate parcel of land. The utility company said it needs to expand the substation in order to relieve transmission and distribution circuit loading of its primary lines serving Lake Region customers. Fewer
Can Causeway business get a dock? By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It is like a real-life game of Monopoly. The first people who land on the squares and who have enough money snag up the prime property. Into place go the homes, the hotels, the restaurants, the gift shops, and the other businesses that fill the needs of both residents and tourists. In towns with water, businesses with shorefront property have the advantage of being in a place where people gravitate. Recently, local elected official Christine Powers received a request from the owners of the water-based business, SunSports+. Powers put the item on the agenda of a recent Naples Board of Selectmen meeting.
The issue was only discussed. A few board members were against it because allowing one establishment to have a dock would likely seem unfair to other businesses on the Causeway. Secondly, it was unclear which entity on the town level would have the authority to grant such a request. “I thought because they had a business on the Causeway, they might be able to have a dock,” Powers said. Currently, SunSports+ rents a slip at the Naples Marina on Brandy Pond. The owners of SunSports+ have operated businesses in Naples for more than 20 years. Two years ago, they purchased the Gazebo Tee’s building. The store sells a variety of wakeboards, paddleboards
Values down, tax bills belated By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Casco residents might think they have dodged the tax man. At least that might be the hope of local citizens when those property tax bills do not arrive in the mail during the usual timeframe. It will be a brief reprieve, however, because the property revaluations are being wrapped up later than originally anticipated. According to Vision Government Solutions District Manager Paul McKenney, “Unfortunately we are a little bit behind schedule.” “There are between 200 and 300 lakefront properties
that still need to be done in a week or so,” he said. McKenney reported on the revaluation process during the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday. “We will finish it by Aug. 30,” he said. Then, every landowner will be sent a letter notifying them of their property revaluation. Those letters will be mailed out on Sept. 4. That belated schedule “will be a problem” for summer residents who vacate the state, and will “be gone during the hearing process.” Upon receiving their notification in the mail, people can set up appointments for the hearings, which will VALUES, Page 10A
and water skis. They offer wakeboarding and water skiing lessons, but do not own a dock from which to conduct those classes. “This is a business that does their business on the water. I am wondering if someone can make an application. Do they go to code enforcement, the selectmen, or the planning board? I don’t think it is clear,” Powers said. Chairman Dana Watson said it was not very clear; and years ago, it took an act of the Maine State Legislature to give ownership of docks in public water to the few businesses that now have them. So, which Naples businesses have dock access on the Causeway? Watson explained the
history of the Songo River Queen II, which is operated by Kent Uicker, who owns the docks but leases the land from the State of Maine. The Naples Casino building, which houses Rick’s Café, has physical property including a dock across Route 302. On Long Lake, Sandy’s Flight Deck has a small temporary dock. Also nearby, the beachfront and a dock are used for small airplanes that are part of a flight-seeing business. According to Watson, there was no land, no beach, off the Causeway until the Maine lawmakers passed a bill that permitted Augustus “Gus” Bove to backfill the shoreline and put in the docks. Town Manager Derik
Goodine said that Moose Landing Marina “has a submerged land lease. That allows him to have all those moorings.” “If you don’t own (shorefront land) do you have to have special legislation or not? I don’t know,” Goodine said. Powers said she reached a dead end in her research when she asked members of the legislature and state agencies which avenue to take. “The state said the dock issue is not its jurisdiction anymore. It is a town issue,” By Gail Geraghty she said. Staff Writer Watson said granting a Nine months ago, a lucky dock to one business would cat crossed paths with a open a can of worms. “You know what is going young Fryeburg couple who to happen if they put in a were willing to care for it. Lindsay and Willie DOCK, Page 10A Scott didn’t have to assume responsibility. The cat wasn’t theirs. Their own cat was lost. Someone who’d seen their missing cat flyer called and told them a black and tan short-haired tabby cat matching the description was hanging around their place. But when the Scotts arrived, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. This cat was a wild and fear-filled stray, a far cry in temperament from their own well-adjusted tabby. Instead of walking away, however, the Scotts agreed to take the cat to the Harvest Hills Animal Shelter. But the shelter wouldn’t take the cat, Lindsay said. And it was November. “We didn’t want to just leave him outside,” she said. “It seemed like a good thing to do.” CHILL EFFECT ON MEETING — Joanne Edwards, co-owner of Pear’s Ice Cream So they talked it over, and and Hoagies, stands outside the Casco Community Center on Tuesday night. Residents decided they would foster were treated to ice cream during the meeting. (De Busk Photo) FOSTER, Page A
Don’t put development on ice
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Residents got a treat Tuesday night. To sweeten the start of an economic development cam-
paign, the owner of Pear’s Ice Cream and Hoagies showed up with a short speech and scoops of ice cream. Although nobody complained about the dairy
outages and better electric service reliability will be the result of the project, part of a multi-year plan to beef up its infrastructure in response to increased demand. CMP is requesting permission to install new foundations to support equipment and a new control house that would place one corner of the new construction just 19 feet from Stevens Brook. Bridgton’s Shoreland Ordinance requires a minimum setback of 112 feet between all new structures and the high water mark. The existing substation equipment foundations, which are grandfathered, are around 41 feet from Stevens Brook. The SETBACK, Page 10A
dessert, the concept of economic development in Casco Village was met with mixed reviews. Some people were worried that more businesses and
more traffic in the Village would ruin the peace and quiet so many residents savor. During the Casco Board GROWTH, Page A
For the love of Foster
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