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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 149, No. 38
28 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
September 19, 2019
Sheriff, town push for better communication
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer HARRISON — When the town pays $124,000 for law enforcement, Rick Sykes believes Harrison should get its money’s worth. With Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce, along with Captain Scott Stewart and new local deputy Andy Ward, in the room, Selectman Sykes aired his concerns and expectations at last week’s board meeting. “I’ve had some concerns about the services provided by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. It’s our responsibility to make sure that investment is a good one. Deputies get few
calls for service here. We have some serious drug issues. We have a 40-hour work week, four days, 10 hours. I personally believe increased law enforcement contact with the public will lower the crime rate,” he said. “Traffic stops. We have a speeding problem. I’ve complained and called the Sheriff’s Office. I have some high expectations for the type of law enforcement activities we are going to get.” Looking at the recent history between the Town of Harrison and CCSO, Sykes found bad news, good news, bad news, more bad news and some good news. The bad news: Prior to
Deputy Dan Hastings coming on board, “we had a deputy here…I will only say we didn’t get our money’s worth,” Sykes said. Good news: “We got Deputy Hastings. Quite frankly, he set a standard. You can track offenses. He lived up to my expectations for service provided,” he noted. Bad news: Deputy Hastings resigned. “We lost a quality guy,” Sykes continued. More bad news: “For the four to five weeks we had an interim deputy, it was disappointing. In one week, the deputies assigned here, there was one traffic stop. That’s in 40 hours. Five calls for service. On eight days, I
IT’S ALMOST HERE — The return of Maine’s Blue Ribbons Classic — the Fryeburg Fair — is almost here. The fair opens Sunday, Sept. 29. See a full schedule of events on Page 8B. (Photo by Rachel Andrews Damon)
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found no traffic stops, very few calls for service. It begs the question, what are they doing here? I don’t have an answer for that. In all fairness, you have a couple of deputies, wow, they did the job. You had one guy in two days that had 32 traffic stops. Send him up here more often. Those two days, in my opinion, met expectations,” Sykes said. The good news: “We have Deputy (Andrew) Ward. In four days, 31 traffic stops. I just think, so far, Deputy Ward is living up to my expectations, for sure.” Sykes concluded his comments saying selectmen should review CCSO reports on a regular basis. “It is our responsibility that the investment of $124,000 for law enforcement services is wellspent,” he noted. One immediate gain from a conversation between the sheriff and Town Manager Tim Pellerin was agreement on “variable times,” rather than a set deputy patrol schedule. “If you think you know SHERIFF, Page 2A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Last weekend’s sunny and dry weather brought a bevy of boaters to the Sebago Lake State Park. This past weekend, people were taking advantage of the fine weather to fit in a day of boating, especially before putting boats into storage, according to Park Manager Matt McGuire. Some folks launched their boats from the boat ramp inside the park’s day use area while those spending the night in the campground had use of the boat ramp there. Other boaters simply took a trip through the Songo Lock, which is part of the state park. “At the lock, we noticed boating went down in June, but back up in July and August,” McGuire said. “Water levels in June were higher than normal and made boating trickier for people.” During the entire month of June, 438 boats passed through the lock. By July, that number more than quadrupled with 1,702 boats using the locks. The boat traffic through the lock was about the same in August with 1,677 boats using the facility. For the first half of September, 403 boats have taken the journey through the lock. This winter, the company Wyman & Simpson, Inc., replaced the gates on the lock. “They look good. They are functioning well,” McGuire said. “They had a break-in period; the wood
that money is still owed on spanned the years of 2010 through 2013. The project was the replacement of the swing bridge with a fixed concrete bridge and the renovations to the Causeway. “The state is looking to close out on this project. It has been nine years,” Hawley told the selectmen on Monday. Hawley outlined the total amount for which the town
had been responsible while the state footed the majority of the construction costs. MDOT is requesting that the approximately $154,000 be paid, he said. “They are aware of the boardwalk issue. They are running out of patience,” Hawley said. Chairman Jim Grattelo spoke. “Well, it isn’t resolved.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce
People at Park
These are the numbers provided by the Sebago Lake State Park. May 2019 Campground: 4,359 people Day use: 24,787 people Songo Lock: 99 boats June 2019 Campground: 12,469 people Day use: 28,563 people Songo Lock: 438 boats July 2019 Campground: 38,628 people Day use: 65,812 people Songo Lock: 1,702 August 2019 Campground: 42,291 people Day use: 56,873 people Songo Lock: 1,677 Sept. 1 - Sept. 15, 2019 Campground: 5,727 people Day use: 10,188 people Songo Lock: 403 boats had to swell up.” Another upgrade in the park was that electricity and water hookups were added to the small camp sites at the Naples Beach Campground. “The hookups in Naples Beach — people were excited they went in,” McGuire said. “We added power and water due to a high demand. Part of it is people wanted PARK, Page 7A
MDOT wants town to pay for boardwalk By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The state is putting pressure on the Town of Naples to pay the remainder of its portion of the Causeway reconstruction bill. The poor quality of the
boardwalk concrete is the reason that the town withheld a payment in the first place. What the town still owes the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) is $154,430, according to calculations presented by Naples
Town Manager John Hawley. However, the Naples Board of Selectmen would prefer for Rep. Rich Cebra (R-District 68) to negotiate once more to have this amount either postponed or deducted. The construction project
The concrete isn’t resolved,” Grattelo said. Essentially, Rich Cebra met with the MDOT Director and got the okay for the town to put the debt of $154,000 toward fixing the boardwalk. Most recently, this autumn, a sealant peeled away after being applied. That was because the product that was originally applied has the MDOT, Page 3A
One-room schoolhouse brought back to life
THE RAYMOND-CASCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY (RCHS) members include: (front row, left to right) Tim Symonds, Rose Symonds, Irene Morton, (second row) Louise Lester, Charlotte Rowe, (back row) John Manoush, Pam Grant and Ingo Hartiig. (De Busk Photo)
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The building has all the features of a traditional one-room schoolhouse: a wood stove with space for children to gather, the teacher’s desk upon which sits a globe and a microscope, wooden desks for students, a bookshelf lined with readers, and a local map drawn on parchment paper and tacked to the wall. What is particularly unusual for a building from the late 1800s or the early 1900s is the smell of fresh lumber. That is because the schoolhouse is a replica. The original Friends Schoolhouse building was destroyed by a fire started by arsons in April 2018. On Sunday afternoon, the grand opening of the Friends Schoolhouse was held on the property of the RaymondCasco Historical Society (RCHS) Museum. A ribboncutting ceremony was held at 12:30 p.m. All of the buildings on the property were open to the public until 3 p.m. with dozens of people stop-
ping by and getting a firsthand view of the schoolhouse. Once they climbed the granite steps, people were thrilled to see the interior of the schoolhouse and asked questions about various objects. Sometimes, people shared stories about their experiences in the one-room schoolhouse. It was the plan all along that the schoolhouse would sit alongside the museum buildings, according to historical society member Rose Symonds. “The schoolhouse used to be located behind the Casco Village Library and was only open to the public on the weekend of Casco Days,” she said.
Prior to the fire, the historical society had plans to move the schoolhouse to the museum property, where there would be more opportunities for the public to see it when the museum is open, she said. Before it was moved to the Casco Village, the schoolhouse was located on Quaker Ridge. It was donated to the historical society by the family of Conrad Hall. “Two of the desks for the schoolhouse replica were given to us by Connie Hall’s family. They were the desks they kept when they donated the first schoolhouse,” she said. “I’ve ordered some readers or school books. Those REVIVED, Page 3A
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