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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 146, No. 41
28 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
October 8, 2015
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Board approves propane plan By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer “I can’t imagine there’s a word that hasn’t been said, or a point that hasn’t been made,” Bridgton Planning Board member Dee Miller said Tuesday, as the board pondered whether to reopen public comments about the Bridgton Bottled Gas propane tank application. With that, the board began closed deliberations, and an hour later, granted conditional approval for the company to site a 30,000-gallon propane tank on their property at the end of a 12-lot subdivision on Raspberry Lane. The 5-0 vote ended months of vigorous opposition by Raspberry Lane residents, concerned about both safety and traffic. The board was able to partially assuage traffic concerns, by requiring Bridgton Bottled Gas to make any improvements deemed necessary to the entrance to Raspberry Lane to ensure that the big tanker trucks have enough turning radius from the Portland Road to enter and leave without obstructing the flow of regular traffic. Raspberry Lane was built in 1988, and is not up to the town’s current width standards for subdivisions. Public Works Director Jim Kidder, working with an
engineer paid for by Bridgton Bottled Gas, will determine how much widening is needed, and the company will pay for the work, the board ruled as a condition of approval. The suggestion came from board member Fred Packard, who pointed out that propane tankers are nearly 70 feet long, and that the road’s current turning radius is inadequate. “In 2015, we’re supposed to use the most current standards” for subdivision road widths, Packard said. “That would only be protecting the town’s liability.” Bridgton Bottled Gas wanted to place the entrance on the Portland Road, but the Maine Department of Transportation denied that request, and also declined to reconsider their decision when Raspberry Lane residents objected. Access to the property from the Portland Road will be limited to firefighting equipment, for setup as a staging area. Another condition required by the board, an entrance sign, was suggested by Chairman Steve Collins, and is intended to keep the tanker trucks from traveling any further on Raspberry Lane than necessary. The unlighted sign will be placed at the new entrance road to the property on Raspberry PROPANE, Page 5A
THERE WERE PLENTY OF EYES on activities at Monday’s Woodsmen’s Day at the Fryeburg Fair. So far, the fair has enjoyed great weather. Maine largest agricultural fair continues through this Sunday, Oct. 11.
Marina building a showroom
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton’s Community Development Committee is encouraging the town to get behind the creation of a public radio station. CDC member Evan Miller floated the idea at a recent meeting of Bridgton Selectmen, and the board appeared supportive of the idea. Miller said he has spoken to radio advisor and consultant Bob Surette of Howell Labs, and said Surette is willing to come talk to the board about the work that would be needed. The board’s mindset of late has been more geared toward acquiring a highspeed Internet connection in town. A workshop will be held later this month, at which Town Manager Bob
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Harrison Marina, Inc. received conditional approval from the Bridgton Planning Board Tuesday to build a boat sales and snowmobile repair facility at 251 Portland Road, just past NAPA Auto Parts. The T-shaped lot has just 50 feet of frontage on Portland Road, so the 1,200-square-foot boat sales showroom and parking lot will be set back from the highway on the larger part of the lot, and accessed by an existing gravel driveway. David Randall, who with Peabody has arranged for other family members has a municipal official from operated Harrison Marina on Rockport to come talk Long Lake since 2001, also about how that town was able to acquire high-speed Internet and the benefits that have come to the town as a result. Board Chairman Bernie King asked Miller whether the radio station he’s proposing would be Internetbased or would require a Federal Communications Commission license. Miller said he envisions an over the air broadcast. “Streaming (via the Internet) is not available to everybody,” Miller said. He said Howell Labs even has some used radio equipment the town could use. Miller said 100 watts of power would be all that was needed to cover the area.
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen will decide next week whether to reassign $30,000 in Community Development Block Grant money earmarked for a new parking lot on Main Hill, and use it on a new roof for the Town Hall instead. Anne Krieg, Director of Planning, Economic and Community Development, said Monday that the current renovation work being done at Town Hall didn’t include replacing the roof, but that selectmen now see the need. A study was done of water intrusion issues after the original bid specifications were drawn up, and that study indicated a new roof was needed. Krieg said Town Manager Bob Peabody has spoken to owners of Sebago Sports
Medicine, Inc., who had agreed to allow the town to demolish a vacant building they own at 55 Main Street to create a parking lot. The lot would be used by Main Hill businesses and tenants of apartments in the area who don’t have anywhere to park except along narrow side streets, she said. Krieg said Peabody should know by Tuesday whether Sebago Sports Medicine is willing to hold off on the parking lot project until the new round of CDBG entitlement money comes in next year. If so, the project would simply get delayed, instead of eliminated, and the $30,000 could be reassigned to the roof at Town Hall, estimated to cost around $33,000, she said. Under CDBG program PARKING, Page 4A
A Bridgton radio station?
operates a boat repair facility on Route 117. The new location in Bridgton will be for boat sales in summer, and snowmobile repairs in winter, he said. Randall said the new boats will be showcased along the gravel driveway and at the edge of the parking lot, as well as in the showroom. Boat repairs will be done at their Route 117 location. A sign will be placed at the entrance on Portland Road. Initially, Randall had proposed placing the building at the entrance, but the board quickly ruled there wasn’t enough frontage to do so. The board agreed to waive the standard 100-foot frontage requirement to allow
Randall to use the property with only 58 feet of Portland Road frontage. Randall said there may also be some snowmobile repairs done on the property in winter. A snowmobile trail runs at the west end of the larger part of the lot, and Randall said he has talked to members of the Easy Riders Snowmobile Club and agreed not to make any changes in the trail. Tuesday’s approval came after the application was tabled three previous times in order to clarify financial capability and stormwater issues. Randall provided a letter from Northeast Credit Union saying he was a member in good standing, but the
board wants to see more specific financial information before making the approval final. Randall provided the board with an engineering report on stormwater runoff, but Board Chairman Steve Collins said he was still “uneasy” about whether a proposed mitigating pond would be adequate. Willett Brook runs along the back border of the property. Added board member Dee Miller, “A lot of this is just copied from a manual, and I was hoping it would be more site-specific.” The property is served by public water, and the Bridgton Water District MARINA, Page 2A
Mom’s mission in son’s memory
‘Hill’ parking possibly on hold
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Fifty pints of blood. Fifty pints of blood was what Corey Gilding needed during his fight against a liver disease, a condition with which he had been born. Fifty pints was the goal during a blood drive that was part of the celebration of life for Gilding. Subsequently, the American Red Cross mobile unit drove away with more than fifty units of blood, according to Gilding’s mother Zeena Watkins. The blood drive was blended into a lavish and uplifting celebration of life that was held during a sunny Saturday in September at the Watkins Farm acreage. The gathering was held two days after what would have been Gilding’s 37th birthday. He had died on Feb. 4, 2015, three months after being put on the waiting list for a donor liver. On Sept. 12, close friends rolled up their sleeves and offered a vein to the workers with the American Red Cross. One girl kept saying it was her first time giving blood, and she was “doing it for Corey.” A typical day-long blood drive usually receives 25 units of blood; and this one received double the number of blood donors, according to Watkins. In addition to the successful blood drive, one of the speakers provided information about becoming an organ donor. ZEENA AND SKIP WATKINS, Corey Gilding’s moth“If someone had donated a liver when Corey was healthy er and stepfather step up to the microphone. MEMORY, Page 8A
Town, American Holdings sign contract
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The longgoing court battle, American Holdings, Inc. versus the Town of Naples, has come to an end. It has ended at least on the pieces of paper being processed in the court system. “No one won. It was a costly, totally unnecessary lawsuit for both sides,” said the owner of American Holdings, Inc. A consent agreement has been drafted and filed with the Maine Court, Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak announced recently; and
the owners of American Holdings confirmed it. This outcome comes after more than 18 months of court appearances and communication between the lawyers for both parties. American Holdings is the company that operates Sunnyside Village, located on Long Lake. Khris and Barbara Klimek purchased the property in 1999 through their corporation, American Holdings, Inc. On Tuesday, Barbara Klimek commented on why they decided to drop the lawsuit. “We got what we wanted.
We only dropped the (recouping of) legal fees to end this thing. One and a half years is enough,” she said. “We are done fighting the town. We wanted to sell the remaining cottages and retire that part of the business,” she said.
Klimek said the past two years have been robbed from her and her husband, and the ordeal has taken a toll on his health. “Khris is now on high blood pressure medication and carries nitro glycerin CONTRACT, Page 8A
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