Local history lesson
Heavy hearts
Stevens Brook Elementary students interview residents, study Rufus Porter works
Gorham honored the memory of a teammate killed in a car accident; Raiders prevails
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Inside News Calendar . . . . . . . 4B-5B Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 4D Country Living . . . 1B-5B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 5C
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Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6D Opinions . 1D-3D, 5D-8D Police/Court . . . . . 4A-5A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1C-8C Student News . . . . . . 7B Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 5C
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 145, No. 44
32 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
(USPS 065-020)
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Medical marijuana moratorium called ‘vague, unenforceable’
Fright night is best night By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Certainly, asking for the devil isn’t on the typical honey-do list. But, that is what Laura Poland asked her husband, Rick, to try to accomplish. He was willing, too. After all, she wanted a devil in the yard as a Halloween decoration. That year, when she got home and saw the end result, Laura was very impressed. Still, she found it creepy because it looked so real. Rick had found real fur and two hooves for the devil’s feet, she said. Ever since their daughters were teenagers — 17 years ago, the Polands have been lavishly and ghoulishly transforming their yard for Halloween. This tradition encompasses the whole month of October, and has involved children of all ages who live in the Lakewood Road neighborhood. “We’ve always had Halloween. The first character was the man holding a severed head and an axe,” Laura said, referring to the mannequin in a blood-spattered rain MAGIC, Page A
October 30, 2014
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The medical marijuana moratorium ordinance, that Bridgton voters will decide next Tuesday, is “incredibly vague and casts too broad a net,” and could, in fact, open the town up to harmful legal action, Bridgton Selectmen were told Tuesday. Hillary Lister, director of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, drove from Bangor to speak to the board during the public participation portion of the meeting. She said the language of the ordinance is seriously flawed, by virtue of including “sites of marijuana cultivation” as well as commercial dispensaries as prohibited activities during the moratorium. If passed,
the moratorium would run retroactively from Sept. 9, 2014 to March 4, 2015. Under the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, said Lister, a qualifying patient may grow up to six marijuana plants for their use, or designate a primary caregiver to do so. Although the state Department of Human Services keeps a database of licensed caregivers, that database is not public, and is only accessible to law enforcement in the course of an active investigation. As for patients, Lister said, Maine law does not require citizens to register their qualifying status as a medical marijuana patient with either the state or the town. MARIJUANA, Page A
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Paul Veit abruptly withdrew his conflict of interest appeal against Bridgton Planning Board member Michael Figoli at last week’s Board of Appeals meeting, once he heard from Figoli himself. Figoli, whom Veit had alleged was biased in favor of the application by AT&T and American Towers for a cell tower on Hio Ridge Road, said he has never done work for either company, and said he was upset by the public attack on his integrity. By that time, however, the appeals board had spent close to an hour on the conflict of interest issue, including an unsuccessful attempt to replay the videotaped meeting at which the charges were made. The board had also decided to recuse one of its members, Greg Jones, because Jones had given his opinion on celltower related issues during several meetings.
The board also discussed whether another member, Bob Mawhinney, should step away from Veit’s appeal because of a conflict, but decided in the end that Mawhinney could participate. The appeals board recessed their deliberations until their Nov. 20 meeting to give members time to go over the voluminous paper trail covering the planning board’s exhaustive sixmonth review of the cell tower project. While he withdrew his conflict of interest charge, Veit still hopes to convince the appeals board that the planning board did not adequately consider alternative locations for the tower. Town Attorney Richard Spencer told the board that in order to rule in Veit’s favor, they would need to conclude as well that the planning board acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner in approving the project. Veit defended his decision to raise the conflict of issue charge, saying it was the planning CHARGE, Page A
Veit drops conflict of interest charge on tower
LAURA AND RICK POLAND stand behind a witches’ cauldron with contents that appear to boil and steam. For the past 17 years, the couple has been changing their yard into an interactive Halloween scene. (De Busk Photo)
Casco shoulders concerns regarding Rte. 11 By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Casco’s public officials are concerned about the shoulders that drop off from some sections of the new pavement along Route 11. On Tuesday, Town Manager Dave Morton updated the Casco Board of Selectmen, saying the road repair on Route 11 had not been completed. “Route 11 work was held up. Paving is not complete. Some parts may be held over until next year,” he said. The Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) project encompasses 10 miles of Route 11, from Route 302 in Naples to the traffic lights at White Oak Hill Road in
Poland. The majority of the almost $3 million pavement reclamation project took place in Casco. “I understood from discussions with MDOT officials that some areas did not pass density requirements and will need to be ground up and repaved,” Morton said. “MDOT is trying to determine what will be completed this year and what happens in the spring,” Morton said. “The whole process is evolving daily and very much dependent on weather and temperatures,” he said. Chairman Grant Plummer said that he was surprised to discover that the shoulder work wasn’t part of the scope of the project, which was awarded to White
Brothers Division of Lane Construction. He said that MDOT was responsible for the shoulder work being completed, not White Brothers. There are “1,500 feet that the state said has to be addressed,” he said. Plummer said he has driven along the 10 miles where road repair occurred, and he thinks more than 1,500 feet of shoulder needs to be improved. It is a safety issue for drivers, especially with winter on the horizon. “Let us hold the line here. Once snow happens and snow banks pushed back” the shoulders will be even worse or more deceiving, he said.
Selectman Holly Hancock said the Casco Fire and Rescue Department personnel have also talked about the dangerous shoulders. Emergency vehicle drivers have been told to “keep the trucks on the road. If we pull over, we are going to lose them” in the ditch, she said. Hancock had a second concern — the degradation of a newly-paved road. “Without shoulders being built up, we are going to lose that road,” she said. According to MDOT Resident Engineer Tim Storer, the state-mandated cutoff date for paving major roads is Oct. 18. After that date, driveways and shoulders can be paved.
Mother shares kids’ journey By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer RAYMOND — Tracy Doyon’s twin daughters are accustomed to hospital visits and medical tests. It is something that has been happening since they were nine months old, and even more frequently during the past two years. The preschool girls might get antsy and bored in the waiting room; but they behave wonderfully in the doctor’s office. They help slide the blood pressure sleeve on their arm. They endure having blood samples drawn. During the two years prior to finally getting a clear diagnosis, Doyon has kept her chin up and her head on her shoulders. As a mother, she has set a standard of bravery for her girls to follow. But, one time, before there was a clear answer, she had a meltdown, “Once, I broke down. I don’t let the girls see,” Doyon said. One of her twins, Julia, was going to be kept overnight in the children’s wing of the hospital. At that point, doctors just could not say what was causing the symptoms. “I said to the doctor, ‘I am jealous of the girl who has cancer down the hall. Even though it might be a life threatening illness, at least her mother knows what she has,’” she
TWINS ISABELLA (LEFT) AND JULIA DOYON enjoy some free time at the Raymond Village Library on Tuesday afternoon. The girls, who turn four years old in November, were diagnosed with Hypophosphatasia (HPP) earlier this summer. (De Busk Photo) said. “I felt guilty for saying that. I was surprised by myself. I had to express it because it was eating at me. The doctor JOURNEY, Page A
However, the problem is that paving is temperature sensitive. It cannot be done during times when temperatures are lower than 50 degrees, Storer said. The situation on Route 11
seems to be a Catch-22. “We have gained a new road, but we have lost a lot of workable areas,” Plummer said. “We need to stand our ground,” he said.
By Emily Gillette Contributing Writer FRYEBURG — At the most recent meeting on Oct. 23, selectmen voted to reverse their Oct. 9 initiative to enter into a five-year lease for office space at 4 Nursery Lane for the Police Department after it was found that they exceeded their authority. “Multi-term leases of this nature, that require a commitment of funds from future years, must first be brought to the legislative body,” said chairman Paul Naughton. In this instance, the legislative body is the voters of Fryeburg. Selectmen instead voted to cease all negotiations with Remax, who were representing fellow selectmen Rick Eastman who owns the building, until the next annual town meeting in June of 2015. Despite this upset, feelings from the board were still clear: the current space that the police dept. occupies is far too small for their needs. “We’ve been lucky for the last 23 years, in my opinion,”
said selectman Jeff Cox. “God forbid, there’s ever a detained person in there that confronts a police officer or gets away from a police officer. There’s rescue people and townspeople in that building at any given time.” Selectmen discussed what options might be viable including: renovating the old town hall past Canal Bridge (which Naughton said was “too far out of town”), the Red Brick Building near the Irving gas station, the old Town Garage, or staying with Fryeburg Rescue, who are still hoping to expand their building soon, as well. “What we need to do is get all the information put together, present it at the town meeting, and get their permission one way or another,” Naughton said, “but the bottom line is the police need more space.” Bill Kane of Fryeburg Rescue said he was pleased with the new decision. “My feeling is the nursery would not be a good spot.” STATION, Page 7B
Police station choice reversed
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