Unnecessary hire Although funds were available, Bridgton selectmen decline to add a fire inspector Page 2A
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SAD 61 teachers, staff honor students; LRVC inducts new honor society members
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www.bridgton.com Vol. 143, No. 47
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 28 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
November 22, 2012
(USPS 065-020)
SIXTY CENTS
Stripping groundcover of poison ivy proves costly By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer To John and Maria Mello of Lynn, Mass., stripping all the plants in front of their Long Lake home in Bridgton was “an innocent mistake,” caused by the torment his wife had endured from the poison ivy hidden among the ferns. To the Bridgton Board of
Selectmen, it was a serious violation of the town’s Shoreland Zoning law. The only issue was — how high a price they should pay? In the end, the board, at their Nov. 23 meeting, settled on a $7,500 fine, the amount initially recommended by Code Enforcement Officer Robbie Baker. But a fine of twice that
amount was considered, and the board spent quite some time researching past fines and debating whether the issue of guilt or innocence on the part of the Mellos should play any role at all. The Mello’s attorney, Michael Friedman, told the board that his clients didn’t think they were breaking the
law when they brought in a local landscaping contractor this fall to remove all of the ferns, shrubs and groundcover along their frontage within 100 feet of Long Lake. Friedman said the contractor told them there wasn’t an issue as long as they weren’t removing any trees. Maria Mello told the board
she is extremely allergic to poison ivy, and more than once while at their shorefront home, her reaction has been serious enough to send her to the emergency room. The problem had been getting steadily worse over the past five or six years since they purchased the summer home, located at 55 Barrington Drive.
“We were told we couldn’t spray chemicals,” so that option was not possible, she said. Late this summer, her patience wore out. “I told them, ‘Get rid of it’,” she said. Selectman Chairman Paul Hoyt, however, countered that “most people would say if you’re going down with a frontREMOVAL, Page A
Campsite permit deemed illegal By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The incidences of this occur quite often. Yet, the stories are different. Essentially, a property owner is allowed, often through local and state permitting, to park a self-contained recreation vehicle on a shoreland parcel that is less than an acre. Often, that RV remains there for more than seven months at a time or additional campers are parked on the lot — two activities that fly in the face of shoreland zoning laws. The Town of Casco adopted the Shoreland Zoning Ordinances in 1971. From that point in time, campers that were already established on waterfront parcels were grandfathered in and allowed to permanently park one camper on the property. Also, it was allowable to CLOSING OUT THE GASPING GOBBLER — On a glorious Saturday morning, the threesome of (left to right) David Mills, replace the camper with a newer Ruth Hodgkins and Robert Williams were the final walkers to cross the finish line of the Seventh Annual Gasping Gobbler 5K one, but never closer to the water Run/Walk held at the Lovell Athletic Fields. For race results, see Page 5C. (Rivet Photo) than the previous location.
On Nov. 13, local resident Darren Brown came before the Casco Board of Selectmen asking for permission to use the property in the same manner he has been since he purchased the land in 2009. Brown, the property owner — who was seeking to sell his parcel of less than an acre with the rights to fill in a camper pad and park an RV there — discovered the potential buyer could not continue these uses on the land. This is because the previous owner had placed the camper on the parcel after 1971, after the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance had been adopted, according to Casco Code Enforcement Officer Don Murphy. The zoning permit that was issued to Brown should have not come from the code enforcement department but should have been approved by the Casco Planning Board, he said. The former CEO did not CAMPSITE, Page A
VFWs, Legions reach out to younger veterans By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Marian Merrill and Russ Littlefield paused on Nov. 11 to reflect on the reasons it is sometimes difficult to get the younger generation to join the local Legion or an areabased Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) organization. According to Russ Littlefield, a longtime member of the American Legion Post No. 155, the answer is the economy.
“You are not getting younger people to join because everything costs so much. Both people, the husband and wife, work full-time. Sometimes one person works during the day and the other at night because they cannot afford to have a babysitter,” Littlefield said. “It is the economy right now. They have two car payments, a house payment, and their kids to raise up,” he said. “I’ll say once the kids get into
Pennesseewasse Pale Ale debuts By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer HARRISON — Twenty-two years of home brewing will be put to the test Friday night, Nov. 23, when Tucker’s Pub in Norway holds a release party for Pennesseewassee Pale Ale, the first beer produced by the new Pennesseewassee Brewing Company of Harrison. For the first time, folks will be tasting Lee Margolin’s favorite home brew recipe, a naturally-carbonated, tawny-colored, lighttasting traditional English Pale Ale. He’s bringing over five or six cases of the beer, all hand-labeled in 22-ounce craft bottles from his brewery, produced, as its label states, “on the banks of the Crooked River.” If strangers pronounce his beer good, if they come back for more (although one 22-ounce beer, at 4.5% alcohol, should give anyone a good start), then Margolin will know all the effort he has put into the past year and a half to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals and licensing has been worth it. As many times as friends have told him they love his beer, in the life of a professional micro-brewer, it’s the opinion of savvy beer drinkers that matters most. “I got lots of real encouragement,” he said, when he brought his ale in a keg to a recent Harvest Party in Otisfield, attended mostly by people he knew. However, “As a scientist, I have to discount my first circle,” said Margolin, who has a Master’s Degree and Ph.D in biology. Don’t expect him to get all stressed out on Friday, in any case. Just as likely, he’ll be up on stage with A Bunch of Old Hippies, playing blues harp with the fellow members of his band. That’s because Margolin knows he’s riding a wave, in which locally-produced craft beers are becoming ever more popular; and it’s because he knows Pennesseewassee Pale Ale fills a void for a beer that’s local to the Oxford Hills and western Maine. Nationally, the number of craft brewers has gone from eight in 1980 to over 1,600 in 2010.
high school, they might have some free time,” Littlefield said. For the VFW, the newest members would be the servicemen who were stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan during those armed conflicts. Littlefield explained that the requirements to join the VFW are set on the federal level. People qualify for VFW membership only if they were stationed where an officially-sanctioned war was being fought.
For VFW membership “you had to be in a combat zone,” Littlefield said, adding that congress determines what years a military personnel can join the VFW. Comparatively, the American Legion includes anyone who has served in the military — regardless of whether the service years were during peace or wartime. By contrast, the auxiliary members are comprised of the family members of any veteran.
“We all work toward the same causes — helping veterans,” Merrill said. Merrill is the Auxiliary President at the American Legion Post No. 155, which serves the communities of Naples, Raymond and Casco. Currently, there are 178 Auxiliary and 268 Legion members. She said the topic of membership is a common one at statewide meetings.
“This is a problem with all service organizations. It comes up in conversation, and what I hear is, ‘It’s the money, and the time, and the change in our society,’ ” Merrill said. “The community service gene is not as instilled in the group coming up,” she said. “We have raised an indulgent society that is more concerned about what they are going to get out of it than they are interested MEMBERS, Page A
Causeway rezoning in its early stages By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Rezoning the Causeway is a probability — at least, in order for the town’s envisioned amphitheater to be built there. Construction began on the amphitheater this fall. The engineer’s sketch calls for granite on the ground — which is permissible by Shoreland Zoning ordinances. However, the environmental permits were not issued; and those permits were necessary to build a permanent pavilion overhead, according to Causeway Restoration Committee Chairman Bob Neault. For the amphitheater, “we COLLECTOR’S ITEM? — Harrison brewer Lee Margolin wanted the capability of havgot a good laugh after he demonstrated his hand-rolling mething lights and sound systems,” od for affixing the label of his new brew, only to realize he’d Neault said, adding, “The conplaced the label upside down. (Geraghty Photo) Nowadays, it is said, the majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery. It’s the water If riding a wave, like Bray’s Brewpub has in Naples and Geary’s, weren’t enough to ensure success, Margolin can also boast that his Harrison beer has a very special edge — the water. “We have the best water in the world,” Margolin said, of the aquifer under his Plains Road home, located within 200 yards of PALE ALE, Page A
cept we have in mind doesn’t lend itself to being a temporary structure.” “Certainly, a permanent structure would be better. One would have the advantages of having a shelter for winter activities. Plus with a temporary pavilion, there would be the expense of putting it up and taking it down, and figuring out where to store it,” Neault said. During the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, elected officials decided to schedule a site walk of the Causeway with a representative from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP.) That informational walk will most likely happen in the next couple of weeks. The aim of the site walk is to REZONING, Page A
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