Lighting up the night
Winter sports previews
Main Street was buzzing Friday night as the 10th Festival of Lights put folks into the holiday spirit
Friday is opening night for high school basketball teams, while wrestlers start Saturday.
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Inside News Calendar . . . . . . . 6B-7B Classifieds . . . . . . 4D-5D Country Living 1B-3B, 8B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 3D Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 6D Opinions . 1D-3D, 7D-8D Police/Court . . . . . 4A-5A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1C-5C Student News . . . . . . 6C Entertainment . . . . . . 8B Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com Vol. 143, No. 49
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 28 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
December 6, 2012
(USPS 065-020)
SIXTY CENTS
Feedback sought on Route 302 draft design By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Six-foot paved shoulders will make five miles of Route 302 in West Bridgton and Fryeburg seem wider, and thus safer, under a construction project in the early planning stages by the state Department of Transportation. Feedback from the public, that will help determine the final design, is being sought at a preliminary public meeting planned for Wednesday, Dec. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Bridgton Municipal Complex. “In places it will seem wider,” said Robert Carrell, MDOT Project Manager, because currently the shoulders are mostly gravel along the project site, which runs from the Bridgton side of the Saco River in Fryeburg to just before the Moose Pond Causeway in Bridgton. The shoulders will be rebuilt as well as paved, and some actual widening may occur in some places, he said. “We really haven’t designed the project yet. It’s a long project.” Technically speaking, the project is considered a highway rehabilitation rather than a reconstruction, he said. Because the cost would be prohibitive if all gravel were used, the exist-
ing pavement will be chewed up and reused as a bed for the new pavement surface, he said. New drainage will be installed in some places, and there’ll be curbing improvements in some places as well, said Carrell. “It’s not up to the standard for a major roadway,” he said. As of 2011, traffic counts showed an annual average of 7,450 vehicles a day, 9% of which were heavy trucks. By 2023, annual average daily traffic is projected to climb to 9,340 vehicles a day. The project will be designed to accommodate traffic projections over the next 20 years, he said. The state currently has $6.4 million available for the project. “As we get further along, we’ll have better estimates,” Carrell said. The center alignment of the highway, both horizontally and vertically, will likely stay very close to what it is today. However, there will be some minor adjustments to the alignment in order to improve site distances. The speed limit along most of the stretch of highway is 50 miles an hour. Following the Dec. 12 public meeting in Bridgton, Carrell said MDOT will prepare a DRAFT DESIGN, Page A
STEPS TOWARD AMPHITHEATER PAVILION — On Friday, Naples Board of Selectmen, town staff including Code Enforcement Officer Renee Carter, and Causeway Renovation Committee Members took a site walk of the amphitheater area with Department of Environmental Protection Regional Coordinator for Shoreland Zoning, Mike Morse. (De Busk Photo)
Not etched in stone Town works on pavilion details
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Many members of the community have known for years that an amphitheater located in the Causeway’s greenspace could draw entertainment and crowds to Naples. But, those amphitheater details had never been etched in stone. Now, as the earth and granite rock have been placed to create benches and stairs for an outdoor seating area, the Causeway Restoration Committee (CRC) has identified the need for a pavilion-style stage.
However, not granted were the environmental permits necessary for that type of construction that close to the water. After all, the pavilion was not part of the original blueprint. During a recent Naples Board of Selectmen meeting, CRC Chairman Bob Neault brought forward some solutions that would allow the pavilion to be built. Also during that Nov. 24 meeting, Neault said a year round pavilion was the best bet — even though a temporary one would not require any permitting by the Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP). On Friday, selectmen, town staff, and CRC members took a site walk of the Causeway area with DEP’s Regional Coordinator for Shoreland Zoning, Mike Morse. The amphitheater has been built into the earth on the south side of the Bay of Naples Bridge. The amphitheater seating faces south, toward Brandy Pond; and it is located in the roadway space that was formerly Route 302. Therefore, the location for the pavilion is PAVILION, Page A
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — On the week before Thanksgiving, a landscaper from the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) worked with a Wyman & Simpson construction crew to put into place the granite steps for the town’s new amphitheater. The blueprints for the amphitheater called for a natural-looking seating arrange-
ment with granite as the primary material. The pre-holiday push to complete that stage of the project is one of many for Wyman & Simpson, the general contractor for the Bay of Naples Bridge and Causeway project because the construction crews and state workers will leave the Naples site, take a wintertime hiatus, and be back in time for the fairer weather.
According to the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Resident Engineer Craig Hurd, the project is wrapping up for the winter with a resume date of April — give or take a week. “They will be there for another two or three weeks; and then, they’ll come back in the spring when weather gets better,” Hurd said. “Anything we would do in the summer would be staining
FIRST, AND HE’S LOVIN’ IT — Fred Packard, seated, was proud to be chosen by developer Mark Lopez to be the first customer at the new Bridgton McDonald’s on Portland Road, which opened for business Thursday. He posed with owner/operator Edward Roetman after signing his name to the dollar bill he used in paying for his meal: a double cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla shake. (Geraghty Photos)
A warm Mc-welcome!
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer When Mark Lopez, developer of the Bridgton McDonald’s, asked lifelong Bridgton resident and Planning Board member Fred Packard to be the first customer at the new restaurant, Packard was quick to agree. Packard’s a longtime fast food fan, after all. He can remember paying 55 cents for his first McDonald’s meal: a cheeseburger, fries and a small Coke. It was 1964, 48 years ago, when the first McDonald’s opened in Maine on St. John Street in Portland. “Bridgton’s a hamburger town, and always will be a hamburger town,” Packard proclaimed at Thursday’s soft opening, repeating the words of Larry Walsh, owner of the former Dam Site Restaurant in downtown Bridgton. Although the Grand Opening will be held tomorrow, the chance to be part of what seemed an historic occasion drew around 40 or so people to the long anticipated — and much debated — first day of business at the Bridgton McDonald’s. The customers included older folks and teenagers, and families with youngsters, some sitting, some standing, as they waited just before 10 a.m. in the small café-style seating area for owner/operator Edward Roetman to give the word. Behind the counter, around a dozen smiling, eager and slightly nervous employees bustled back and forth in last-minute preparations. Then Roetman, who sold off his McDonald’s franchises in another state and moved to Bridgton to head up the new restaurant, beckoned his staff to stand in front of the counter for a photo and pep talk. “This is going to be awesome,” Roetman said, beaming. “We’re going to make everyone envious in the whole
CRUISING THRU THE DRIVE-THRU — Bridgton Police Officer Peter Madura was invited to be the first drive-thru customer, and he invited Town Clerk Laurie Chadbourne to come along for the ride in his police cruiser. “I’ve been a supporter of this (bringing McDonald’s to Bridgton) for the last 10 years,” he said. “For the working man today, if you can come here and get two cheeseburgers and two fries for $4, it’s just a great thing for Bridgton.” McDonald’s community.” The time had come. Packard approached the counter and peered up at the menu board. “Let me have a double cheeseburger, large fries and a vanilla shake,” he said. And history was made —five years after the rumor mill began, and close to two years after voters rejected a citizen’s initiative that would
Memorial School vote on agenda
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Casco’s elected officials are poised to decide the fate of the Memorial School. Most of them cannot wait any longer because it has been an agenda item for far too long, while some would be willing to take a wait and stall stance. “Put it on the agenda for the next meeting. I am ready to take a vote,” said Casco Board of Selectmen Chairman MaryViennessa Fernandes. the bridge. Fernandes put an end to disThe (Causeway Restoration) cussion about the school. She Committee wants to stain it tabled it. more like a grey-brown color. The request is that the stones on the bridge will be painted so it appears to be grouted, Hurd explained. Established 1870 “The stones on the bridge P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. will look like the granite Bridgton, ME 04009 blocks, but like they will be 207-647-2851 grouted,” he said. Fax: 207-647-5001 “That job is weather bnews@roadrunner.com HIATUS, Page A
Bridge work takes winter hiatus
have banned fast food restaurants in town. McDonald’s became a reality. For Bridgton Police Officer Peter Madura, the new McDonald’s is welcome news, and long overdue. “I’ve been a supporter of this (bringing McDonald’s to Bridgton) for the last 10 years,” MCDONALDS, Page A
During numerous talks about the Memorial School — and especially those board discussions that took place following a questionnaire that was mailed to the town’s property owners as well as a Town Meeting vote to place in the board’s hands the details of the disposal of building — selectman Kim Tracy said she has been ready to vote on it for a long time. Selectman Grant Plummer has reminded the audience and other board members about the Town Meeting vote — a sign of confidence that a good deciSCHOOL, Page A
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