Shrine for Rogers
New season, new hopes
Inside News
A Bridgton woman’s collection is mentioned in a new book, “The Touch of Roy and Dale...”
Lake Region and Fryeburg Academy kick off the winter sports season Friday. See previews
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www.bridgton.com Vol. 142, No.49
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 24 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
December 8, 2011
(USPS 065-020)
Flu bug hits hard
Creating a vision
Harrison school slowly recovers
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer HARRISON — Over 10 percent of students and staff have been sickened at Harrison Elementary School by an unusually fast-moving stomach flu bug, triggering an intervention by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The “throw-up” bug, a likely strain of norovirus, hit in full force on Friday, when three students called in sick and 15 were sent home by School Nurse Vicky VanLoan — who got sick herself over the weekend and was out of work on Monday, said SAD 17 Supt. Rick Colpitts. By Monday, 13 students of the 200-student school called in sick and another four were sent home. The CDC implemented strict sanitary disinfectant measures to minimize the spread, and by Tuesday, seven students were out sick and one was sent home, Colpitts said. He said the CDC was not recommending closing the school. School staff were also affected, Colpitts said; one teacher
went home sick Friday, five staff were sick over the weekend, and three staff members were still out sick as of Tuesday. Orders for frequent handwashings, non-sharing of cell phones, and repeated disinfecting by custodial staff of doors, knobs, keyboard and other contact surfaces in the school appear to be paying off, however, he added. “Everybody is slowly getting back to normal,” said Colpitts, who couldn’t recall in his experience any other incident in a school where a flu virus was so rapidly spread from person to person. He said the symptoms were nausea and vomiting, but it was still uncertain whether the virus was airborne or spread through physical contact. Those who have been affected by the virus feel very sick initially, but typically have recovered within 48 hours, he said. “Sometimes you just have to let it run its course,” he said. “It’s similar to what you might find on a cruise ship, when you have a lot of people in a small space.”
The district has an infectious disease policy that outlines cleaning procedures and requires CDC reporting if more than 10% of a school’s population is affected. School Principal Margaret Emery is encouraging parents of all students to keep their child at home if the child complains of a stomach ache, to minimize contact with others. The policy also requires the thorough cleaning of an area within six feet from any site of vomiting. District Facilities Director David Marshall briefed the school’s head custodian, Rob Saunders, on the cleaning procedures on Monday afternoon. Colpitts said no other SAD 17 school has reported a similar stomach virus. Principals Cheryl Turpin at Stevens Brook Elementary School, and June Conley at Songo Locks School in Naples, said there have been no serious outbreaks of stomach flu at their schools. Bridgton Hospital spokesperson Pam Smith, however, confirmed that “we have indeed had FLU, Page A
WHAT SHOULD I WISH FOR? — A youngster ponders his list while visiting with Santa Claus last Friday during Christmas in Harrison. See more photos on Page 3A. (Ackley Photo)
changes. Under the proposed changes, there would be two separate districts in Downtown Bridgton — General Development I District and General Development II District. The viability of a proposed $4 million 21-unit senior housing development at the former Chapter 11 building on Main Street proposed by AVESTA Housing is at stake, as well as potential commercial development in the downtown corridor. Bridgton’s outgoing Economic and Community Development Director, Alan
Manoian, has said the future of development in the downtown area hinges on these proposed ordinance changes being approved by voters in the special referendum Dec. 13. “This would allow for good quality mixed use development, and it would be instrumental in getting the economic engine of downtown Bridgton going again,” Manoian said Oct. 25, during the public hearing on both ordinance amendments. Manoian also clarified that evening that the proposed changes apply only to a specific area in downtown Bridgton.
The proposed amendments to the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance are applicable “exclusively to what is known as the Downtown General Development District,” Manioan said. “It would be a two-tier district.” In the more densely developed General Development II District, “the parcels are historically small and (some) are completely asphalted,” Manoian stated. “Right now, the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance stipulates 50,000 square feet of land per residential unit,” town-wide, he said. However, because there is a “unified wastewater dis-
raising consultant to assist the volunteers with creating a presentation to potential donors. The town’s financial obligation for the $8.9 to $9.1 million Bay of Naples Bridge project will be $405,000; and the sooner the town can begin getting those pledges, the better. Installation of the hand rails
has begun. About 700 feet of pedestrian railing will continue from where it starts east of Sandy’s Flight Deck to the proximity of the dock of the Songo River Queen II. The railing will stop there until the bridge and boardwalk are completed, explained Wyman and Simpson Inc.
Engineer Kim Suhr during a bi-monthly meeting with the Maine State Department of Transportation (MDOT). Wyman & Simpson is the primary contractor for the Bay of Naples Bridge and Causeway construction. “You certainly don’t want to RAILING, Page 12A
Voters can reshape downtown district
By Lisa Williams Ackley Staff Writer This Tuesday, December 13, voters will determine the future of development in downtown Bridgton, when they go to the polls to decide whether to approve amendments to two local ordinances — Shoreland Zoning and Site Plan Review. Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town Hall on North High Street. The Bridgton Board of Selectmen and the Bridgton Planning Board held back-toback public hearings in late October and then held a joint meeting the same evening on the proposed ordinance
Railing adds ‘bling’ to walk
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The Naples Causeway has got ‘bling’ going on. Vert-noir, which in French means green-black, galvanized steel railing will adorn the Causeway’s boardwalk in time for Christmas. While the railing and lighting might make for amazing nighttime strolls along Long Lake during the winter, having that part of the Causeway done could “bring in the green” in more ways than one. Naples town officials and members of the Causeway Renovation Committee agree that having the pedestrian handrails in place and functioning street lights will improve the computerized image of the Causeway. A better image would assist in bringing onboard donations during the fundraising effort. To have the railing up “would be a tremendous boost to our fundraising campaign,” CRC member Bob Neault said. The committee hired a fund-
SIXTY CENTS
posal system and public water, we are proposing to drop the 50,000-square-foot requirement down to 1,000 square feet of land per bedroom (in the General Development II District),” said Manoian. The proposed General Development I District “is a little less intensely developed — the parcels are larger — and in our meetings with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (that must approve all changes made to a town’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance) they have been stressing they want to see a two-tier approach and phase
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The Bridgton Comprehensive Plan Committee wants everyone to be on the same page as it prepares a draft form-based code for downtown Bridgton and the Portland Road. To that end, the committee has called for a joint meeting on Jan. 12, 2012 with selectmen, the planning board and wastewater committee members that will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the selectmen’s meeting room at the Bridgton Municipal Complex. At that time, officials will review the preliminary form-based code ordinance for Bridgton that will be submitted by Alan Manoian, the town’s economic and community development director, prior to his resignation effective Jan. 2. On Monday, committee members worked on updating the sections of the 2004–2005 comprehensive plan that selectmen charged them with changing, to reflect current demographics and economic data. Members agreed that the existing plan was a well-written document that still reflects the community’s vision, but that it will still need to be rewritten. Some of the work will need to await the outcome of the Dec. 13 referendum on lot size reductions in the downtown district, members agreed. But they were nonetheless able to hold VISION, Page A
Pace quickens for CMS solution
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — As a citizen, Selectman Tracy Kimball was an outspoken advocate for doing something to salvage the Casco Memorial School instead of engaging in “open-ended discussions” about the building while it remained unoccupied with a roof in need of repair. “I think we have made more progress in two months than in a while. The board is committing to some ‘action steps,’” she said following a recent Casco Board of Selectmen meeting. “I am hoping we can break ground and have something in progress by spring.” During the meeting, she said she hoped the entire board would be ready to move forward with sending out requests for proposals (RFPs) perhaps as early January 2012. On Tuesday, Dec. 13, architect Brian Curley of PDT Architects will sit in on a workshop with the selectmen. That presentation is slated to start at 6 p.m., which is a half-hour earlier than usual. The architect was referred by someone who serves on the UNLOADED — In late September, Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Resident Engineer Craig Hurd stands next SAD 61 Board of Directors, to the galvanized steel railing that was stacked in the bone yard. After the Thanksgiving holiday, the contractor Wyman & according to Town Manager Simpson Inc. gained five employees from projects that were wrapping up; and this month, the much-desired pedestrian railing Dave Morton. is starting to stretch down the Naples Causeway. (De Busk Photo) SOLUTION, Page 12A VOTE, Page A
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