Beyond belief
100th win
Denmark Arts Center program explores the history of Santa Claus
Inside News Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 4B
Defending state champ senior Trevor Henschel notches a milestone win at Rumford
Page 1B
Classifieds . . . . . . 4D-5D Country Living . . . 1B-6B Directory . . . . . . . . . . 5C
Page 7C
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 3D Opinions . 1D-3D, 5D-6D Police/Court . . . . . . . . 6A Sports . . . . . . . . . 1C-6C Student News . . . 7C-8C Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 5C
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 145, No. 51
28 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
December 18, 2014
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Bridgton calls for revenue sharing reform By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen are way out front of a statewide lobbying effort by towns to restore fairness in Maine’s Revenue Sharing Program. The board is inviting elected officials from all over the Lake Region and beyond, as well as area legislators, to a Revenue Sharing Forum they are hosting on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room of the Bridgton Municipal Complex. The meeting’s intent is to put pressure on the 127th Legislature to pass
revenue sharing reforms in the next session that begins in January. Board members have had an ongoing gripe about the town’s ever-shrinking amount of funding from the state’s revenue sharing program, begun 41 years ago with the intent to ease the burden of state spending on local property taxpayers. Back in the early days, Bridgton received around $450,000 in revenue sharing, an amount that shrank to $188,000 last year and is expected to stay the same for next year. This fall, led by Selectman
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton Selectmen are out of patience with the SAD 61 School District’s indecision on whether to turn over the former Memorial School to the town. They fear that the 1950sera school building has already deteriorated by sitting vacant for the past half-decade, and that the situation is only becoming worse. Town Manager Bob Peabody and Director of Planning, Economic and Community Development Director, Anne Krieg, both tried to put a positive spin on their discussions over the past month with school officials about the school. They said they impressed upon Superintendent Alan Smith and members of the Facilities Committee that there are a series of careful steps that need to take place before voters can decide whether to take over ownership of the school property for redevelopment. “I think this issue is in front of them and they understand that we need resolution going forward,” Peabody said. The building has been declared as surplus by the district and has been used for storage for several years. “They do have needs, particularly on the roadway going in,” Peabody said. “They realize it’s not an ‘us vs. them’ on if they are going to abandon
the property, and that we need to work together to get this done.” The town began investing in redevelopment in earnest five years ago, when it obtained a brownfields grant by working with the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Phase I and II cleanup studies have been completed, but in order for the actual physical cleanup to begin, the property needs to be conveyed to the town. Before any ownership change, however, a third party agreement must be crafted that will allow the release of federal cleanup funds. That agreement, as well, needs to specify what future use is planned for the property. Selectmen are concerned that if the process doesn’t move forward very soon, there won’t be enough time to put all the balls in motion before the June Town Meeting. Added to the pressure is the fact that the Phase I study is already outdated and will need to be repeated. Murphy was the first to press for a deadline on a decision by the district. “We’ve been batting this back and forth for six years…I want to see some results,” he said. The vacant school “is just holding old materials, just sitting there, rotting.” Others noted the investment DECISION, Page A
Board presses SAD 61 on school decision
Bus project has a flat tire The wheels on a bus from Bridgton to Portland is no longer going round and round. The wheels are flat, at least right now. Bridgton Transportation Authority is saddened to report that the Lakes Region Bus will not be connecting Bridgton to Portland anytime before July 1, 2015, and perhaps not even then, according to the group’s secretary, George Bradt. A start date for the bus leaving Bridgton, on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, had been decided upon, but during a conversation with Jack DeBeradinis, RTP’s executive director, earlier this week, there can be no interim service from Bridgton. Among the several points DeBeradinis made during a candid chat with George Bradt, BTA secretary, the most significant is that, “RTP will not put itself in a position of providing a bus service only to cancel
it a few months later. That would be unfair to Bridgton residents.” “Rather than do that, let’s aim to start service from Bridgton in early July once RTP has received $50,000 from the five towns along the bus route,” DeBeradinis said. “This insures that no one will be disappointed.” DeBeradinis also said that, “That the real cost extending the bus service from Naples to Bridgton is $1,417 per month or $17,000 per year.” “For the past two months, the BTA has been working toward raising $5,000 which would cover the cost of extending the bus to Bridgton for the six months, ending on June 31, 2015,” said Bradt. “We’re at about $3,000 with more donations expected before year-end, and perhaps additions in early 2015.” The Lakes Region Bus was slated to begin its Portland to Bridgton run in BUS, Page A
Paul Hoyt, they decided to stop griping and take action, and decided a regional summit was a powerful way to go. To their delight, they learned that the Maine Municipal Association was of a like mind. In the most recent issue of the Maine Townsmen, the MMA announced that the centerpiece of their legislative agenda next session will be the preservation and restoration of the Municipal Revenue Sharing Program. Town Manager Bob Peabody provided the board with background history on the revenue sharing program
to show “how the state has not honored the law” that dictates how revenue sharing amounts are calculated for towns. He was asked to invite Geoffrey Hermann Stearn from the MMA to come talk about the issue and give an overview of the organization’s strategy for reform. In the Townsman, Hermann wrote, “Revenue sharing is also the policy — the only state policy — that provides some relief to communities with high concentrations of exempt property punching big holes in their tax base.” He goes on to say, “This
policy of sharing has changed since the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008. The last four legislatures and the last two administrations have made it abundantly clear, each more aggressively than the last, that the respect formerly held for the revenue sharing program by previous legislatures no longer exists. Instead of sharing, state government has come to treat the revenue sharing program as a magic ATM machine, the withdrawals from which never have to be repaid. “The problem is that over the last six years, the gover-
nors have proposed and the legislatures have endorsed overriding the law, cutting the distribution to local governments more deeply each year, and using the money to support other state budget priorities.” Hermann said the MMA is encouraging towns to become active in helping them with an effort to educate busy legislators on the mandate. The MMA will also be putting forth nine legislative initiatives, most of which speak to redesigning or redefining the state/local relationship in various ways.
Looks like Harrison’s Transfer Station Manager Achille “Archie” Belanger has let his work pile up a bit because of a book he just can’t put down.
Men of Harrison
Library calendar spotlights gents
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer HARRISON — Harrison Village Library’s 2015 calendar, The Men of Harrison Love a Good Book, is now available. The calendar, a fundraiser for the library, features many familiar local male faces (all fully clothed!) enjoying a good book, including Harrison Town Manager George “Bud” Finch. Each of the 12 men of Harrison were good enough sports to pose in their element, whether it be Brian Williams, reading on the dock of his Village Tie Up; Archie Belanger, immersed in a good yarn while surrounded by junk from the dump, or Selectman Chairman Bill Winslow, sharing his tale with two horses at his High View Farm. The cover features
Harrison Library Trustee Bill Wood, dressed as Santa, reading by flashlight while delivering presents in someone’s home. Most of the photos were staged tongue-in-cheek, depicting the men letting their responsibilities slide to enjoy their “good book.” Evergreen Tree and Landscape owner Pete Bell is photographed in the garden of Libby Armstrong of Harrison, gardening tools cast aside; Market Basket owner Bob Holden is photographed at his counter with a queue of customers waving money at him; Finch, with Code Enforcement Officer John Wentworth, are photographed on a bench at the War Memorials, coffee in hand, engaged in a lively book discussion; salvage yard owner Walter Connell is shown
relaxing on a car he bought during an episode of the History Channel’s Down East Dickerers; Harrison Fire Chief Ray LaPlante, engrossed in a book, seems to be holding up fellow firefighters all dressed and ready for a call; A.C. Construction owner Averill Davis is shown at the Crystal Lake boat landing; Highway Department employee Chas Parrott reads at the top of Harrison Heights; R.W. Merrill Electrical Contractor owner Russ Merrill was photographed in the dark, spooky cellar of Peter and Karen Toohey — the perfect place to read a scary book! “Supporting your local library as a critical part of your community has always been important to me, even CALENDAR, Page A
Walk slated for development By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The residents of a seasonal housing development on Sebago Lake aren’t happy with how things developed. Some of the property owners who purchased a home more than 10 years ago have to adhere to strict covenants. They cannot finish the basement or extend the second floor deck, while people in the newer developments have fewer rules and more square footage. What makes the situation
even more frustrating for Dick and Donna Harding is that the owners of the gated community, Point Sebago Resort, are going before the Casco Planning Board to seek a contract zone renewal. A representative for Point Sebago Resort has asked the board to increase the lot size so bigger homes can be constructed. He based the request on precedence, saying that in one of contract zone amendments, the town previously agreed to allow Point Sebago Enterprises to build larger
homes. Essentially, Point Sebago would like to use the land set aside for development differently: a reduction in the number of homes and an increase in lot size to accommodate a 12,000-square-foot home.
The rationale is that the larger homes are more appealing on the real estate market. Both Dick and Donna Harding said they wouldn’t mind having more than 900 square feet and putting in a WALK, Page A
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