Doing right things
Up and down
SAD 61 hands out another round of Laker Pride Awards to district students
Local high school basketball teams head into the break on up and down notes
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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 146, No. 52
24 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
December 24, 2015
(USPS 065-020)
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
Bottled gas appeal
Neighbors off to strong start
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The controversial decision by Bridgton Planning Board members to allow Bridgton Bottled Gas to put in a 30,000-gallon propane tank may soon be coming back to haunt them. The Bridgton Board of Appeals began its hearing last week of a neighbor’s appeal of the decision. Once lawyers from both sides had presented their case, Appeals Board Chairman John Schuettinger wasted no time in letting his feelings be known. “It’s a mess, is what it is. I’m very disappointed with the Planning Board,” Schuettinger said. Members began going through the planning board’s Nov. 3 finding of facts, try-
ing to decide if and where the planning board had failed to consider “substantive” evidence in their site plan review. Guided by advice from their attorney, the Appeals Board took three hours alone reviewing the substantive evidence standard before recessing and calling it a night. When they resume their review on Thursday, Jan. 7, at 6:30 p.m., members will consider the second legal issue of whether substantive procedural errors occurred in the planning board’s review. Appeals board members have yet to decide whether to remand the decision back to the planning board for another review, or to uphold the appeal. The board also needs to APPEAL, Page 3A
GETTING READY FOR THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT — Dressed as an angel, Brea Potvin prepares for the annual Christmas pageant last Sunday at the First Congregational Church in Bridgton. See more photos from the pageant on Page 8A. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Murphy)
Anonymous donor to replace crèche figurines By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — December is a time of good deeds. In the weeks before Christmas known as Advent, many Christians make a conscious effort to connect with Christ’s birth. At one community church, the baby Jesus went missing from the outdoor nativity
scene, also known as a crèche. The figure of Mary was also swiped from the crèche. People’s responses to this incident illustrate how human kindness is alive and well. Jesus and Mary will be replaced by an anonymous donor who heard about it on the church’s Facebook page, according to Rev. Joyce Long, with the Casco Village
Church United Church of Christ. Plus, the person plans to gift a few more figures to the church’s nativity scene, which is where Silent Night is sung during late Christmas Eve services. Last week, Long was wondering why someone took the two-dimensional painted wooden figures. Mostly, she
was searching a wide perimeter around the church in case the pieces had been tossed. This week, she is thanking two strangers and a fellow parishioner for three offers to replace the figures of Mary and baby. One of the men, who is a member of the church, volunteered to craft the new pieces, she said.
“A perfect stranger contacted us and offered to make a Mary and Jesus. They left a message on the church phone. I haven’t talked to them” directly, she said. “Another person has the pieces that will fit” the church’s nativity scene, Long said. “A woman who wanted to remain nameless” learned
about the church’s need “through Facebook,” she said. “We have someone from our church that is going to drive to Limington to pick up” the donated figures for the crèche, she said. Baby Jesus and Mary will be in place before Thursday’s Christmas Eve services. “I had a Plan B anyways,” Long said.
MDOT: Bridge to be replaced within 30 days By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The good news is that the typical bridge construction time could be cut by two-thirds. “A bridge closure is usually two to three months. With today’s rapid construction techniques, it will take 30 days or less” to replace the Crockett Bridge, according to Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Project Engineer Mark Parlin. Parlin was one of three MDOT representatives at a public-input meeting that was held in Naples on Dec. 9. Mostly affecting the towns of Naples and Sebago — the replacement of the Crockett Bridge will start in autumn 2016. The bridge
replacement project is scheduled to go out to bid in April 2016. The Crockett Bridge is located on Route 114 in Naples. The bridge crosses over the Muddy River on the north side of Sebago Lake. Along with the consolidated construction time, the project will cost less, Parlin said. That is because a temporary bridge will not be built. The “bad news” is the same as in most construction. There will be detours; and, those detours could be long. People trying to access the Town of Sebago will have to travel into Bridgton via Route 117. Detours will be set up on stateBRIDGE, Page 3A
SIGNING OFF — A major controversy has developed in Bridgton over whether to install hand-painted directional signs created by local artist Nelle Ely of Twin Lakes Studio. The pictured signs, being stored in a town shed, are part of a $30,000 wayfaring sign project intended to direct visitors to Bridgton’s municipal resources and attractions.
Controversy clouds wayfaring sign project
May Your Holiday Season be filled with love, family and friends Wayne & Susan Rivet, Melissa, Mark & Maddox David Bubier, Matthew Rivet, Kim Rivet, Aaron Chase, Lia Ruthie & Tucker Nathan Chase, Elaine Rioux, Ken Murphy, Eric Gulbrandsen, Sonja Millett, Gail Geraghty, Dawn DeBusk, Lori Plourd, Brad Hooper, Ethel Hurst, Cheryl Harmon, Al Glover, Stan Cohen, Mike Corrigan, Tom McLaughlin, S. Peter Lewis, Jean Preis, Henry Precht, Allen Crabtree, Evan Miller and Josh Jacobson
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Nearly all of the longawaited wayfaring signs for the town of Bridgton have been finished, but serious doubts were raised Tuesday as to whether they’ll be installed. Not all of the signs were finished by Nov. 30 as required under the contract the town has with local artist Nell Ely, and four of the signs were rejected, Town Manager Bob Peabody said. “Right now we’re in kind of a legal limbo. The contract is in breach, and she has 30 days to rectify that breach.” He said the town has contacted their attorney, and will know more around Jan. 8 or 9. The doubts raised Tuesday, however, focused more on the appearance of
the signs than how long it took to make them. “We’ve made a grave error here, and I’d like to see us start over,” Sandra Swett of Swett Signs, Inc., of South Paris, told the Board of Selectmen. Swett’s concerns were numerous, ranging from the kind of paint and spray finish used to the letter spacing and “cartooney” directional arrows. She said that the town: • Did not hire a graphic designer to draw up sign
design specifications; • Hired an artisan, Nelle Ely, who is not a professional signmaker, to do the job; • Paid five times as much as the next highest bidder for “inferior” and “unprofessional” signs that will “portray a negative image on our town.” Swett said she and her husband Terry are 25-year Bridgton residents who sold much of their business to their daughter, Jennifer Higgins, owner of Muddy SIGN, Page 2A
The Bridgton News Established 1870
P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. Bridgton, ME 04009 207-647-2851 Fax: 207-647-5001 bnews@roadrunner.com