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What good is a reval going to do? They'll just have to raise the mil rate.
A lot of people are looking at the way the housing market has gone and think their properties are over assessed. However, according to what the town manager is saying we are running at 105% or 5% above normal on average. Now some could come back, what he said the other night, with 1/3 of the town will stay the same, 1/3 of the town will go down, and 1/3 will actually go up. Our last revaluation was in 2006. Our next reval is scheduled for 2015 or 2016, depending on how much it costs us and where we stand on assessment of the town...meaning if we can hold off until 2016 then we probably we will. However, if we find that numbers are climbing faster than they should be then we may schedule it for sooner like 2014 or 2015.
I do understand what you are saying about the mil rate as do most of the residents, but there are those who don't see the correlation then there are those who want to know what their homes are really worth for when they sell so they are asking a fair price and not an over inflated or undervalued price.
Hunger is no game in Bridgton
A new first-of-its-kind study of hunger in Bridgton has been given a voice to that reality. The cold hard statistics, it paints a picture of a town in the grips of systemic poverty, where the gap between the wealthy and working poor has widened, and where many in the middle class have become part of new poor.
Bridgton has the highest proportion of total residents, 15.3%, living in poverty in Cumberland County which is 10.4%.
Bridgton selectmen put finishing touches on budget
Town Manager Berkowitz said in his memo to the board, “the impact of your changes would increase the town side of the budget by $2,403, bringing the amount to be raised by taxes for the town side (not including assessments from the school district or county) to $4,046,120 with an estimated tax rate of $4.09. This is before other exemptions, adjustments and surplus discussions though I have used $25,000 of surplus to help reduce taxes.”
Time of transition: Bridgton Hospital follows trend by adding hospitalist program; recruiting doctors
When David Frum was a child, his family doctor was always there to treat whatever ill or injury ailed him. Today, many primary care physicians are employed by hospitals, foregoing setting up private practices.
To address “balance of life” issues and “consistency of care” matters, hospitals across the country have implemented hospitalists programs. A hospitalist is a physician, most commonly an internal medicine doctor, who focuses their time, energy and practice on patients...
Avesta holding community workshop tonight
Avesta President Dana Totman and Development Officer Matt Peters will be on hand to “discuss community needs and opportunities connected with senior apartments in downtown Bridgton,”.
Peters did not say why there wasn’t more notice given to the public prior to the event, when contacted by The News. The agency’s as yet unsubmitted plans to build a three-story elderly and disabled housing complex on the former Chapter 11 property at 247 Main Street…
It is interesting how they are interested in the same piece of property knowing full well that they have been turned down for sewer allocation because there is no allocation left at the moment…including for existing businesses that have requested in that area of town.
Salmon Point Campground still closed
The town-owned Salmon Point Campground and beach area on Long Lake in Bridgton remain closed to swimmers, after elevated levels of e. coli and coli form were detected in water test samples, Mitch Berkowitz said.
“We are not recommending anyone use the (Salmon Point) beach at this time,” Berkowitz announced,
Berkowitz said that, while the test results for e. coli and coli form are typically under 100, “One (test result) was over 1,000,” he stated.
It is the only town owned beach or campground that is closed or that was closed because of all the high water and flooding issues.
With 965 votes, which is almost twice that of last year, these are the winners for the local elections.
Selectmen:
Doug Taft...655
Bob McHatton Sr....503
Planning Board:
Dee Miller...498
Mike Figoli...430
Alternate Planning Board Member - Write-in
Adam Grant...52
Water District Trustee:
Todd Perreault...782
SAD #61 Directors
Cindy LeBlanc...704
Jody Gray...636
Peter Morrison...630
With regards to all three referendum questions. They all passed.
Bridgton 5th graders donate hair to Wigs for Kids
Miss Sands' class at Stevens Brook Elementary School made the decision together last school year to grow their hair out and cut it for wigs for cancer patients.
Even the boys jumped in...
Their teacher, Allison Sands, calls the students heroes. She says the idea came from a student, and they all were happy to do it. In the meantime, with fundraising, the students were also able to raise about $700 for Wigs for Kids.
Crews making quick work of Lake Region High renovation
End-of-year ceremonies at the Lake Region Vocational Center in Naples likely would have been held in the high school auditorium, if construction had stayed on schedule.
But the renovation of the vocational wing was completed a couple months ahead of time, in April instead of June. So an awards ceremony, senior parents' night and a school board meeting at which staff members were recognized were all held in a new dining room between two kitchens...
Substandard Housing Needs Rules, Group Says
Selectmen agreed to consider a new ordinance addressing substandard rental and vacant properties, both commercial and residential.
“Were seeing a great level of frustration after more and more years of benign neglect by certain landlords” of properties in town agreed Selectman Paul Hoyt.
“If we have a state law, its kind of hard for me to reinvent the wheel, but I like the idea of having a local ordinance” said Selectman Doug Taft.
From the print version of the Bridgton News
Bridgton Town Manager Chastised For Not Disclosing AVESTA Ties
Selectmen strongly voiced their dismay Tuesday that Town Manager Berkowitz didn’t tell them about Neil Allen’s strong ties to AVESTA.
“Your hiring of Anne was a great choice, but my concern is that the process might have been tainted with a conflict of interest in the serving on the hiring committee of working with somebody he will have a close working relationship with on a possible large scale project” said Selectman Bernie King.
From the print version of the Bridgton News.
Selectmen Taft, McHatton, and Woodword all reiterated the same thing. Somebody else brought up the fact that this instance not only makes things look bad, but it makes it "stink like a smell fishy”.
Well the numbers have been crunched and released and tax bills have been sent out. Here is the break down for the Town of Bridgton.
Cumberland County...4% or 52 cents
Town of Bridgton...41% or $5.37
MSAD #61...55% or $7.21
Total...$13.10
This information passed on from Town Manager, Mitch Berkowitz who got it from the town assessing agent.
Fireworks sparking widespread complaints
Downtown Bridgton residents are realizing too late that they should have pressed harder last year for a fireworks ordinance in town, knowing a state law was to make the sale and use of consumer fireworks legal as of Jan 1, 2012. Since the 4th of July, some say the evening peace of their of their residential neighborhoods has been disrupted by loud reports from fireworks – and they want it to stop.
I live in one of the neighborhoods in question. I do know what some of the people are talking about. Some of the complaints have been the shaking of buildings, setting off car alarms, setting these fireworks off past 10:00 at night, no consideration for young children who may be sleeping, no consideration for the elderly, there is concern about if the way it shakes some of the buildings if it could damage some of the historical buildings around the area. The town manager has said that this issue has been placed on the August 14th Selectmen’s meeting.
This was originally decided by selectmen to leave as is, meaning the same as state law and we would revisit it if we need to. One of the selectmen I spoke to had no idea we would be going into this quite this fast, but agrees something needs to be done because he could hear it and see it from his house over a mile away. Our neighborhood does sit up in elevation and this selectmen is located in a lower elevation, but could not believe where he traced it to when he found out.
9-year-old escapes alleged abduction attempt in Bridgton
Bridgton police are investigating reports that someone tried to compel a 9-year-old girl to get into a van near a swimming hole Saturday off Kansas Road.
The girl reported the incident to her father who called police. Police Chief Kevin Schofield said that based on the investigation so far, and two days of interviews, police believe the incident did occur.
The girl was… walking up by the road and was confronted by a man.
Attempted Child Abduction
The vehicle is described as a white panel van that resembles an Ice Cream truck.
Officers have been investigating many leads in the case over the last three days, and now through witness statements and corroboration of evidence, have a possible person of interest.
Fireworks hot topic, group formed
Faced with conflicting proposals and no clear public consensus, the Bridgton Board of Selectmen agreed Tuesday to create a committee to craft an ordinance over the winter and present it to voters next June.
Selectman Taft said that rental properties might be different under state law, since it requires that people shooting off fireworks have the permission of the property owner.
Renys stores push for energy savings
Lower operating costs allow Renys to offer great deals on its merchandise while providing secure year round employment and the ability to grow strategically.
Renys Department Stores are watching energy costs decrease at 12 of its 16 locations since completing 30 energy efficiency programs through Efficiency Maine programs. Renys began using Efficiency Maine programs in 2006 and have replaced old florescent lights with new energy efficient lighting, insulated walls, insulated ceilings, energy efficient windows…
From the print version of the Bridgton News
Improvements come after school ranked as low-performing
Several new programs to boost academic standards are in place at Lake Region High School, according to Principal Ted Finn, who said the school is in the midst of a major transformation.
Now it's not uncommon for a student to go to science class and possibly learn about alternative energies (and) then they go across the hall to social studies where they're going to talk about the social, political and economic ramifications of alternative energies".
This is school district that has had a change in Superintendent last year, high school principal two years ago. The superintendent that left says he left because of money, the high school principal because of the 1.6 million the district took in hopes of turning the school's test scores around and it was one of the requirements. There have been several other changes district wide in all the schools.
Town seeks partner to run The Store
Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz and Transfer Station Director Bob Fitzcharles developed a plan to utilize volunteer organizations for weekend coverage. A new area will be designated as the location to drop off reusable and recyclable goods and clothing.
The “win-win” situation is the town will split revenue (which is tracked on a daily basis) received on the weekend days with the nonprofit group that manned The Store.
Sign: A help or a danger?
To help visitors find the ice arena and athletic complex, Bridgton Academy would like to install a sign on the triangular-shaped property at the intersection of Route 37 and Chadbourne Hill Road.
Selectman Taft is very concerned that the sign could be a major obstruction to what he calls the “triangle of challenge.”
Taft wondered if Bridgton could be held liable if the town allowed the Academy to place the sign on the town-owned triangle.
It was defeated in a 2-2 vote.
Town Hall: What does the future hold?
Old, yet still very useful is one way to describe Bridgton’s Historic Town Hall.
Between youth sports practices, table tennis, exercise classes and special events, the facility is used by some 200 to 300 people a week.
The building, however, is in serious need of structural improvement. How much will it cost to “stabilize” the old hall is unknown.
“It’s been on and off our radar for over two years,” Bridgton Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz.
Teen dies in Kansas Road crash
The Bridgton Police Department is investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred on Kansas Road at about 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5.
The single-vehicle crash involved a lone occupant — a teenage boy. The crash is being reconstructed by a Crash Reconstruction Specialist from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. Preliminary investigation indicates that excessive speed is a contributing factor to the crash.
Summer BPD intern provides a ‘presence’
Nick Kauffman gave the Bridgton Police Department another set of eyes out on the street this summer. “I learned a lot,” said the Bridgton teen.
A 2012 graduate of Lake Region High School, Kauffman completed the vocational school’s law enforcement program, rising to third in command as “squad leader” — behind the course’s instructor and class leader.
“When the school added the law enforcement program, I couldn’t help myself but to join it,” he said.
Sell Salmon Point Campground or continue to run it?
Should Bridgton continue to operate Salmon Point Campground or should the town sell the campsite property to a developer?
With the town facing many infrastructure projects and declining revenues, Community Development Committee (CDC) member Chuck Renneker sees the sale of the campground as a way to inject a new source of cash into Bridgton’s coffers without giving up access to Long Lake.
A developer could construct up to 30 homes within the 27-acre parcel.
Mountainside project faces uphill battle
A plan to carve four lots high up on the side of Pleasant Mountain faces an uphill battle — with serious objections being raised not only by nearby residents of Old County Road, but also by Bridgton Fire Chief Glen Garland, who stated flatly that “year-round access with fire apparatus is unlikely with these grades” of up to 13 percent.
“At grades of 13 percent, it makes it difficult for us to operate,” Chief Garland said.
Avesta invites public to hear housing plan update
Avesta Housing is holding a public meeting at the Bridgton Community Center on Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to update residents on its plans to bring affordable housing for the elderly and disabled.
“…the ground level shall be used for retail, office, business or professional use… and as of yet, Avesta has not submitted anything formal, not even a sketch plan, to the town.
SAD 61 anti-bullying effort: See, say & do something
Christian Martin still remembers being called “names” by fellow classmates.
He didn’t like it then.
He decided to write about it now.
As part of a campaign to educate and eliminate bullying in SAD 61 schools and on district school buses, Christian (a seventh grader) joined forces with bass guitarist Ella Forbes (an eighth-grader) and drummer Max Evans (a freshman) produced a song.
The threesome will perform at the Blaine House on September 19.
Bridgton seeks to clarify shoreland zoning vote
As if the upcoming vote on Shoreland Zoning in the downtown weren’t already so long delayed to have become confusing…
Selectman Woodward resisted recusing, as recommended after Selectman King… the issue clarified for the board, if any member sees a need for any other member not to vote on an issue, the member in question must publicly state that they have a potential conflict, and then the board must take a vote on the recusal.
Selectman Woodward owns at least one exempt property in the General Development District 1 Zone and did not think he should have to recuse himself even though it would benefit him personally.
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Hunger is no game in Bridgton
A new first-of-its-kind study of hunger in Bridgton has been given a voice to that reality. The cold hard statistics, it paints a picture of a town in the grips of systemic poverty, where the gap between the wealthy and working poor has widened, and where many in the middle class have become part of new poor.
Bridgton has the highest proportion of total residents, 15.3%, living in poverty in Cumberland County which is 10.4%.
From the print version of the Bridgton News
I really hope this story makes it online so people can see the full scope of this article. The town manager has said the properties in town are running at 105% which is within guidelines for a town our size and considering when our last revaluation was done. We are setting money aside over the next few years so that we don’t end up in the same predicament as Casco where they have to pay for the revaluation all at once which for them was $290,000 and for us will be more because we have more business and residential properties than they do.