By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Harvest Moon setting — An amazing amount of volunteer time, effort and planning goes into holding a community fair. Unfortunately, it can all add up and take a toll.

When Bridgton Select Board Chair Carmen Lone announced that the Harvest Moon Festival was donating $1,545.32 toward Bridgton Rec summer program scholarships, she also delivering some bad news.

The moon has set on the Festival.

“The Festival was a good event. I’m sorry it’s not going to happen again,” reported Lone, who had spoken with festival organizer Pam Ward. “I totally understand how this happens. People get burned out. It’s very tough to run events long term.”

Nightmare off Elm Street? A potential problem is brewing off of Elm Street, Selectman Paul Tworog pointed out. The culprits — beavers.

The beavers knocked down trees and created a dam, which Tworog sees as a possible issue.

“The dam at some point is going to break and it is going to flood the town parking lot behind Bridgton Books, which is already prone to flooding. But it will be much more massive,” he said. “I don’t know what effect that has on the new pumping station (there).”

A trapper could be hired at $1,600 to capture and relocate the beavers.

“We do have, as a town, the legal right to clear waterways that run through the town. It would fall clearly under that umbrella,” Tworog added. “I put that out there for something to consider.”

Tworog has been a proponent of only voting on money matters if the item appears on the agenda. Since he brought the beaver problem up under “Select Board comments,” he asked fellow board members to simply give the idea some thought and place the item on the next agenda for possible action.

The item, however, failed to be included on Tuesday’s agenda (May 28). Board Chair Lone admitted she forgot to tack the beaver question onto the agenda.

Change in Name Coming? Bridgton’s Recycling Advisory Committee has spent years educating the public regarding how to cut down cost on trash disposal by removing recyclable items from the waste stream. They’ve written columns printed in The News. And, they’ve spent considerable time researching disposing options such as pay-per-bag.

It appears the Recycling Committee is nearing its finish line.

“The Recycling Committee is hoping to disband. I would like to thank all of them for all of their hard work over the years. We have a very dedicated, close-knit group of people who have really put their heart and soul into doing educational outreach for recycling in town,” said Select Board member Carrye Castleman-Ross, who serves as a liaison between the board and the committee. “We definitely want to continue with encouraging and educating about recycling, but want to expand the charge to include energy efficiency, acquiring grants, doing educational outreach for energy efficiency and sustainability, which is actually a good term to encompass recycling and taking it a little bit further.”

The proposed new group would be Energy Sustainability and Efficiency Committee. After some discussion, the board suggested that Castleman-Ross and Committee member Gerard Walraven rework the mission statement, along with receiving some direction from the town manager, and return to the Select Board for more conversation.

Castleman-Ross publicly thanks all Recycling Committee members for their dedication and tireless efforts over the years. “I appreciate every single one of you,” she said.

Quick Takes

Jenna Domer, Deputy Finance Director, submitted her resignation effective Tuesday, May 14. The Deputy Finance Director’s position has been eliminated and replaced with a Finance Clerk position with the opportunity for advancement. Approximately 12 applications have been received and interviews are currently being held. 

Police beat — Public Safety Officer Grace Gendron recently received certification in intelligence analysis and supervision. Officer Johnson is currently at Field Training Officer (FTO) training. Officer Lee graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. The annual Special Olympics Torch Run is Wednesday, June 5 starting at the old Town Hall at 8 a.m.

Absentee ballots for the State Primary on June 11 are available. Municipal ballots for the secret ballot vote for Annual Town Meeting (also June 11) will be available as soon as the official ballots are received.  

Open burning reminder: Outside fires larger than 3’x3’ or when burning brush or yard debris require a burn permit.  These are available at no charge on the Maine Forest service website: maine.gov/burn permit;

Outside recreational fires (campfires) less than 3’x3’ do not require a permit;

Any outside fires must be attended by an adult at all times;

No outside burning may be conducted anytime there is a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service;

Do not use any flammable liquids to ignite an outside fire.

Any questions can be addressed to Bridgton Fire Department at 647-8815 or the Maine Forest Service website.