By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

The beavers living in a brook off of Elm Street will soon face eviction.

Hearing a case from a resident and property owner that the dam poses a risk to public safety, the Bridgton Select Board Tuesday night agreed to reimburse a citizen up to $1,600 to hire someone to trap and relocate the beavers.

Selectman Paul Tworog brought the problem to the board several weeks ago, but officials delayed action until they received a legal opinion on whether taxpayer money could be spent on work done on private property.

Public Services Director David Madsen was advised by the Maine Warden Service that any beaver issue on private property is the “sole responsibility of the landowner.”

The town posed the question of using public funds to reimburse a property owner for trapping beavers to Drummond Attorneys at Law in Portland.

Attorney Alexander Pringle’s opinion is “the town may not reimburse the private individual for the beaver trapping because doing so would violate the Public Purpose Doctrine, as expressed in Maine law.”

Pringle noted that under Maine common law, the Public Purpose Doctrine requires that the expenditure of public funds must be for a public purpose.

“While I cannot be certain how a court would apply the Public Purpose Doctrine, based on the facts as presented, I think a court would find that the removal of the beavers primarily benefited the property owner without any appreciable benefit to the public,” Pringle wrote. “Any benefit to the public resulting from the removal of the beavers and/or dam would need to be more than incidental in order to justify the use of public funds.”

However, Tworog argued that expenditure of $1,600 to remove the beavers would be in the “public good,” eliminating the threat of flooding on Park Street and damage to businesses and the Music on Main venue. He added dam removal is “clearly a proactive protection of public property.”

Another question was whether a culvert from Corn Shop Brook, which crosses Main Street, could adequately handle a large surge of water.

Town Manager Bob Peabody pointed out that the new wastewater pump station on Park Street is elevated because it is located in a flood zone.

Information passed along to the Select Board included how beaver dams actually “help control flooding and not actually cause flooding,” Peabody noted.

Resident Gary Chadbourne, who was “raised on Elm Street” and his mother still lives there (50-plus years now), pointed out “there is a great deal of water out there.”

Chadbourne disagreed with the Public Service director’s opinion that a dam burst would not impact public safety or the roadway or some landowners’ septic fields. “I beg to differ,” he said.

When a portion of the dam broke a couple of months ago, water was “coming over the banks on the other side of Park Street behind the businesses,” Chadbourne said. There have been occasions that the fire department was called in to pump water from the rear of business buildings.

“The damage that the water is doing is catastrophic,” he added. “I am not here asking for money. I’m not asking the town for money. I’m asking them to solve a problem...We’re all in this together. How we go about this, we all have to do it together. Is there flooding down in your town property? Yes, there is. It’s coming. It will happen.”

Select Board member Carmen Lone pointed out flooding has been a problem there, “Not that it’s acceptable for the future if there’s a way to prevent it, but it’s nothing new.”

Chadbourne noted that state law requires a town to petition the state to remove nuisance beaver “if the municipality demonstrates that beaver-related activities have blocked or partially blocked or can block any public way, jeopardize a culvert or the integrity of the roadway.”

Bridgton had to remove beavers at Grist Mill Road last month because their activity resulted in road flooding.

Chris Rand, a resident of Elm Street, provided photos of high water on his property, which is flooding his leach field, as well as large downed trees.

“I definitely feel the pain of the property owners. I’m uncomfortable giving taxpayer money to a private citizen or group of citizens,” Lone said. “However, it would be good to know what the ramifications to Corn Shop Brook would be if it was gone and how the culvert system under Main Street can handle the flow of water without the beaver dam. I can’t in good conscience vote to expend money to private citizens, however, if the town wanted to take it on as an improvement to the infrastructure?... I just feel like we’re voting on something not knowing the consequences, and there’s the issue of taxpayer money on a private project.”

Tworog called for the board to take a proactive stance, and spend $1,600 to resolve the problem. “It is a good use of the money for a public good,” he said. “This is for the public good of the town, therefore, it is a legal expenditure.”

The motion to spend up to $1,600 for beaver removal passed 3-2 with Tworog, Ken Murphy and Carrye Castleman-Ross voting in favor, Bob McHatton and Lone opposed.

Peabody clarified that the town is not hiring an individual to trap the beaver, but at some point will expect a bill to be submitted to the town for payment.

Bridgton Select Board notebook:

Long-time Selectman Bob McHatton was elected as board chairman. A battle for vice chairman between Paul Tworog and Ken Murphy (incumbent vice chair) — each nominating themselves for the job — required two votes. McHatton sided with Murphy, and Carmen Lone went with Tworog, while Carrye Castleman-Ross abstained in the first-round count. Castleman-Ross broke the stalemate, casting her support to Tworog.

The board opted to stay with the current meeting schedule — second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 5 p.m.

Ken Gibbs, previously a Planning Board member and alternate for the past seven years, was approved as an Appeals Board member. When asked on the committee application form as to his goal and objectives for the Appeals Board, Gibbs responded, “Present reasonable and fair opinions based on knowledge of the Land Use Code and other relevant ordinances of the Town of Bridgton.”

Losing a scenic view. Many walkers stop along Highland Road to take in the scenic beauty of the Mill Pond, located adjacent to Shorey Park. Some often snap a photo.

The view, however, is slowly disappearing due to bamboo. Selectman Paul Tworog asked what could be done to either eradicate the invasive plant growing along the water’s edge or trim it back?

Code Officer Brenda Day has applied to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for a permit by rule, but the town has not heard back from the state agency.

30-day tax lien notices were mailed yesterday, June 26. If you receive this notice, your interest has been frozen to allow you 30 days to get the account cleared. Failure to pay by July 26 will result in a tax lien certificate being filed against your property.  Call the town office to check the status of your account. 

Bridgton Police has hired a new part-time Administrative Assistant, Deb Plummer.  Deb joins BPD after spending a long career in public safety dispatching. 

BPD is planning on taking part in multiple directed traffic details this summer including distracted driving and impaired driving. These are grant funded patrol details where officers saturate target areas of town to locate violators and gain voluntary compliance. Administrative Officer Grace Gendron oversaw the grant process. 

Victoria Hill’s last day as Town of Bridgton’s Community Development Director is Wednesday, July 3. The position was advertised with the submittal of 11 applications to date with two interviews to be held on Monday.  The position will remain open until filled.