By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

If you open it, they will come.

Bob McHatton remembers annual town meetings when the Town Hall was filled and debate pushed the ending to 10:30 p.m. Sometimes, a second night was needed to conclude business.

In recent years, town meeting has lasted under an hour with most time being spent by the moderator reading warrant articles.

And, participation has continuously dwindled.

Why? McHatton believes using a “closed” warrant has thwarted discussion and ultimately public interest in being part of the process.

So, McHatton suggested Tuesday night to return to the town meeting’s roots and bring back the open format. Each year, the Select Board decides which format to follow.

An “open” warrant allows voters to increase or decrease the article’s appropriation number. A “closed” warrant allows voters to only decrease the figure or approve the recommended amount.

“The rate we’re going, if we continue to cap, we should change the format from Select Board to a Town Council and eliminate town meeting,” McHatton said. “If we want to continue having no one show up, cap it; if we want to get townspeople involved, open it.”

Select Board member Paul Tworog felt it is a “big leap in faith” believing capped articles has caused town meeting attendance to dwindle. Low turnout has been seen across Maine. Tworog noted that the reason towns use a closed warrant is to prevent small groups with special interests raising more funding than recommended by town officials.

One way to draw a bigger crowd, Board Chair Carmen Lone said, was to pull a page from the late SAD 61 Superintendent Jan ter Weele’s playbook.

“He proposed canceling football and everybody showed up.”

The Board rejected the motion for an open warrant, 3-2 (McHatton, Carrye Castleman-Ross voting yes).

Castleman-Ross supported McHatton’s suggestion, feeling it was an “opportunity to see if Bob is right” and noted, “we can always change it the next year.”

In other Select Board business:

BPD adds a mental health resource. Bridgton Police can now tap a person with expertise when responding to “mental health events.”

Police Chief Phil Jones said a “partnership” with Opportunity Alliance has resulted in Kortnie Sanchez serving as the new mental health liaison.

Sanchez will assist police during a mental health crisis situation, assess the individual and determine the level of care that is needed, and help that person connect with available resources.

Chief Jones noted that repetitive mental health calls here lead him to seek out assistance.

“We’ve had a staggering number of (mental health) cases,” Chief Jones said. “We’ll be able to hand off these cases to her (Sanchez). The person doesn’t need police services, they need mental health services.”

Making a statement. Via Zoom during public participation, Racheal Sylvester, who is the Outreach Coordinator at the Bridgton Public Library, asked the Select Board that the town include an “diversity, equity and inclusion” statement on its website.

“Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) encompasses the symbiotic relationship, philosophy and culture of acknowledging, embracing, supporting, and accepting those of all racial, sexual, gender, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, among other differentiators.”

Board Chair Carmen Lone asked Sylvester to develop a more formal request by including proposed wording for the statement, which officials could consider at their next meeting. “Tonight, we’re not prepared to draft a statement or discuss it,” Lone said.

Sylvester also proposed that the town fly the DEI flag in June, which is Pride Month.

Town Manager Bob Peabody said the town has no formal existing policy regarding flags flown on poles at the municipal complex.

“In my eight years, we haven’t done that at the town office,” he said.

Officials decided to discuss both requests at their May 12 meeting. They asked Sylvester to submit the inclusion statement by May 3.

Fixing the damage. When a town plow truck traveled too close to a soft shoulder on Holden Hills Road and tipped, damage caused to the roadway as the vehicle was pulled out has since “creeped” into Libby Graffam’s driveway.

Showing pictures of the driveway damage to the Select Board, Graffam requested that the town fix it.

While paving is slated for Holden Hills Road next summer, officials asked Public Services Director David Madsen to make the repairs this summer. The work will coincide with other paving being done in North Bridgton.

Discussion then broadened regarding plowing.

In February, Graffam heard a person yelling at the plow truck operator, “this has got to stop.” Graffam later spoke with the neighbor, who said the plow truck failed to clear the roadway close to her driveway.

When Graffam contacted the town on behalf of the neighbor and raised the question, she later noticed plowing had stopped near her home.

“It appeared we might have been plowing more road than we were supposed to,” Lone said.

At issue is part of Holden Hills Road is a private road — with maintenance and plowing the responsibility of property owners belonging to that Association.

However, in 1974 at the annual town meeting, voters agreed to maintain and plow 650-feet of Holden Hills Road from where it starts off Kimball Road. Madsen said the town truck will “plow straight in,” then “back to left left and pull straight out.” When large piles of snow accumulate, the town will remove them.

Sell or no sale? For now, two waterfront lots (Highland Lake) on Sleigh Bell Lane will remain property of the Town of Bridgton.

The Select Board rejected the idea of selling the tax-acquired 100-by-150 foot lots by a 3-2 margin (McHatton, Castleman-Ross supported the sale).

Select Board member Paul Tworog felt there was “no pressing need” to sell the lots and felt it would be “prudent” to hold onto the land as the town works on its Comprehensive Plan update and Open Space policy.

McHatton disagreed, saying the properties would be difficult for the public to access (off a private road) and likely could be only used as a launch point for kayaks. Meanwhile, a sale could land the town a solid pay day, with that money used for other open space projects such as removal of the Bridgton Memorial School and create a park area for general public to use.

“That would be a far greater benefit than those two pieces of property,” McHatton said. “And, we’d put those properties back on tax rolls, and generate more money for the town.”

Town Manager Peabody said the lots were part of an approved subdivision. There was some question as to what could be built there — possibly two structures on each lot, a home and an accessory building. Officials will look to clarify what could be done based on Shoreland Zoning regulations.

“I drove down and looked at the two pieces; definitely not appropriate be a public access,” Castleman-Ross said. Property owners there reached out to Castleman-Ross voicing concerns about additional traffic if the town was to use it as a public lake access point and road maintenance.

Lone agreed, “I don’t believe those properties are useful for public use, any shape or manner, due to private nature of the community. I don’t see it becoming a beach or boat launch.”

Peabody noted that the Legislature has a bill before them that if approved, the town would collect only money associated with cost of the sale, while the bulk of the money goes to the past owner — a reason the town might want to act swiftly.

Tworog said the bill has been tabled, at this time.

Castleman-Ross also raised whether there might be some legal issue regarding the town maintaining the road to access its properties?

Peabody pointed out that a court case found that town land on a private road doesn’t trigger the town being responsible for maintenance of that road.

Since the real estate market remains robust, Castleman-Ross felt “comfortable to table” action, at this time.

Lone, Tworog and Castleman-Ross voted against selling the properties; McHatton and Ken Murphy voted to sell; the motion failed. The issue likely will return for consideration in June with a new Select Board year set to start.

Quick takes: The town’s Lake Level policy was amended to push the water release date from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1 to accommodate the spawning time of salmon.

Wastewater system “lateral” road work commences Monday night, April 30 through Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The work will result in one-lane traffic.

Sidewalk work continues on Elm Street and Highland Road.

Quote of the night, “When you lose, you call it a night,” — Bob McHatton, passing on mentioning any “Select Board concerns” after falling on the losing side of two earlier votes.