By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Seeing increased traffic on local lakes and fearing the public may develop ideas on how to utilize their boats to make money, Bob McHatton feels the time is right to put some rules and regulations in place.

“We need to protect our lakes,” the Bridgton Select Board chairman said Tuesday night as officials passed a mission statement for an ad hoc committee looking at Mooring rules and use of a Harbormaster.

Like McHatton, Selectman Paul Tworog expects there will be great interest on this topic, and suggested that the committee be extended to seven members, “which might be better.”

Tworog recommended that Lakes Environmental Association be represented, while two spots would go to lakefront associations, and the remaining four seats filled by the general public. Those interested in serving on the committee can access an application on the town website or pick one up at the town office. The Select Board will select and appoint members to the committee.

Since Moose Pond stretches to Denmark, that town would like a liaison on the committee. Town Manager Bob Peabody pointed out that the committee can request volunteers to assist their efforts, however, such individuals would not be voting members.

“That wording would allow the committee to welcome the representative from Denmark, but he just can’t vote,” Peabody said.

The Select Board approved the committee’s mission statement “to explore the development of and possible enactment of a Mooring-Harbormaster Ordinance.” The committee is charged with reviewing neighboring towns’ ordinances, meet with harbormasters, town staff, lakefront owners’ associations, the public and key stakeholders. The group will suggest changes for the Select Board’s consideration.

Regular public meetings will be held.

In other board notes:

Easy fix? Not really. When Rec Director Gary Colello learned that the department’s truck was no longer safe to operate, he seemingly came up with a solution to benefit Rec and Public Works.

The Rec truck’s powering steering is failing and the vehicle runs rough. “Given that we’ve been using it daily throughout the summer and considering its already poor condition from when it was given to the Rec Department, this isn’t entirely unexpected,” Colello wrote to Public Works Director David Madsen and Town Manager Bob Peabody. “We urgently need a functional vehicle for our operations.”

Madsen found the F150 “beyond repair” and “it should be retired from the town’s fleet.”

Looking to be “a good teammate,” Colello suggested that the Rec Department take over the Public Works’ 2021 Dodge Ram four-door (valued at $32,500) and move $35,000 from its reserve account to purchase a 2022 Dodge Ram 2500 truck that has an 8-foot bed (from Macdonald Motors). Rec needs additional seating, while Public Works needs the longer bed for landscaping work materials and equipment.

A good fit, right?

Select Board member Carmen Lone questioned if it was “ethically” correct to take Rec money to purchase a vehicle headed to Public Works, and whether the money should instead be used to buy the Rec Department a new truck?

“Don’t get me wrong, I want the Rec Department to have a safe vehicle. They need one,” she said. “My question is, the way you’re removing money from a reserve account, purchasing the vehicle for another department, that circumvents the budget process. Public Works doesn’t need a truck. They have a truck. It’s the Rec Department that needs the truck and the Rec Department has the money.”

Lone added, “I was just curious about the ethics of how the money is being moved, transferring the trucks from one department to the other, using another department’s reserve account to purchase a truck for Public Works that wasn’t in the budget. If you can assure me that’s ethical, I probably won’t have a problem with it. I do want to be sure that the Rec Department has a safe and appropriate vehicle.”

Town Manager Bob Peabody pointed out the reserve accounts “bypass the taxpayer.”

 “The bottom line is we need the trucks, we have the money, so we might as well do it,” McHatton said.

The Select Board voted 3-2 to approve use Rec reserve funds to buy the bigger truck for Public Works, and in return, take on Public Works’ four-door truck.

In other business:

Colin Holme was approved as the Lakes Environmental Association’s representative on the town’s Open Space Committee. Holme is LEA’s executive director.