By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Bob Peabody is in countdown mode.

Following an executive session prior to Tuesday’s meeting, the Bridgton Select Board rejected a proposal to extend Peabody’s contract effective July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Board Chairman Bob McHatton asked if members wished to make any comments before the vote, but all declined. Select Board members Ken Murphy and Carrye Castleman-Ross voted in favor of the one-year extension, while McHatton, Carmen Lone and Paul Tworog voted against.

Thus, Peabody enters the final year of a three-year contract, which expires on June 30, 2025.

During Select Board comments at the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, Murphy said, “I enjoyed all these years working with Mr. Peabody and I can’t wait to work with him until his time is up. Thank you.”

Peabody arrived in Bridgton in 2014, succeeding Mitch Berkowitz, who retired. In an interview with The News, Peabody pointed out he and Berkowitz had known each since about 1980.

“When I started in Berlin, N.H., he was the Recreation Director and I was City Assessor. When I heard he was retiring, I reached out to him, because I’d been over this way quite a bit visiting, and I think the area is extremely beautiful. I really very much liked your downtown, too, being a former downtown merchant and growing up in a downtown merchant family. I thought the downtown was very appealing, so I reached out to him, and here I am.”

In other Board news:

Tax rate dips. Denis Berube of O’Donnell Associates, who serves as the town’s assessors’ agent, walked the Select Board through a laundry list of revenue numbers, ultimately leading to the question of whether the Board wished to stick with the current tax rate or make an adjustment.

Some numbers considered:

• The town’s real estate value (land and buildings, minus exemptions) rose $34,892,500. “That’s pretty hefty,” Berube noted. “I wouldn’t expect that (new construction) to be a continuing trend, but you know, while construction is happening, we certainly want to record it.”

• Personal property was down $2.5 million to $12,851,000. “We lost value on personal property simply because of depreciation in our ratio. It’s unavoidable. I can’t tax personal property accounts at a greater percentage than the real estate properties are being assessed at,” Berube said.

• The total valuation base has grown by $28.9 million.

• Also figured into the overall equation is the school and county taxes.

Berube presented a couple of tax rate options — $16.95 which would provide an overlay of $96,000; or $17 which leads to an overlay of $151,000; or $17.05, which results in an overlay of $205,000.

McHatton asked Town Manager Bob Peabody “where do you feel comfortable on the overlay?”

Having been through five revaluations during his managerial career, Peabody said, “You need to have a healthy overlay because the overlay is what you use to address abatements. Whenever you do a revaluation, you’re going to almost always have more abatements than you would typically. People file more abatement requests.”

Peabody felt the $17.05 rate would be the “prudent” move, and noted, “that’s still a 15-cent drop in the tax rate.”

The last time the town did a revaluation (2015 or 2016), the overlay was $187,000.

Lone was “comfortable” with the $17.05 rate, saying “It’s still a reduction and these days just keeping the tax rate stable is something short of a miracle. The town manager and department heads have done a good job with the budget.”

The board unanimously went with $17.05.

Take another look at Harbor Master. Before crafting the current budget, officials talked about the idea of adding a harbor master, as well as bringing a Mooring Ordinance to voters.

Selectman Bob McHatton was against the idea.

“I voted against it because I didn’t know any of the facts as to what it really detailed,” he told the Board. “What I would like to do is put it on the next agenda for discussion, and to create a committee to look into a Harbor Master...what it would cost, what equipment is needed.”

With neighbors Harrison and Naples both using Harbor Masters and having Mooring Ordinances, McHatton said the committee could seek out information from those towns and develop a proposal for the next budget.

“We can sit down and have a good conversation of whether or not we want to do that,” McHatton added.

Town Manager Bob Peabody reminded the board that a Mooring Ordinance has already been crafted by the Ordinance Review Committee, and could be pulled off the shelf for review and/or revision.

Selectman Paul Tworog called for all options to be reviewed as to level of Harbor Master training/enforcement powers, as well as whether the position could be manned by volunteers.

Peabody plans to provide the Board information regarding liability the town could face when using volunteers in enforcement situations.

Recruiting Committee members. With a new name and “mission” in place, town officials are seeking interested members of the public to join the Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Committee — formerly the Recycling Committee.

Information and applications are available on the town’s website (bridgton.org). The Select Board plans to also place advertisements to drum up potential interest, approving up to $200 for the media blitz.

Select Board member Carrye Castleman-Ross, who serves as a liaison between the board and committee, pointed out that several members of the former Recycling Committee will be joining the new group.

“We would like to encourage other people who haven’t worked on the committee before to join because sustainability and energy efficiency are both very important,” Castleman-Ross said.

Resignation. Expressing “gratitude” for her efforts, the Select Board accepted the resignation of Lauren Pickford from the Open Space Committee and Pondicherry Park Committee.

Back to drawing board. Geese remain a problem at Highland Lake Beach, leaving unwanted reminders of their visits each day. The town tried using a “fake” coyote to scare away the geese, but Selectman Paul Tworog heard through social media that vandals tossed the coyote into the pond area past the dam.

“I did go over to the beach and I did not see the fake coyote statue, but I certainly saw a lot of geese droppings,” Tworog said. “Maybe we try using string with reflectors because it seems to be working for the people who bought property on Highland Lake.”

Bringing books to kids. “Free Little Library” boxes can be found throughout Bridgton, and the Molly Ockett DAR Chapter wants to add one to the park area adjacent to the Bridgton Municipal Complex.

While the DAR will provide the “box,” the town will install a 4x4 post in concrete to secure the free library, which will be stocked with “age appropriate” and “no political agenda” books for children. There will be a sign, “children only,” included.

The DAR and town will come up with a mutually agreeable spot to place the Free Little Library.

“They have been well received, well used and very little vandalism with them,” Select Board member Lone noted.

Next meeting is Tuesday, July 23 at 5 p.m.