By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Drivers pulling out of Cedar Drive onto Route 302 in West Bridgton will no longer find their vision of oncoming traffic hampered due to parked boat trailers and vehicles.

A revised Traffic Ordinance, approved by the Bridgton Select Board, will enable the Maine Department of Transportation to post “No Parking” signs along the stretch near Cedar Drive toward the busy Moose Pond boat launch area. The state had held off installing the signs until the town addressed the matter in the Traffic Ordinance.

“This gives sufficient amount of clearance for people driving out of Cedar Drive onto 302. It’s a safety issue,” Board Chairman Bob McHatton said during last week’s public hearing. “We are a tourist town and we have people who bring their boats to Moose Pond and park on 302, which has created this problem for Cedar Drive.”

While some trailers and vehicles will be able to continue to park near the boat launch, others will utilize a parking area behind the West Bridgton Fire Station. The Select Board authorized work at the site to create and designate between 15 to 20 parking slots. McHatton emphasized the need for proper signage to direct visitors where to park. The site also had a boat wash area, located to the left of the property.

Town Manager Bob Peabody sought direction as to how much Public Work’s time and material should be earmarked for this project.

“It (amount of money needed) depends greatly on what the vision of the Select Board is,” said Peabody when asked if the project might fall into the next budget season, seeing the busy boating season is drawing to a close. “If it’s just going in there and scarify the lot, that may be a day or two for Public Works. If you want more defined parking areas that require paving that would be a budget item at that point. We’d have to work with Glen (Garland, the fire chief) to make sure that we don’t do anything to restrict the fire department there. It depends on your vision as to what it is going to cost.”

Chief Garland sees no problem using the back area for off-road trailer parking, as long as the station’s front bay doors remain clear.

Once the revised ordinance is approved by the Board, it becomes effective immediately.

Select Board member Carmen Lone recommended delaying action on the ordinance until the fishing tournament season ends “because we don’t have the space prepared for trailers to be parked.”

While some use the area for parking now, there are some rocks that need to be moved to make the space wider.

Selectman Paul Tworog disagreed with delaying action, questioning whether the town could face additional liability if an accident occurred for not acting when MDOT has already informed Bridgton officials that the town is not in compliance with state rules.

“I think we would be in trouble,” Tworog said.

The Board approved the ordinance changes. Lone suggested the parking area remain a dirt surface and seek recommendations on how to proceed from the Public Service director, town manager and Chief Garland.

“It should be as inexpensive as possible,” she said.

In other meeting notes:

Land Use Code changes. On the Nov. 5 ballot, residents will be asked to approve changes to the Land Use Code to update sidewalk and landscaping requirement.

Planning Board vice chairman Rolf Madsen explained when projects include construction of sidewalks, the town would collect a fee for sidewalk work rather than have the developer build the walkway. The fee would be placed in an account, to be used when the town undertakes sidewalk work so that the walkways can be “universally built.”

Planners received a number of complaints regarding developers clear-cutting buffers for projects. Madsen used the new medical building under construction adjacent to the Bridgton Drive In as an example.

“What we’re trying to do is trying to keep those buffers wooded to enhance the aesthetics as people come into town… What we’re asking people to do is keep those buffers wooded, don’t clear cut them,” he said. “If we realize that Bridgton’s biggest business is serving tourists, we need to make sure the community looks great. I think it’s real important that we work at making sure that our community is attractive to people that support our businesses.”

Madsen noted some of the landscaping requirements being presented were part of the old land use code, and have been brought back.

“We need it. This is really to keep our town looking as great as it always has,” he added. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Copies of the proposed changes can be found on the town’s website.

Talk in private declined. When several department heads requested to meet with the Select Board in executive session, Board Chairman Bob McHatton rejected the request.

“I told them absolutely they could meet with the Board of Selectmen at any meeting they wanted to, right here,” McHatton said.

Here meant in public session.

“There’s no reason to have an executive session meeting. They can have a public meeting with the Board of Selectmen right here in front of the public,” McHatton added. “I have no idea what questions they want to ask. I’d need to see a list of questions of what they want to talk about, and it would certainly not be an executive session.”

Selectman Ken Murphy disagreed.

“I think that they should air whatever their questions are privately with us because they’re town employees,” Murphy said.

The News has been told that the topic in question is the Board’s decision not to extend Town Manager Bob’s Peabody’s contract for one more year. The board voted 3-2 against the renewal — McHatton, Carmen Lone and Paul Tworog voting no; Murphy and Carrye Castleman-Ross voting yes.

According to the Maine Press Association, Chairman McHatton’s decision to disallow an executive session was the right one.

The News posed the question whether an executive session could have been granted to the department heads, and MPA officials found “no justified reason to enter executive session.”

“The Select Board cannot go behind closed doors to hear comments from the public about an employee after the contract deliberations have concluded,” the MPA said. “Department heads have the right to stand before the Select Board in a public session to talk about the merits of a town manager.”

The MPA pointed to state law regarding executive session use concerning a contract: “Permitted deliberation.  Deliberations on only the following matters may be conducted during an executive session:  A. Discussion or consideration of the employment, appointment, assignment, duties, promotion, demotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplining, resignation or dismissal of an individual or group of public officials, appointees or employees of the body or agency or the investigation or hearing of charges or complaints against a person or persons subject to the following conditions…”  

If the Select Board was still deliberating on the contract and the matter involved a negotiation or disciplinary hearing of which an outcome had yet to be decided, then “circumstances would be different.”

Leased. The Board authorized a lease purchase of a 2024 John Deere 624 loader for $395,500. The annual percentage rate through Gorham Savings Leasing Group of Portland is 5.51% with a total payment at $461,882.61. The seven-year loan has a yearly payment of $65,983.23.