By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Let the voters decide.

The question whether to apply for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to address problems at the Ham Sports Complex and develop new amenities will be put to Bridgton voters in June.

The Select Board Tuesday night voted 4-1 to put the question on the annual town warrant. Selectman Paul Tworog opposed the request by the Bridgton Rec Department.

The grant, if Bridgton is selected, would land the town $500,000 toward the Ham project. Bridgton would be required to match the grant — thus bringing the project total to $1 million. To cover the town’s portion, money from the Moose Pond Trust Fund ($50,000), Salmon Point Campground revenue ($30,000) and Recreation Reserve Account ($60,000), would be set aside in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

Bridgton Rec Director Gary Colello noted in previous presentations that it will be a two-year process between grant writing, submission and final approval. A spring 2026 date is the anticipated construction start time with Phase 1 completion expected late summer or early fall 2026.

Tworog rattled off a laundry list of reasons why he did not favor moving the question to the town warrant. They included:

• “We do not have an approved plan for the Ham Complex. The specifics of the use of the $500,000 of public money is not spelled out in the scope. There was no public input into the development.”

• The project area map that is required for the grant is not available.

• “This was not on a priority list that long-term goals were identified — tax rate, public safety and affordable housing. Long-term goals — reserve funds, revaluation and find new funding for the priority items.”

• The Ham Complex is a regional facility as a condition of the grant money. The grant specifically states that no residency restrictions are applied to the use.

• “This is really an end-run around the comprehensive budgeting process.” An example, Tworog noted, was Police Chief Phil Jones wanted to include a deputy chief of police position in his budget. “He professionally did not go and suggest that we present it to the voters because he recognizes the way the process works. Although I am sure if it was presented to the voters, it would’ve been passed.”

• “There seems to be a misunderstanding that formal recreational funding is somehow being shorted.” Tworog cited how the Rec and Ham Complex budgets have grown over the past three years. He did acknowledge that overall rec costs are reduced by incoming revenue such as program registration fees.

• He questioned the use of Moose Pond Trust funds for the Ham Complex, when repairs are needed at the Moose Pond boat launch. The town had applied for a grant to address those repairs, but failed to land the funding.

• He pointed to more town funding will be needed to address the future of the Bridgton Memorial School and property uses.

SAD 61 Superintendent Al Smith informed the Select Board Tuesday that the new storage facility on the high school campus has been completed and a new storage rack system is being installed. The expectation is SAD 61 will be in a position to turn over ownership of BMS this coming year.

•  Finally, Tworog wondered what is “the rush to get this funding grant?” He noted that the funding organization has been providing this grant since 1965 and “will continue to give out these grants.”

Resident Lee Eastman questioned what work would be tackled and what projected costs would be?

“It’s hard for me to support something if I don’t know the numbers,” Eastman said.

Colello recapped the development of a Master Plan, which has two paths — “A” and “B.” Projected cost ranges — such as a universal playground (enabling all people, including those with disabilities, to use) from $93,000 to $205,000 — were included.

“It’s a matter of just narrowing down these numbers that are on this plan to a more specific number,” Colello explained. “(On the plan) it is broad on purpose because I don’t think it made much sense to make specific numbers at that point. As we work through the process, the numbers become more specific. There’s an understanding of what things we need to accomplish and the cost for those items.”

Projected items to be addressed include a playground, correcting drainage problems, repositioning one field to correct safety concerns (sunlight in the face of outfielders), and development of multi-use courts for basketball, tennis and pickleball (could be in the $400 to $600,000 range). Batting cages would also likely be added. Colello said cages, like the one at Junior Harmon Field, are needed if the Ham Complex is to host state and regional tournaments as a matter of safety.

Addressing points made by Tworog, Colello said ideas for additional complex development came from responses citizens gave during Open Space Plan surveys. He pointed out that more people answered the survey than those who show up to town meeting.

“This (plan) was created based on trying to accommodate all those things,” he said.

Addressing Tworog’s comment that the Master Plan was not approved by the Select Board, Town Manager Bob Peabody noted that the Select Board did accept the plan.

“I think saying it wasn’t approved is perhaps drawing a fine line there. The plan was accepted. It’s wasn’t approved in the sense that this is exactly what we’re going to do, but it was accepted,” Peabody said. Regarding Plan A and Plan B, he added, “Those are options that you can choose one or the other, however, which way you want to go.”

Selectman Bob McHatton chimed in, “Plan A and Plan B is simply what we wanted to know what could be done with the amount of space we have down there. This is what you can do with it, whether you do it this way, that way, other ways, this is the best fit for that piece of property. What are the pieces you want and how do you make them fit?”

Colello added that he and other town staff would write the grant, and is interested in “getting members of the public involved” by hosting a workshop to get feedback regarding what specifically “what we are going to go for” if awarded the grant.

Eastman asked whether the town will try to seek out private donations to assist with development of the Ham Complex, noting that the new Fryeburg Rec Complex was built entirely with private donations — not tax dollars. Colello said he has some businesses already pledging in-kind services and financial support to the project, and yes, he would pursue private donations and other grants.

The grant question will be moved to a public hearing, scheduled before the annual town meeting, at which time citizens can ask questions they might have regarding the grant and Ham Complex improvements. The Master Plan is available for review on the town’s website.

In other board news:

Block Grant projects — The Select Board unanimously sided with recommendations made by the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) on how to spend Community Development Block Grant money.

The CDAC recommended allocations to:

Under Social Services —

• Bridgton Community Center Navigator program (requested $17,680). This program connects low to moderate income people to services and assists with the application process at the local, county, state and federal levels, including emergency fuel.

• Bridgton Food Pantry (requested $20,000). According to its application, the Pantry currently has 554 clients, of which 524 live in Bridgton. It has 25 volunteers.

In 2022, approximately 1.5 million pounds of food were distributed into the community. Food sources include Good Shepherd Food Bank and Hannaford, and donations with Food City and Paris Farmers Union.

Bridgton’s food insecurity rate is 15.7%, compared to Maine’s rate of 13.6% and the national average of 11.7% (the Maine and national figures generated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service).

Should funds from Cumberland County not be sufficient to cover both requests, the CDAC recommended to fully fund the Navigator program and provide the remaining funds to the Food Pantry.

Under Infrastructure —

• The CDAC voted to fully fund the Town of Bridgton’s Church Street sidewalk project ($125,000) with CDBG infrastructure funds.

Total cost for the sidewalk project is estimated at $323,148. It will go through a competitive public bidding process.

The project calls for construction of a sidewalk on one side, the full length of Church Street (1,300 feet, being on the left side of the roadway, entering from Main Street). It will include an asphalt surface and granite curbing.

“This area receives substantial foot traffic throughout the year as it is a passageway from neighborhoods to downtown services. There is currently no side street with a safe sidewalk for residents to walk from the residential area and hospital campus on South High Street to Main Street to access the library, retail, dining and other services,” the CDBG application reads. “Providing a sidewalk would greatly reduce the safety concerns posed by the current pedestrian traffic and vehicle traffic existing on Church Street.”

Officials noted that due to rising construction costs, this project was shelved within the 2023-24 program year. Additional funding sought under the CDBG 2024-25 program would enable Bridgton to complete this project.

“The cost estimate from the town’s engineers — Woodard and Curran — showed over a 30% increase in total construction costs in the Fall of 2023, and the town was unable to fund the balance, therefore, the project was delayed until Summer 2024,” the application reads.

The CDBG funds would cover materials ($52,200) and construction ($72,800). The town would cover engineering ($32,000), materials ($139,680), and contingency ($26,468) for a total of $198,148.

The timeline — award bid August-September; construction takes place for a three to four-week duration, October-November.

New Vice Chair — Facing some upcoming medical procedures, long-time Selectman Bob McHatton resigned from his position of vice chairman (he will remain a Select Board member).

All three Select Board members — Paul Tworog, Carrye Castleman-Ross and Ken Murphy — tossed their hats in the ring to replace McHatton. In the first secret ballot, Tworog and Murphy each had 2 votes, Castleman-Ross 1. In the second round of voting, Murphy secured the most votes to be named vice chair.