Published in the Current
The first stage of Scarborough’s neighborhood visioning project concluded July 18, with a meeting of the Pine Point and Blue Point neighborhoods at the Blue Point School.
“It’s a different kind of planning process,” said Frank O’Hara of Planning Decisions, the South Portland firm the town has hired to conduct the visioning project. “It’s one that starts with a conversation.”
The 50-odd Pine Point and Blue Point neighbors discussed where their sub-neighborhoods were, coming up with areas along the beach like Pillsbury Shores, the Old Pine Point neighborhood and East Grand Avenue; Eagle’s Nest and Seavey’s Landing along the river; and Peterson’s Field, Old Blue Pine Estates, Old Snow Village, Burhnahm Woods and Windsor Pines more inland.
Areas of particular significance were the beaches, clam flats, marsh and river regions, which residents wanted preserved. Residents were also concerned about access to shoreline and boat launch facilities.
Other important areas were the Pine Point Fisherman’s Co-op, Peterson Field, Windsor Pines, the Maine Audubon reserve, Dunstan Landing, the Eastern Trail and wildlife sanctuaries, Jones Creek, the park and tennis courts across from the Blue Point Congregational Church, and several historic buildings, including the churches in the area, the former post office next to the Clambake restaurant and the Periwinkle, a former bowling alley and dance hall.
Neighbors’ fears for the next 10 years included over-development, increasing taxes, beach and river erosion, traffic, overcrowding, crowded schools, high-density housing, filling in of the river and the marsh, dune grass fires, beach litter, pollution, parking issues, sprawl, crime, loss of sidewalks and bike paths, and losing a sense of pride in the town.
Also on the lists of fears were high-rise buildings, including the list at the table where Dale Blackie was seated. Blackie has proposed a six-story building with 32 separate housing units, to be built on Blue Point Ridge. The project has not yet been presented to the Planning Board.
Residents also came up with lists of things that would improve quality of life. Those included a senior center, improvements in town government, traffic control, increasing sidewalks and bike paths, limiting growth and development, good quality schools, regular raking of the beach and controlling use of the Pine Point Beach and marina. They also called for protecting wetlands, stabilizing taxes, keeping open spaces, a branch library, parking limits in Pine Point, keeping the area “quaint,” mosquito control, better enforcement of existing laws (especially leash and pooper-scooper laws), cleaning of the beach and roadsides, maintaining the diversity of the area, providing a voice for summer residents, pursuing home tax delinquents, requiring developers to leave more trees, and enforcing shoreland zoning.
Traffic and parking complaints also played into a collective opposition to the proposed Great American Neighborhood at Dunstan Corner.
Some residents said they would be OK with the plans, but only after traffic and school facilities were planned and built.
“Dunstan Corner cannot handle the traffic,” said Stan Bayley, who called the intersection “dangerous.” Hopes for the town as a whole also included controlling development, maintaining the historic character of the town, and keeping a balance between business, residential and open space. “We’re concerned that the Town Council thinks progress is more development,” said Pierre Brunet. “There’s a lovely balance here.”
Favorite places throughout the town tended toward the beaches, but extended to natural, scenic and cultural spaces all over, including Scarborough Downs, Fuller Farm, Flaherty Farm, Beech Ridge Farm, the marsh, the Eastern Trail, Prouts Neck, the school/sports/library area in Oak Hill, the clay pits off Black Point Road, Kingston Field, Springbrook Park, the fishing derby pond, the Christmas tree farm on Beech Ridge Road, golf courses, the Hunnewell House, Bessey School, Dunstan School and Oak Hill Grammar School, the old drive-in property, the scenic drive along Spurwink Road toward Cape Elizabeth, the woods along the I-295 connector and the grange halls.
Hopes for the town’s future included lower taxes, growth control, lower-density neighborhoods, public transportation, beautification of Route 1, a town pool, strong schools, biking and hiking trails, tax relief for senior citizens, tax relief for farmers and fishermen, a teen center, protection of the marsh, town-wide sewers, improved traffic management, limits on industrial development, maintenance of natural land, better planning and budgeting, instilling a sense of pride and community in residents and visitors, sidewalks everywhere, dredging the Scarborough River, parking controls, increasing the commercial tax base, recycling, increasing government’s attention to citizen concerns, and providing services for seniors.
“I’m tired of paying taxes and having a hot dog diet,” said one senior citizen.
Planning Decisions will meet through the rest of the summer with advocacy groups in town, including the Scarborough Historical Society, the Conservation Commission and the Scarborough Conservation Land Trust. The fall will see a town-wide meeting to address issues raised in the neighborhood meetings, followed by a report to the Town Council to incorporate into the town’s next comprehensive plan.
Thursday, July 25, 2002
Lightning sparks house fire
Published in the Current
Cindy Andreson was at home Tuesday with her parents, who live with her and her husband on Val Terrace, when a big thunderstorm hit Scarborough around 4 p.m. Lightning lit up the sky, and several bolts struck near Andreson’s house.
“We heard a loud bang and we jumped,” she said. The smoke alarms went off in the house, but after checking each room, Andreson couldn’t find
any smoke. She called her husband, Charlie, a former town councilor, at work to ask what she should do next. He told her to shut off the circuit breaker, which she did. But that was only the beginning.
“Somebody knocked on our door and said the house is on fire,” she said.
Lightning had struck dead center on the roof of the house and set it on fire. The fire spread through several beams in the roof, burning a hole through to the attic.
Firefighters, already on duty at downed wires and car accidents around town, raced to the scene, arriving shortly after 4 p.m. Within 30 minutes they had the fire almost completely out and were checking the home’s interior for further flames.
Firefighters were able to retrieve Andreson’s mother’s medication from the home, and had also moved much of the furniture into the garage, limiting water and smoke damage to some extent.
The fire damage was contained to the attic, according to Deputy Fire Chief Glen Deering, but there was water damage to the rest of the house.
Firefighters cleaned up the scene and covered the house with tarpaulins supplied by Risbara Construction, Deering said, departing around 7 p.m.
Lightning strikes can cause fires, but don’t always, Deering said. Depending on the electricity’s path to the ground, a strike can do damage or start a burn.
Around the same time as the Andreson home caught fire, lightning struck a barn on Winnocks Neck Road, Deering said.
Both strikes were in roughly the same place on the buildings, the middle of the roof, but the barn suffered only minor exterior damage as the current traveled the length of the roof and blew off some clapboard from the end of the building, Deering said.
“It’s like an act of God,” he said.
When fire does start, it is because of the intense energy contained in a bolt of lightning. As the energy changes from traveling through the air and starts traveling in wood or other materials, it gives off heat, which can ignite the materials.
Lightning also blew the chimney off a house on Star Pine Lane, Deering said, but no fire was found there.
A similar thunderstorm on July 18 resulted in a lightning strike at a home on Beech Ridge Road. The fire department arrived around 3 a.m. and found that a bolt of lightning had struck next to the house and the current had traveled
inside. There was no fire, but a computer and several electrical components in the house were ruined, Deering said. “You could smell the smoke,” he said, of the melted electrical equipment.
Later that day, around 10 a.m., the fire department received a call from a woman on Old Colony Lane who reported her home had also been struck during the night. Firefighters checked that out, but found nothing, Deering said.
Cindy Andreson was at home Tuesday with her parents, who live with her and her husband on Val Terrace, when a big thunderstorm hit Scarborough around 4 p.m. Lightning lit up the sky, and several bolts struck near Andreson’s house.
“We heard a loud bang and we jumped,” she said. The smoke alarms went off in the house, but after checking each room, Andreson couldn’t find
any smoke. She called her husband, Charlie, a former town councilor, at work to ask what she should do next. He told her to shut off the circuit breaker, which she did. But that was only the beginning.
“Somebody knocked on our door and said the house is on fire,” she said.
Lightning had struck dead center on the roof of the house and set it on fire. The fire spread through several beams in the roof, burning a hole through to the attic.
Firefighters, already on duty at downed wires and car accidents around town, raced to the scene, arriving shortly after 4 p.m. Within 30 minutes they had the fire almost completely out and were checking the home’s interior for further flames.
Firefighters were able to retrieve Andreson’s mother’s medication from the home, and had also moved much of the furniture into the garage, limiting water and smoke damage to some extent.
The fire damage was contained to the attic, according to Deputy Fire Chief Glen Deering, but there was water damage to the rest of the house.
Firefighters cleaned up the scene and covered the house with tarpaulins supplied by Risbara Construction, Deering said, departing around 7 p.m.
Lightning strikes can cause fires, but don’t always, Deering said. Depending on the electricity’s path to the ground, a strike can do damage or start a burn.
Around the same time as the Andreson home caught fire, lightning struck a barn on Winnocks Neck Road, Deering said.
Both strikes were in roughly the same place on the buildings, the middle of the roof, but the barn suffered only minor exterior damage as the current traveled the length of the roof and blew off some clapboard from the end of the building, Deering said.
“It’s like an act of God,” he said.
When fire does start, it is because of the intense energy contained in a bolt of lightning. As the energy changes from traveling through the air and starts traveling in wood or other materials, it gives off heat, which can ignite the materials.
Lightning also blew the chimney off a house on Star Pine Lane, Deering said, but no fire was found there.
A similar thunderstorm on July 18 resulted in a lightning strike at a home on Beech Ridge Road. The fire department arrived around 3 a.m. and found that a bolt of lightning had struck next to the house and the current had traveled
inside. There was no fire, but a computer and several electrical components in the house were ruined, Deering said. “You could smell the smoke,” he said, of the melted electrical equipment.
Later that day, around 10 a.m., the fire department received a call from a woman on Old Colony Lane who reported her home had also been struck during the night. Firefighters checked that out, but found nothing, Deering said.
Rabid animals found in Cape Elizabeth
Published in the Current
A rabid raccoon and a rabid fox are the latest casualties in Cape’s rabies epidemic, one that is scarier than the outbreak two years ago because the diseased animals are aggressive.
In the 2000 outbreak, the few contacts domestic animals had with rabid ones were because a dog initiated the contact, according to Animal Control Officer Bob Leeman.
This year is different. “Now those wild animals seem to be the aggressors,” Leeman said. A dog and a cat that have come in contact with possibly rabid animals are now under quarantine in their homes in Cape, he said. A
13-year-old cat was also killed by an encounter with a rabid fox, though no bite marks were visible on the cat, Leeman said.
On the morning of July 10, a rabid fox approached a residence on Lighthouse Point Road, near Two Lights State Park. Two people were eating breakfast on an outside deck, and two dogs were with them.
The fox came up onto the deck, where one dog threw it to the side, and one of the people kicked the fox off the deck, Leeman said. It headed off into the underbrush.
Leeman was able to track the fox through neighborhood trails and yards, and shot it with the 22-caliber handgun he uses. He had to shoot it several times, as a shot to the head of a possibly rabid animal can destroy the possibility of testing for rabies.
The fox was sent to the state crime lab in Augusta, and was found to have the raccoon strain of rabies. Leeman was pleased to learn that it was not the fox strain of rabies, meaning that most of the fox population in Cape is likely to be free from rabies.
The fox in question, he said, had probably attacked a sick raccoon.
A raccoon was spotted on Spurwink Road near the transfer station July 17, and was also aggressive.
Officer Scott Thompson shot it three times in the body with a 22-caliber handgun, and it still charged to attack him. Officer Mark Dorval, also at the scene, then drew his service handgun, a 45-caliber weapon, and shot the raccoon.
Leeman warned residents to keep close watch on their pets when they’re outside, and to beware even when walking dogs on a leash.
Aggressive rabid animals may attack even when people are around, he said.
The rabies two years ago resulted in the deaths of over 50 raccoons and 24 skunks, Leeman said. He said that could mean the danger is lower now, because the populations are smaller.
Two crows were found on Shore Road near Cragmoor July 6, and were sent to Augusta to be tested for West Nile virus, which has been found in birds in Cape in the past. Leeman said he has not heard the official word on the crows, but assumes they will test positive for West Nile virus.
A rabid raccoon and a rabid fox are the latest casualties in Cape’s rabies epidemic, one that is scarier than the outbreak two years ago because the diseased animals are aggressive.
In the 2000 outbreak, the few contacts domestic animals had with rabid ones were because a dog initiated the contact, according to Animal Control Officer Bob Leeman.
This year is different. “Now those wild animals seem to be the aggressors,” Leeman said. A dog and a cat that have come in contact with possibly rabid animals are now under quarantine in their homes in Cape, he said. A
13-year-old cat was also killed by an encounter with a rabid fox, though no bite marks were visible on the cat, Leeman said.
On the morning of July 10, a rabid fox approached a residence on Lighthouse Point Road, near Two Lights State Park. Two people were eating breakfast on an outside deck, and two dogs were with them.
The fox came up onto the deck, where one dog threw it to the side, and one of the people kicked the fox off the deck, Leeman said. It headed off into the underbrush.
Leeman was able to track the fox through neighborhood trails and yards, and shot it with the 22-caliber handgun he uses. He had to shoot it several times, as a shot to the head of a possibly rabid animal can destroy the possibility of testing for rabies.
The fox was sent to the state crime lab in Augusta, and was found to have the raccoon strain of rabies. Leeman was pleased to learn that it was not the fox strain of rabies, meaning that most of the fox population in Cape is likely to be free from rabies.
The fox in question, he said, had probably attacked a sick raccoon.
A raccoon was spotted on Spurwink Road near the transfer station July 17, and was also aggressive.
Officer Scott Thompson shot it three times in the body with a 22-caliber handgun, and it still charged to attack him. Officer Mark Dorval, also at the scene, then drew his service handgun, a 45-caliber weapon, and shot the raccoon.
Leeman warned residents to keep close watch on their pets when they’re outside, and to beware even when walking dogs on a leash.
Aggressive rabid animals may attack even when people are around, he said.
The rabies two years ago resulted in the deaths of over 50 raccoons and 24 skunks, Leeman said. He said that could mean the danger is lower now, because the populations are smaller.
Two crows were found on Shore Road near Cragmoor July 6, and were sent to Augusta to be tested for West Nile virus, which has been found in birds in Cape in the past. Leeman said he has not heard the official word on the crows, but assumes they will test positive for West Nile virus.
Thursday, July 18, 2002
New music teacher for Cape
Published in the Current
Cape Elizabeth High School music students will have a new teacher come the fall, following the retirement of Norm Richardson, who had taught music at CEHS for eight years in the last phase of a long teaching career.
Tom Lizotte of Biddeford has been chosen to replace Richardson, and high school Principal Jeff Shedd said Lizotte is well qualified to fill the big shoes Richardson leaves behind.
“Tom Lizotte comes very highly recommended to us,” Shedd said.
The position had about a dozen applicants, and the interview process included two parents, an indication, Shedd said, of the community-wide nature of the music position.
Lizotte himself knew both Richardson and middle school music teacher Terry White, and said he has “great respect” for both men.
“I’ve known Norm for as long as I’ve been in Maine,” Lizotte said.
Lizotte also has a long-standing collaboration with White, who preceded him in Biddeford. After coming to Cape, White continued to write some music for the Biddeford bands, Lizotte said.
“I’m very excited about coming to Cape Elizabeth,” he said. “It’s really a wonderful community. ”
Lizotte said he doesn’t expect to make many changes to the strong music program at CEHS. “I’m not into fixing stuff that’s not broken,” he said.
Looking into the future, though, Lizotte would like to incorporate into the music curriculum pieces written specifically for CEHS musicians.
“I think it’s important for students to have music composed specifically for them,” he said. It’s something he did in Biddeford, with great success. The students could meet the composer and discuss the piece before playing the composition in its first public performance.
One location Lizotte would like to see celebrated in music is Two Lights State Park, a place he called, “my most favorite place in all of Maine.”
Commissioning pieces, he said, is also a way to teach students that music is not a static library of old composition. “Art is something that’s created every day,” Lizotte said.
Cape Elizabeth High School music students will have a new teacher come the fall, following the retirement of Norm Richardson, who had taught music at CEHS for eight years in the last phase of a long teaching career.
Tom Lizotte of Biddeford has been chosen to replace Richardson, and high school Principal Jeff Shedd said Lizotte is well qualified to fill the big shoes Richardson leaves behind.
“Tom Lizotte comes very highly recommended to us,” Shedd said.
The position had about a dozen applicants, and the interview process included two parents, an indication, Shedd said, of the community-wide nature of the music position.
Lizotte himself knew both Richardson and middle school music teacher Terry White, and said he has “great respect” for both men.
“I’ve known Norm for as long as I’ve been in Maine,” Lizotte said.
Lizotte also has a long-standing collaboration with White, who preceded him in Biddeford. After coming to Cape, White continued to write some music for the Biddeford bands, Lizotte said.
“I’m very excited about coming to Cape Elizabeth,” he said. “It’s really a wonderful community. ”
Lizotte said he doesn’t expect to make many changes to the strong music program at CEHS. “I’m not into fixing stuff that’s not broken,” he said.
Looking into the future, though, Lizotte would like to incorporate into the music curriculum pieces written specifically for CEHS musicians.
“I think it’s important for students to have music composed specifically for them,” he said. It’s something he did in Biddeford, with great success. The students could meet the composer and discuss the piece before playing the composition in its first public performance.
One location Lizotte would like to see celebrated in music is Two Lights State Park, a place he called, “my most favorite place in all of Maine.”
Commissioning pieces, he said, is also a way to teach students that music is not a static library of old composition. “Art is something that’s created every day,” Lizotte said.
Town to be part of federal drug task force
Published in the Current; co-written with Kate Irish Collins
The town of Scarborough, along with drug agents on the federal and state level, will join with the town of Cumberland to create a new task force meant to intercept illegal drug shipments and buys along the Interstate 95 corridor.
Although details of the task force have yet to be worked out, Scarborough intends to use money it has received from the asset forfeiture of those caught dealing in drugs in the area to pay for a new police officer that would be attached to the drug task force, to be headed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
At a Town Council meeting held Wednesday after the Current’s deadline, the council was expected to accept a total of $15,577 from a drug bust that occurred in December.
According to Town Manager Ron Owens, the town is also expecting to receive another $5,000 from another drug bust sometime soon.
Working with officials from the DEA and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, police here were able to catch two people at the Residence Inn on Payne Road that were expecting a large shipment of marijuana from Arizona last December.
According to Police Chief Robert Moulton, the case originated in Arizona, where the Department of Public Safety doing an under-cover controlled buy, seized 333 pounds of marijuana and $86,500 in cash.
“They got the individual down there to cooperate and work with the feds. He came up to Maine as if he still had the marijuana and met the two buyers at the Scarborough hotel. We were able to intercept the buyers and seized $60,000 from one of the buyers. We found more money in the vehicle and a second defendant,” Moulton told the Current.
Normally money received into the Police Department’s Asset Forfeiture Account is used to buy special law enforcement equipment, not put into the department’s annual operating budget, Moulton said. “It all helps,” he added.
But due to the new drug enforcement task force that Scarborough will be a part of, any money the department receives for helping making a drug bust will go toward paying for the time of the police officer attached to the drug task force.
“We are not planning to make any big announcement when we first get started,” Owens said, “but neither are we trying to keep it from the public.”
Owens is expecting the task force to take shape over the next several weeks. “I don’t think that this means that there are more drug sales, more drugs coming into Scarborough than before. I just think that we are along the interstate here and that drugs are moving up and down on their way to buyers and dealers,” Owens said.
The town of Scarborough, along with drug agents on the federal and state level, will join with the town of Cumberland to create a new task force meant to intercept illegal drug shipments and buys along the Interstate 95 corridor.
Although details of the task force have yet to be worked out, Scarborough intends to use money it has received from the asset forfeiture of those caught dealing in drugs in the area to pay for a new police officer that would be attached to the drug task force, to be headed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
At a Town Council meeting held Wednesday after the Current’s deadline, the council was expected to accept a total of $15,577 from a drug bust that occurred in December.
According to Town Manager Ron Owens, the town is also expecting to receive another $5,000 from another drug bust sometime soon.
Working with officials from the DEA and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, police here were able to catch two people at the Residence Inn on Payne Road that were expecting a large shipment of marijuana from Arizona last December.
According to Police Chief Robert Moulton, the case originated in Arizona, where the Department of Public Safety doing an under-cover controlled buy, seized 333 pounds of marijuana and $86,500 in cash.
“They got the individual down there to cooperate and work with the feds. He came up to Maine as if he still had the marijuana and met the two buyers at the Scarborough hotel. We were able to intercept the buyers and seized $60,000 from one of the buyers. We found more money in the vehicle and a second defendant,” Moulton told the Current.
Normally money received into the Police Department’s Asset Forfeiture Account is used to buy special law enforcement equipment, not put into the department’s annual operating budget, Moulton said. “It all helps,” he added.
But due to the new drug enforcement task force that Scarborough will be a part of, any money the department receives for helping making a drug bust will go toward paying for the time of the police officer attached to the drug task force.
“We are not planning to make any big announcement when we first get started,” Owens said, “but neither are we trying to keep it from the public.”
Owens is expecting the task force to take shape over the next several weeks. “I don’t think that this means that there are more drug sales, more drugs coming into Scarborough than before. I just think that we are along the interstate here and that drugs are moving up and down on their way to buyers and dealers,” Owens said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)