News

Trick or Treat at Selectmen meeting
By Elizabeth Prata

New Gloucester--The Halloween night Selectmen's meeting was short and very sweet, interrupted only once...by trick or treaters. The Board, down for the count by two with Lynn Conger and Kevin Sullivan absent, the remaining Selectmen forged ahead and approved the Woodman Road bid spec package.

With the warm evening and lots of neighborhood unity in Lower Gloucester, there were trick or treaters abounding from all corners. Houses near the Town Office complex were lit up with a warm glow from within, and some had adorned their historic and neatly kept houses with orange lights.

Children, not needing to wear coats for once because the unusually mild weather, were cavorting in the yards with parents talking happily in clusters alongside. Some perspicacious kids were using the lights under the roof of the Congregational Church to view open their bags and check their trick or treat loot.

Meanwhile, inside the MeetingHouse, the Selectmen were discussing the Woodman road reconstruction bid. The Woodman Road is a dirt/gravel road that is 9,980 feet long (about 1.89 miles) and 30 feet wide. The road will be surveyed, designed and constructed by the winning bidder. There will be a pre-bid meeting on Nov 17 at 2 p.m., and the bids are due by Monday, December 12.

The Selectmen have scheduled a public informational meeting regarding the proposed purchase of land for the upper Gloucester Fire Barn. All are welcome to attend on November 14, at which time Chair Steve Libby will talk about the appraisal and price, the characteristics of the land, the needs of the fire department, etc.

As the Selectmen were moving through their relatively unexciting agenda, someone knocked three times at at the MeetingHouse door. Selectmen looked up from the panel like gophers from their holes and stopped talking, surprise edging over their faces. "I think it's trick or treaters," said Ellie Fellers, reporting for the Sun Journal. "Quick, does anyone have any candy?" Mr. Libby asked. "I do," said Selectmen David Lunt, and so did the others, and hastily they pooled their resources as Ellie opened the door.

Two ghoulish trick or treaters entered and spookily approached the panel. Selectmen poured their candy into their buckets and said "Happy Halloween!" As the soundless youths exited, Mr. Libby laughed and said that that was the first time trick or treaters had come to the Selectmen meeting, and it was on TV no less.

Mr. Libby updated the fellow board members and public about the two-hour meeting held regarding the Bear Brook Dam on Rt. 231 just below the Village.

The Maine Department of Transportation's (MDOT) Dave Sherlock and Guy Ladd had attended, as well as Mr. Libby, Fire Chief Sacco, and several neighbors near the pond and dam. There had been a washout recently and the dam needs repair. At odds was who owns the dam and in Mr. Libby's research he said that though the dam is in the State's right of way, it was constructed by the town in 1963. The outcome of the meeting was that Mr. Sherlock will go back to ask MDOT legal staff to draft an agreement that would define responsibilities for maintenance and ownership of the dam and adjacent roadway. He will also find out if MDOT crews can do work on the other side of the dam (the side that hasn't had any repair work done on it yet). The town and the MDOT will share the cost, and the Town would like the cost to be shared 50/50.