July 1982
Westbrook property will be taxed at the rate of $28.10 for each $1,000 of value of real and personal property for the 1982-83 fiscal year. The rate is set by the assessor Mark Caldwell, but is determined by how much the Westbrook City Council is spending and how much property there is in the city.
The historic Hyde House, built by the S. D. Warren Co. in 1882 on Cumberland Street in Westbrook, has a new location and a new look for its 100th birthday. Faced with the wrecker’s ball two years ago when S. D. Warren wanted the property for expansion, the house was saved when a buyer stepped forward. Martha Brackett of Westbrook bought the house for $1 and in January 1981 had it moved from 159 Cumberland St. to nearby 80 Cottage Place.
Westbrook celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1964. Although the town was incorporated in 1814, it had been settled long before. Westbrook, along with Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, was within the boundaries of the original Falmouth, which was settled in 1632. While Westbrook was still a part of Falmouth, it was known as Saccarappa, and Ammoncongin or Gongin. Ammoncongin was the Indian name for the land that is now called Cumberland Mills. The land was sold by Indians to Francis Small in 1657, according to the book “Highlights of Westbrook History.
Aldermen received an ordinance to regulate video game machines in Westbrook, and with it, a choice – ban arcades by setting a low limit on the number of machines, or permit arcades with tight regulations on liquor and drugs. City Solicitor James Gagan gave the draft ordinance with the warning that 21 days had already passed in their 90-day moratorium on video machine permits.
A man reported that his girlfriend was attacked by a 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound man wearing a leather jacket. The victim reported that the attacker picked her up off her feet, lugged her to the rear of the Little Falls Baptist Church and tried to rape her. She said she didn’t want to press charges. The officer who covered the call noted that the victim’s clothes, which were worn during the alleged rape, were not wet, dirty or messed up. The victim’s hair was neat and combed. A
check of the area at the rear of the church showed no evidence of anybody having been there. A week earlier, the victim had reported being harassed by two people.
July 1992
Superintendent Edward Connolly let George Bookataub, school music director, buy new uniforms for the Westbrook High School Marching Band after the school committee budgeted nothing for them, he told the schoolcCommittee. Having to do a little back-peddling himself, he apologized, saying, “My oversight was just that – an oversight.” He didn’t say how much was spent. In February, Bookataub was asking or
$28,125 for 225 band uniforms. Connolly said he’ll provide full
figures at the committee’s next meeting. Word of the uniforms’ purchase spread swiftly through Westbrook last week, and Connolly acknowledged that he had heard criticism and expects
more.
A major change in planning philosophy proposed by Gorham’s planner would let a five-member majority of the planning board set aside zoning regulations that block the Hannaford Bros. long-sought racetrack shopping center. The proposal for a new Narragansett Development District by Town Planner Jay Grande has a section called “Waivers,” which reads: “The Planning Board shall have the authority to waive requirements of the Land Use and Development Code as may be
reasonable and within the general purpose and intent of this
district.” Currently in Gorham, as in other communities, only the town council sets the planning rules.
The Westbrook School Committee and Superintendent Edward Connolly are looking for up to $28,000 to pay for a guidance counselor the committee voted to restore to the budget. Yielding to pressure from some teachers, students and parents, the committee voted 5-2 to keep four guidance counselors at the high school and hire a man for guidance at the junior high.
Stripped of a couple things that massage therapists didn’t like, a new version of an ordinance regulating massage parlors sailed through the Westbrook City Council 6-0 without discussion. This, regardless that for the seventh time, the city council has voted unanimously for a temporary ban on the establishment of massage parlors in Westbrook. “We all know what we’re trying to prevent,” Alderman Lionel Dumond once told his colleagues.
An Alabama car was parked at the junior high at 12:45 a.m. in
Westbrook. Police found two people walking around who said they were originally from the area and were taking a trip down memory lane.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
