Sept. 5, 1990
In the depressed 1990 market, will taxable values drop on real estate in Westbrook, in the current revaluation? It’s a question, but, “I know communities that have dropped in value 5 to 10 percent,” Paul Ferguson has told the City Council. Ferguson is director of operations for the Cole-Layer-Trumble Co., which has the $285,000 contract to do the revaluation. Ferguson said it may be hard to find enough actual sales to fix current values. Sales in Westbrook are among factors used to fix values, he said.
Gorham School Superintendent Tim McCormick said last week that, while nothing definite is planned for now, a project application for an addition to Gorham High School was to have been submitted to the Town Council last night. The application will trigger a site visit by the Maine Division of School Facilities sometime before Dec. 15 to assess the need for the addition. The project application will ask for funds for both additional classroom space and renovations. McCormick said that more space than is now available will be needed over the next six to eight years. Included in the application are renovations of the science labs, addition of space for graphic arts, music and fine arts, a cafeteria, auditorium and additional classrooms, and upgrading the library and guidance space.
Police are searching for a man in his mid to upper 20s who apparently tried to kidnap a 6-year-old girl in Gorham Sunday. The girl said the man pulled alongside her in a car at around 7:30 p.m. and asked her if she wanted to go with him. She said no and walked home. The Gorham incident follows similar incident in Farmington, South Paris and Lebanon.
Alice DeRoche of Westbrook is ready for stiff golf competition at this year’s Maine Senior Games, Sept. 14 and 15 in Portland and Bangor. “You should see some of those ladies hit a ball. It’s amazing to watch,” said DeRoche, 67. She’ll play at the Riverside Golf Course Sept. 14. Alice and friend Eva Roy are avid golfers. “Each year I have a lot of fun at the Games,” said DeRoche, who has participated the last two years. “It’s good exercise. And you get to meet a lot of people. Plus, it’s just good being outside.”
Robert I. Mailman, a member of the Gorham Police Department since 1974, is the department’s newest sergeant. Mailman becomes the third sergeant on the 14-member force, joining Wayne Coffin and Jody Thomas. Mailman joined the force as a reserve officer and became full time in 1981.
Sept. 6, 2000
The Gorham Bypass Public Advisory Committee will meet again Sept. 12, commencing Phase 2 of the study began in July 1999. The committee heard public testimony Aug. 28 after a slide show of bypass options being considered. There was standing room only at the high school for the meeting. The proposal received mixed reaction. Opponents are concerned about protecting bucolic Gorham countrysides, preserving historic neighborhoods and the cost of constructing a highway.
Westbrook’s Planning Board was scheduled to meet Sept. 5 to vote on whether to recommend a new conditional use zoning of the former farm property of Donald Brydon on the Bridgton Road at Prides Corner. A submitted plan calls for 70 condominiums on 32 of the 44 acres in the property. The plan is proposed by HEP Limited Partnership, giving as address the offices of Tim Flaherty Real Estate, 625 Bridgton Road. Flaherty said yesterday HEP is an out-of-state client with whom he’s in partnership. “We’re trying to do a very high-quality development, something that’s going to be nice for the town,” he said. “We’re targeting a 50-and-over crowd.”
Inger Cyr, most recently the Westbrook Police Department’s school resource officer, has replaced the recently retired Charlotte Adams on Team 2A of the day shift, joining Tom Haskell and Rick Disney under Sgt. Mike Sanphy.
Residents of Mallison Street in Gorham are asking the town to prohibit tri-axle trucks from driving on their street and have submitted a petition. Town Manager David Cole has drafted a motion to refer the petition to the Economic Development Committee for review and recommendations.
Westbrook’s Maureen Hebert represented Maine in Anaheim, Calif., Aug. 2-7, in the America’s Homecoming Queen competition. “She didn’t win,” said her mother, AnneMarie Hebert, 8 Laffin Drive, “but she had an awfully good time, staying right in the Disneyland Resort.” Maureen was selected Westbrook High School homecoming queen by the student body as a senior. She won the title, Maine’s Homecoming Queen, in Albany, N.Y., winning the trip to California and a cash scholarship. She is a student now at Southern Maine Technical College.
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