1. Sumner TM approves $250k for bridge, and more
By Amanda Johnson
SUMNER—An endearing
moment came just before the
start of the Sumner Annual
Town Meeting on Saturday
morning when Fire Chief
Bob Stewart presented his
wife and Selectman Kelly
Stewart with a bouquet of
flowers in honor of their
anniversary. The event raised
applause from the nearly 50
residents who were seated in
t h e H a r t f o r d - S u m n e r
Elementary School cafeteria
that morning.
Once the meeting began, the
town voted to allow the town
clerk to file for a bond, not to
exceed $250,000, for road and
bridge reconstruction, replace-
ment and maintenance.
The estimated interest rate
for the bond is 1.9-percent,
or $30,000, over the next 10
years.
The bond will pay for the
reconstruction of the bridge
at the intersection of Tuell
Hill Road and Redding
Road. The selectmen had
been discussing the current
condition of the road and
how it is unsafe for people to
use for months.
Road Committee member
George Jones said at Town
Meeting that there is a prob-
lem with the bridge's visibili-
ty when people are turning
onto it. Anyone driving
across the bridge headed
west on Tuell Hill Road will
come to a sharp turn, and it
is hard for drivers to see
oncoming traffic coming
from the bridge. To fix this
problem, he recommended
that the new bridge be shift-
ed so that drivers crossing it
will be have better visibility
of drivers coming around the
corner of Tuell Hill Road,
hopefully preventing colli-
sions.
Another issue with the
bridge, according to Jones, is
its width. It is currently a sin-
gle-lane bridge he'd like wid-
e n e d t o t w o l a n e s .
Furthermore, the bridge cur-
rently has signs on it prohib-
iting any vehicle exceeding
15 tons to cross it.
"It needs to be built to cur-
rent road standards," he said.
Jones, along with the rest
of the Road Committee, rec-
ommended putting a three-
sided concrete culvert under
Redding Road to replace the
current one to help water
flow under the bridge. The
current culvert is close to 50
years old.
"It keeps the fish and
game happy," said Jones.
Jones said that there is not
a solid number for what the
bridge work will cost, though
Road Commissioner James
Keach estimated the cost to
be around $130,000.
"We are very hopeful and
expectant that we will stay at
or below that number," he
said about the estimated
price. He added that if the
project were to move for-
ward, work on it would begin
late winter to early spring
2015. The additional
$120,000 that was approved
will be used to fix and main-
tain the town roads.
Another notable event at
Town Meeting was the adop-
tion of a shoreland zoning
map, which will be placed
within the shoreland zoning
ordinance, which was
amended that morning to
remove the limited commer-
cial district section that
applies to commercial busi-
nesses. According to Sumner
Administrative Assistant
Ruth Hadley, the town
removed that section of the
ordinance because Sumner
does not have any applicable
businesses.
The $100 that the Sumner
Selectboard and Budget
Committee recommended
Medical office building planned for former mill property
By Amanda Johnson
N O RWAY — B a r b a r a
Allen, head of community
relations at Stephens
Memorial Hospital (SMH),
confirmed Tuesday that the
hospital will construct a new
medical office building on
land that it owns behind Cafe
Nomad on Pikes Hill in
Norway—at the site of the
former Cummings Mill. This
could put a halt to Otisfield
resident Zizi Vlaun's idea
that, with the hospital's per-
mission, part of that property
might be transformed into a
downtown park.
Besides constructing a
new medical building, SMH
plans to renovate the current
Ripley Medical Office
Building on Lower Main
Street.
Norway Town Manager
David Holt said that the mill
property was purchased by
Western Maine Health group,
of which SMH is a member,
about three years ago.
Cummings Mill was origi-
nally supposed to be sold to
a group based out of
Portland, but when the deal
fell through, it pulled out.
The mill was then demol-
ished, leaving a vacant lot in
its place.
According to a press
release from Allen, the esti-
mated cost of both projects
will be $10 million. Of that
money, $8.2 million will be
used for the new office build-
ing and $1.2 million will go
toward renovating the Ripley
building.
Western Maine Health
Board Chairman David
Preble said that the decision
to move forward with the
projects was a result of
"lengthy review and analy-
sis."
"The shift of providing
care in an outpatient setting
rather than in a hospital con-
tinues to accelerate and this
project will allow us to better
meet this requirement," he
said.
Last Thursday at one of
the introductory Healthy
Community Gatherings
meetings at the Center for an
Ecology Based Economy,
Vlaun, who is a member of
both groups, discussed the
town's need for a park.
"We need a green space
where people can be out-
side," said Vlaun in an inter-
view Tuesday morning, add-
ing that she would be open to
working with hospital so that
part of its Pikes Hill property
might be designated as a
green space, even if it is next
to the new medical office.
"We'd love to be able to
work with [the hospital],"
she said. "It could be a win-
win for everyone."
Vlaun said that other spac-
es downtown spaces in
which a park could be situat-
ed included the plot of land
to the left of the Norway
Memorial Library and the
green space behind the veter-
ans' memorial next to
Cumberland Farms on Main
Street. But, she said, both of
the locations are likely too
small. She now plans to work
with Norway Downtown, a
nonprofit group that is work-
ing to make improvements
downtown, to brainstorm
other possible locations—
only if the hospital needs to
use the entire Cummings
Mill property.
Holt said that over the past
few years, the town has
invested time and money into
creating green spaces, and
that they haven't been too
much work for the town to
maintain.
"Don't get me wrong, I
don't think a park would be
bad news," Holt said. "But
someone would have to pay
to maintain it. The town can't
keep paying to maintain
green space."
Holt hopes that the new
medical office bring life to
what is now a vacant lot.
The proposed medical
Judge upholds Lowe’s
manslaughter conviction
By Erin Place
PARIS—On Tuesday,
Active Retired Justice Robert
Clifford denied all three
motions filed by defense
attorneys for Kristina
Lowe—the Oxford woman
convicted of manslaughter
for the deaths of two West
Paris teens in a high-speed
crash in 2012—that would
have overturned the jury's
ruling.
Clifford heard the motions
argued by defense attorneys
James Howaniec and
Chelsea Peters on July 31,
which asked for a mistrial,
acquittal of the two man-
slaughter charges and one
charge of leaving the scene
of an accident, and further
asked for a new trial. Their
arguments were countered by
Assistant District Attorneys
Joseph O'Connor and
Richard Beauchesne.
In May, a jury decided the
now 21-year-old Lowe was
responsible for the deaths of
two of her passengers,
16-year-old Rebecca Mason
and 19-year-old Logan Dam,
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014, Volume 188, No. 33© Buy or borrow a copy 75¢ USPS #008-140
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Bang-up business
Oxford’s policies are growing its
economy, town manager says
By Erin Place
OXFORD—Business is
good in Oxford, real good.
While surrounding towns
in Oxford Hills are still
struggling to climb out of the
hole left from the Great
Recession of 2008, Oxford
has seen an uptick in eco-
nomic development for a few
years now.
“When we went into the
recession, a lot of towns had
to raise mill rates or cut ser-
vices,” Oxford Town
M a n a g e r M i c h a e l
Chammings said. “We pretty
much kept our tax rate flat
and kept the same services.”
Oxford Hills Chamber of
C o m m e r c e E xe c u t ive
Director John Williams
agreed that the economy for
most of Oxford Hills is still
struggling, especially with
small businesses.
“But it doesn’t mean we’re
not forward looking from the
perspective that we’re out
there actively engaged in
talking with potential compa-
nies that might have an inter-
est in coming to this area,”
he said.
Forward thinking is what
landed Oxford its casino in
2012, Chammings said,
which for the most part has
been the center of economic
growth for the town.
“Obviously it helped us
economically. I consider it
the anchor store in a mall
kind of deal,” Chammings
said about Oxford Casino.
“We knew we were going to
have exhilarated growth, we
didn’t expect it to be a boom
growth, which good because
we can handle it.”
He pointed out the casino
is in a Tax Increment
Finance (TIF) district, which
is a tax shelter and the taxes
the casino pays out goes to
pay for the town’s infrastruc-
ture, mainly the sewer and
water systems. This includes
the $24 million wastewater
treatment facility and the
expanded sewer lines cur-
rently going in on Route 26.
“The sewer and water on
[Route] 26 are what’s allow-
ing for these other businesses
to come in,” Chammings
said, pointing to the
Hampton Inn, which is coin-
ciding its opening with the
Oxford wastewater treatment
facility’s launch, anticipated
for next spring. This saves
the hotel millions of dollars
from having to put it its own
treatment facility, he said.
Williams said there’s talk of
a Best Western hotel coming
Amanda Johnson
TOWN MEETING TIME—Moderator Terry Hayes, far left, stands at the
podium of the Sumner Annual Town Meeting on Saturday. Nearly 50 residents
attended the meeting.
See PROPERTY 6A
See BUSINESS 6A
See LOWE 5A
See SUMNER 6A