Looking Back

Jan. 11, 1989

About 60 Gorham residents showed up at the Planning Board meeting Monday to take their first look at plans for a new Shop n Save at the old raceway property. It was the first chance people had to see the plan for a plaza with almost 200,000 square feet of floor space. The overwhelming concern of residents was the effect on traffic in the Cressey Road and Narragansett Street area.

The state Board of Education is scheduled to vote today to approve the state portion $1,086,480 of a proposed $1.8 million package of additions and renovations to the Saccarappa School in Westbrook. And in May, if the Westbrook School Committee and City Council approve, Westbrook voters will be asked to chip in another $800,000 to cover the citys share. School Superintendent Edward Connolly said Monday he expects to get the state concept approval today.

Mayor Philip Spiller showed Westbrooks Warren parsonage Sunday to Marie Rackley, and he she is seriously considering moving it in three pieces to land off the Methodist Road. He said he believes her plans are workable, and can be the hoped-for way to avoid tearing down the historic house. The City Council voted Monday to set Jan. 23 for a public hearing on the disposition or demolition of the parsonage.

The bid by retired Secretary of State and former Gorham resident Rodney Quinn to get the Gorham Town Council to pay into the Maine State Retirement System for his council service was defeated by a 3-3 tie at a Jan. 3 meeting. Quinn hoped to convince councilors to pay $100.56 for one year of his six years on the Gorham Town Council, which would enable him to buy back four years of military service and increase his annual pension by $3,000. Quinn said he would reimburse the town for that sum, as well as pay annual subsequent payments of $3 or $4. Some councilors felt that council service should not be considered employment, similar to full-time paid employees.

Charleyne Gilbert, a Westbrook High School business teacher for the past 10 years, was selected as the 1988-89 Maine Business Educator of the Year. The award was granted at the annual convention of the Business Education Association of Maine.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre said Monday that an electrical short circuit in the ceiling of a second-story apartment caused the three-alarm fire at 48 Main St. Friday that left 14 people homeless. No one was injured in the blaze, but Lefebvre estimated damage at $150,000 or more.

Jan. 13, 1999

A draft of a proposed new policy detailing when Westbrook will sell property it holds a tax lien against was presented to the City Councils Finance Committee Monday, and a further draft by administrative assistant Jim Bennett will likely be presented to the council for enactment. Matured tax liens give the city a clear title and the right to sell and keep all the proceeds, Bennett said. The city is scheduled to foreclose Jan. 14 on 85 pieces of property owning a total of $71,000 for unpaid 1997 taxes, plus interest.

Assistant School Superintendent Michael Kane presented to the Westbrook City Councils Committee of the Whole Monday the case for expanding Canal School. The plans go before the state Board of Education today to see if it will agree to state funding for a share of the $2.68 million project. The school department will go to the state with the council committees blessing, given in a 4-2 vote. The Canal School Building Committee and architect Stephen Blatt had first proposed at $3.26 million expansion of the grade 3-5 school, with a separate Grade 3 wing, but the committee felt that this would be too great a burden on the taxpayers.

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Looking Back