May 1982

Westbrook aldermen were warned that the outside auditor is about to report that the city’s books don’t balance, City Council

President Charles M. Roma said. He got the warning from Finance

Director Susan Fitzpatrick in an executive session requested by City Solicitor James Gagan. Roma said he questions why the matter couldn’t have been discussed in open session, and is sure that the auditor’s report will be made public. He said he thinks the soundness of thecity’s finances is not in question and that the books-balancing problem is related to new computer systems installed in the past two years both in City Hall and in the School Department.

After years of controversy, Gorham’s “solid waste sorting and

receiving station” is open. Operation of the transfer station is fairly simple. Residents back their vehicles into the station. They dump their trash into a rectangular structure called a hopper and machinery does the rest.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles L. Cragin told the

Westbrook Kiwanis Club that if elected governor, he will

work to revise the worker’s compensation system.

Gorham Superintendent of Schools Woodbury Saunders told the school committee that probable vacancies for the 1982-83 include: a science position at the high school; a math position at the high school; art at the elementary and junior high levels; and first-grade and sixth-grade teachers.

Several local skiers returned the day following the April snowstorm from a 10-day trip to Austria, Germany and Italy. Flying from Boston, the group spent the first night in Munich, Germany, then took a scenic bus trip to St. Oswald, Austria, a village in the Alps They stayed in modern chalets at the base of the ski areas. Those on the trip were Mr. and Mrs. Donald Simpson and Sherri, Andre Lestage Sr. and Andre

Jr., Pat Hall and Franklin C. Emery of Westbrook.

May 1992

Residents worried about the proposed Windham de-inking plant asked the Gorham Town Council to lend its weight to an effort to force a full Department of Environmental Protection review of the project. If the strategy is successful, one of the primary reasons for the developer’s interest in Windham – the town’s ability to speed site reviews with its Delegated Site Review Authority – may disappear.

A proposal to create a third lane on Gorham’s Main Street to improve the flow of traffic is meeting with a cool reception from the downtown businesspeople. Ironically, the plan may offend some of the very people that the town has recently courted in an attempt to improve relations with its business community. The concept was presented at a meeting of town officials and the Gorham Chamber of Commerce. It calls for re-striping Maine Street to create a third lane – a center turning lane – that would “allow traffic to continue in a flow,” according to Town Planner Jay Grande.

Harland M. Bean apparently passed out at the wheel of Westbrook’s Rescue Unit No 2 and it hit the corner of the Rescue Unit station, injuring himself and doing $6,000 damage to the ambulance. Police Dispatcher Laurie St. Jock, who saw

it happen, estimated that the ambulance was going 5 to 10 miles per hour.

With a little help from City Solicitor Michael Cooper, the Westbrook City Council overturned a previous 5-2 refusal and voted 5-2 to pay another $9,875 to Cole-Layer-Trumble Co. Still opposed were Aldermen Lionel Dumond and Peter Wescott. Fred Porell, citizen, drew a grudging half-way acknowledgement from Mayor Fred Wescott and Council President Kenneth Lefebvre that the new vote came in response to a threatened lawsuit by C-L-T, the big Ohio-based assessing company that did the 1990-91 Westbrook revaluation.

Mayor Fred Wescott announced the appointment of Gary Caron as a new deputy fire chief, succeeding Gerard Pellerin, who resigned.

Despite rumors that Gorham Industrial Park tenants Irwin Corp.

and Hill-Acme Co. plan to pull up roots for more pro-business climes, each denies any plan to leave the area. The question didn’t seem to surprise Irwin’s Scott Semle, assistant plant manager. “That is probably being used as a threat” replied Semle. “We’re likely to bring it up in hearings or meetings on the costs of doing business in Maine.” Semle cited figures that are liable to make local Chamber of Commerce types shudder.

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