September 1982

Westbrook officials are pondering the benefits and consequences of the city of Westbrook owning an island – free of charge. The planning board was to take a look at what uses the city might make of Yudy’s Island, two acres of rock and soil in the Presumpscot River at Saccarappa Falls. It is a genuine island, reached by a short steel bridge at the end of Dana Street in downtown Westbrook, and was the home of a major cotton textile factory for many years. Yudy’s used a large wood frame building on the island for many years as warehouse

for tires. The city will await the planning board’s recommendation before accepting or refusing.

Mayor William O’Gara is proposing that Westbrook become the first community in the area to hire a private contractor to do all

collecting of rubbish and garbage, starting in November. The city needs to buy two, $90,000 collector trucks soon, and labor costs are very high, O’Gara’s administrative assistant, Jonathan Carter, explained. Carter and Public Works Director Kenneth Eastman told the committee that collecting the rubbish and garbage cost the city $108,593 in 1982, excluding clean-up weeks, and “we believe considerable savings could be achieved,” they said.

Westbrook’s kindergarten class is the largest in several years, up 38 percent over last year. A study done by the school department in November 1980 predicted 179 kindergarten students last year (10 too high) and 211 this year (21 too low). Despite the gain of 63 in kindergarten, total enrollment in Westbrook schools on opening day was down 34 students.

From the police log: A dog showed up at the door of Edna

Varney, 49 Peterson Road, Westbrook, at 8 a.m. It had been hit with several porcupine quills. Police Patrolman Donahue removed the quills and sent the dog home. B&D Builders, the contractor, cleared the lot for the new senior citizen’s housing behind Westport Lanes and someone stole two cords of the wood. A car was running in a parking lot at 593 Main St. at 4:30 a.m. The two people in it had passed out. Police

woke them and sent them on their way. Bill Clark said a man bought a fishing license with a $10 check that bounced. More than $1,000 worth of flowers and plants were stolen in a burglary at Bertin’s Greenhouses, Mechanic Street, during the night.

A naked and blood-streaked 16-year-old Westbrook youth, who may have been under the influence of drugs, did $702 damage Friday night to the home of the Marcel Cote family at 98 Puritan Drive, apparently for being ordered out of the neighborhood. It took several Westbrook policemen to get him into a police car and take him to the county jail. He was shackled there, wrapped in a blanket and taken to the

Maine Medical Center, where he was examined, then released to his mother.

September 1992

Four Westbrook aldermen stood fast and defeated a last-hour

attempt by City Council President Kenneth Lefebvre to convert a Nov. 3 charter change referendum into just an advisory vote on school spending. Lefebvre’s proposal won the support of Mayor Fred Westcott, Aldermen Paul LeConte and Elmer Welch. But a tie defeats a motion and it will pass on 4-4 on votes of Lionel Dumond, Don Richards, Peter Adams and Peter Wescott.

Former evidence technician and court officer Steve Pulsoni 38, was named by Westbrook Mayor Fred Westcott to become the city’s seventh police sergeant. He will lead up to three patrolmen on a shift as a patrol sergeant, reporting directly to the head of the patrol division, Capt. John Schmidlin. An eight-year patrolman in Westbrook, Pulsoni has filled in for the past 2 1/2 years as the department’s court officer. He lives with his wife, Penny, in Westbrook.

The Westbrook Planning Board approved plans for a big expansion of Pride’s Corner Lanes in a 6-0 vote. Charles Kennedy, who owns the bowling-billiards center with his wife Gail, told a public hearing that they have to expand the business or lose it to competition.

Sweeping, some may even say radical, changes in the way Gorham views development, as well as its attitude toward growth, were discussed by the Gorham Planning Board Monday night. By far the most unique change proposes the creation of a Site Plan Review Committee staffed by the town planner and other town employees. That panel would take over

approval authority for “minor” developments, under four units or up to 20,000 square feet, depending on the district. If passed, Gorham would become the third community in Maine and the only town with such a provision, Town Planner Jay Grande said. Lewiston and Sanford are the others with in-house committees in place.

Gorham gained full membership and a seat on Regional Waste Systems’ executive committee, but got no other special benefits in the trash pact approved by the Gorham Town Council. Absent was any mention of the many financial benefits – $325,000 a year and 32 acres of prime land, to name two – that the town anticipated receiving three years ago, when negotiations began for Gorham to host a regional demolition

debris and recycling facility at Mosher’s Corner. A stagnant

construction economy has since diminished the stream of demolition debris by a whopping 75 percent, leaving it doubtful whether the facility, although fully permitted, will ever be built.

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