By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Forty-three years ago, Donald Kasprzak and his wife spent their honeymoon in Kennebunkport.

After living and working in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the Kasprzaks will soon call Maine their new home.

By unanimous vote Tuesday night, the Select Board hired Kasprzak as Bridgton’s town manager. Chairman Bob McHatton said 17 candidates applied for the position, and the list was whittled down to four, then two and finally choosing Kasprzak.

The Select Board held an executive session Tuesday at 2 p.m. with Kasprzak, who goes by “Donny.”

“My father was Donald, so they decided I’d be ‘Donny’ for the rest of my life, and that’s the way it’s always been,” he playfully noted to those attending the Select Board meeting.

Another connection to Maine is that Kasprzak’s wife’s business — Bouyea-Fassetts Bakery, which Donny worked for at one point — directly competes with Country Kitchen. Also, their youngest son lives in Saco. Another son is a police detective in Plattsburgh.

“When I was mayor, I did not hire my son. I didn’t believe in nepotism,” he noted.

Kasprzak’s resume is extensive:

• Mayor, City of Plattsburgh (population 20,000), three terms — Administered a $60 million budget with 235 employees in 11 departments.

• Executive Director, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission.

• Director, New York State Parks.

• Regional Director, New York State Parks, Recreation & Historical Preservation, Saratoga/Capital District Region — Prepared and managed an $8 million operating budget and a $4 million capital budget.  Supervised permanent staff of 100 employees with 335 temporary/seasonal staff.

Private Industry

• Political Consultant and Land Development, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

• Family Golf Center Driving Range, Plattsburgh, N.Y., Owner/Operator

• L & M Discount Liquor and Wine, Plattsburgh, N.Y., Owner.

• Bouyea-Fassetts Bakery, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Education

• University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif., B.S. Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Personnel Administration

• Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., Completed undergraduate courses in Liberal Arts, Business Administration, and Political Science.

• Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.       , College preparatory program, graduate.

• St. John’s Academy, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

He will begin work as Bridgton’s town manager on May 25. Kasprzak plans to find an apartment, for the time being, because his wife is going to remain in Plattsburgh “for a little bit because we have a 10-year-old grandson and I admit that he’s the priority.”

Initial Impressions

In meeting with the Select Board “several times,” Kasprzak had the opportunity to take drives through the community, and liked what he saw.

“I have to tell you how impressed I am with it. I’m also impressed with the fact of the potential here,” he said. “I have been going over the budget, and I’m not sure if everybody agrees with this board and how they make those decisions, but I can tell you doing many budgets in Plattsburgh that this is a very solid budget. I look forward to working with everybody that I have met so far… and the community.”

Kasprzak described himself as a good listener and very transparent.

“You’ll learn that I’m direct. I tell the truth,” he said. “I will meet everybody. I have an open-door policy, so if anybody wants to come in and say ‘hello’ and share what they believe, please do that. I will do the best I can for the majority of the people in the community.”

Although from New York, Select Board Chairman Bob McHatton quickly pointed out that Donny is a Red Sox fan.

Along with “welcomes” from the Select Board and a quick meeting with Police Chief Phil Jones, who is on vacation but attended the meeting, Planning Board chair Deb Brusini also welcomed Kasprzak aboard.

“You (the Planning Board) have a thankless job. I made appointments as mayor to our planning and zoning boards in Plattsburgh for years. And wonderful people accepted. But the work you do is not totally appreciated by the masses, but the good people know what you do and it’s thankless,” Kasprzak said. “It’s long hours and you have all sorts of people you listen to for a long period of time. Tough times. I just appreciate it because of my experience as a mayor.”

Chairman McHatton also thanked Georgiann Fleck, who served as interim town manager, and town office staff for getting the town through some difficult moments as the manager search unfolded.

Fleck responded, “I would like to thank the Select Board for having their faith and appointed me as interim manager; for the support of the citizens during that time; as well as the department heads moving throughout a difficult time through budgets and everything that we had to do. I am pleased to have been sitting in the seat during that process. I learned a lot, so thank you.”

Park Development

A new public park could be developed on town-owned property off Main Street, which borders Stevens Brook.

Back in 2019, the park idea was pitched during discussions on how to use Community Development Block Grant funds.

The idea was shelved as the town prioritized sidewalk rehab and construction.

Now, with the sidewalk work nearly completed, Community Development Advisory Committee chairman Kevin Raday said attention has shifted back to the park project, which could be up for CDBG funds next year.

Park development, officials believe, fits nicely with streetscape work done along the lower Main Street area.

Early idea is to build a pergola structure leading into the park, which would include a granite walking path, elevated boardwalk over wetland area, and Adirondak seating near the brook’s shoreline.

“That part of town doesn’t have a park,” Raday said.

Developing the site could also result in adding to the existing Stevens Brook trail system.

Select Board member Carrye Castleman-Ross and local resident Jess Warner recently walked the proposed site, and found works needs to be done eradicating invasive vegetation like knotweed.

“The park right now is absolutely covered with knotweed. The good news is it is just coming out of dormancy. So, I am inviting anyone with any ideas or just physical labor to come and help us get ahead of this,” she said. “We can get it cleaned up this summer, submit our plans for it and get to work on the actual infrastructure next summer because we can’t do anything until we get that site clean. It’s going to be such a wonderful addition to lower Main Street. It’s very exciting to see when the plan starts to come together.”

Crosswalk Paint

Spring is finally here, and with its arrival, the question most often asked is when will the town repaint the crosswalks?

Answer: As soon as temps warm up.

This past week, road sweeping started. Once the two elements come together, the crosswalks will get a fresh coat of paint.