By Gail Geraghty

Staff Writer

The Bridgton Comprehensive Plan Committee is planning four community potluck forums later this month and in early December to get citizen comment on the all-important section of any Comprehensive Plan — the policies, goals and strategies for implementing the plan’s recommendations.

Two of the four neighborhood forums have definite dates and locations. In West Bridgton, the potluck will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 5:45 p.m. at Shawnee Peak Ski Resort; on Thursday, Dec. 6, the Downtown meeting will be held at 5:45 p.m. at Town Hall. The locations for meetings planned for Thursday, Nov. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 5, both at 6 p.m., will be announced on the town’s website, www.bridgtonmaine.org, as soon as they are finalized later this week. One of the latter two meetings will be in South Bridgton, and the other will be in West Bridgton.

Committee members had a table at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6, in order to publicize the potlucks and distribute an informational brochure on the Comprehensive Plan. Members said the specifics on dates and locations should be finalized by then.

At Monday’s meeting, the committee reviewed a draft spreadsheet created by member Chuck Renneker to organize the conclusions, goals and strategies for each chapter in the plan. Renneker has also added columns to indicate whose responsibility it is for implementing the goals, a timeline for completion, and how it will be funded, if necessary.

The committee is particularly concerned that the updated plan does not “sit on a shelf” this time around, as many maintain happened with parts of the 2004 plan. As a result, members decided to create a very preliminary list of conclusions and strategies to guide the discussion at the potlucks. Most of their work since the spring has been in rewriting drafts of the plan’s chapters, stating the existing conditions in Bridgton as to the town’s economy, housing, land use and natural resources, public facilities and services, historical and cultural resources.

Anne Krieg, director of Planning, Economic and Community Development, said the committee is especially looking for the public’s input on the “action plan” portion of the planning document. She encourages anyone with an interest to e-mail their questions or concerns to her at ecodevdir@bridgtonmaine.org or call her at 647-8786.