Anne Krieg

By Anne Krieg, AICP

Bridgton Director of Planning, Economic & Community Development

Hello Bridgton residents and vacationers! I hope you are enjoying summer in between the raindrops! I am writing a guest article this week and will continue to do so every other week as a means to let you know what’s happening in planning, economic and community development. Hopefully reading this will cause you to ask questions, come to meetings, call/e-mail or meet with me in person about something that sparked an interest.

Comprehensive Plan

Right now the Comprehensive Plan Committee is working on all of the policy statements for the Comprehensive Plan. This plan sets the policy for the next 10 years for land use (yes, zoning, are you ready for that?), capital planning, municipal operations and grant pursuits. This is the document that tells me what needs to happen for the next decade, so we need to get it right and reflect what the town wants to see happen! The next open forum will be held on Monday, Aug. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Tannery Pub.

Special thanks to Michelle Hapgood at Campfire Grille for hosting us this past Monday night. She put a great spread out for us in the back room, and it was good to see folks going there to have dinner after the meeting. These meetings are nice and informal and everyone is encouraged to speak, share and interact in a more informal and relaxed setting; it’s always nice to get out of the office!

Infrastructure Improvement Grants

Other projects include administrating a Community Development Block Grant project to fix the wastewater lines in the downtown, and fixing the sidewalks and curbing on Depot Street. The Block Grant Program is a great opportunity for Bridgton to spruce up its infrastructure, as well as make improvements to historic buildings like the Moses House, the new location for the Rufus Porter Museum and the Bridgton Historical Society. Last week I attended training on this program as I am knee deep in paperwork on this program; but it’s worth it!

Memorial School

I am also working, as you may have read, on the Memorial School. We have the opportunity to clean up this building with a grant from EPA. This program is called the Brownfields Program, and it may seem complicated in how the land needs to be transferred, but we are working to make this a successful development for the town! Stay tuned for dates of public forums this fall on this project, as we will need to develop a plan for how this building/property should be reused. Don’t miss out on a chance to have a say as to what happens on this important piece of property!

Sewer Expansion

Next Thursday, Aug. 8, the Wastewater Committee will commence its discussions with the engineer studying future expansions of this system. This is an important project not only because of the financial investment, but it also sets the growth and development policy for the town; so stay with this project, and let us know what you think!

Also, I am working with the Fryeburg business folks on combining our advertising efforts. Stay tuned on how we carry this forward! Please do not hesitate to stop and ask me questions, call, e-mail or set up a meeting to go over any thoughts, questions and concerns you may have, as all of these projects have a great impact on your community! I am also on social media, so find me on Facebook (BPECD), Twitter (BridgtonPECD) and LinkedIn (annemkrieg) — Look for updates in the newspaper in a couple of weeks as well!