Craven confirmed to help West Paris rebuild bleachers

WEST PARIS — Reconstruction of West Paris’ historic Harold C. Perham grandstand, destroyed July 24 by a teenage arsonist, will get a boost from Ricky Craven, the NASCAR driver from Newburg who has won in all three top touring series.

According to Jeff Shock, director of the West Paris Athletic Association (WPAA), Craven will appear at a public supper to be held Thursday, January 29, at the Four Seasons Function Center, in Paris.

Craven will give a post-dinner talk about his NASCAR career, to be followed by an auction of racing memorabilia.  Among the most highly anticipated items to go on the block will be a limited-edition print of Craven's 2003 win at Darlington, the closest in NASCAR history.  The print — No. 74 of 400 — is signed by Craven and artist Sam Bass.

“Those have sold for a couple thousand dollars down in Virginia," said Shock.  "But, like I told Ricky, we’re not Virginia.  We’re West Paris, Maine.  We’ll be lucky to get $200 here.”

Although Craven has not raced on NASCAR’s top circuit since 2004, Shock said he hopes an appearance by the driver — now a YAHOO! Sports race analyst — will sell all 200 tickets that are available. 

At $20, each, Shock says, "That's a pretty good deal."

“I’m hoping that will work out for us," he said, "because his fan base is still pretty good around here as far as I’m concerned.”

According to Shock, although the Maine Municipal Association originally had the entire ball field complex in West Paris insured for $7,000, it has since agreed to pay $6,000 on the lost contents of a storage area, plus up to $56,000 on the grandstand. 

That, he said, should cover a rebuild, complete with handicapped access compliant with modern standards.  Although the new structure will have sides made of corrugated steel — meaning less maintenance than the original wooden building — Shock says the WPAA has abandoned plans to make the the grandstand smaller than its predecessor, which was designed to seat 300.

"There's been a lot of talk," he said. "It's been a big issue in the town and the majority of the community wants it the way it was."

Shock said the Craven fundraiser will pay for a foundation for the new building, another concession to modern building codes.

"We’re in pretty good shape," he said.  "Now that the insurance company has come though on the building itself, we're just counting on this fundraiser to get us started on the foundation.

Shock says he hopes to bid out the project this year, with completion of the project targeted for spring, 2010.

Shock was able to secure Craven's participation thanks to a long friendship with the driver.  The two met in the early '90s when Craven was racing on the Busch North tour and Shock was circling Oxford Plains Speedway (OPS) in a super street.  Both drivers had the same sponsor at the time, so an OPS meeting was almost inevitable.

Then, in 2000, Shock spent a year working as a tire specialist on Craven's Nextel Cup team. 

Currently, Shock is busy trying to line up raffle donations for the auction.  Any area person or business interested in contributing an item should call Shock at 592-5588.  That number also may be used to buy tickets to the dinner.

Built shortly after World War II as a Federal Work Administration project, the Perham grandstand was said to have been one of three like it remaining in the state when it was destroyed.  Along with a pitching machine, a mower, and other grounds equipment, the fire also cost the town cherished baseball memorabilia, including town-team uniforms dating back to the 1930s.

“This was a landmark for the town of West Paris,” said WPAA vice-president Shannon LaFrance, “and it touched a lot of lives outside of West Paris.  My father used to take the train up here to play baseball games between Norway and South Paris.  A lot of people were just heartbroken about this [arson].”

The West Paris teenager accused of setting fire to the grandstand appeared in juvenile court in South Paris last September.  As with all cases involving minors, the records are sealed.  No information is available on the disposition of the case.

Buckfield closes in on ‘qualified bidders’

BUCKFIELD — Buckfield is closing in on new rules that will ban selectmen from bidding on town contracts. 

A draft ordinance, based on Bangor’s code of ethics, was reviewed by selectmen at their December 16 meeting.  If adopted by voters at the annual town meeting in June, the Qualified Bidders Ordinance will force selectmen to automatically reject any bid submitted by a town employee.  Because selectmen collect an annual stipend in Buckfield, they are considered employees for the purposes of the ordinance, according Town Manager Glen Holmes.

However, Holmes notes that a bid may still be placed in the running if the town employee in question owns less than a 10 percent share of the company placing a bid.

“In that case,” said Holmes, the bid shall be considered as coming from the company and not the individual.”

An example of a company qualifying for the exemption is Northland Holder, of Turner, which recently was given a contract to plow the sidewalks in Buckfield Village.

“You may see me in the sidewalk plow,” said Selectman Chip Richardson, who works for the company.  “I just want everyone to be clear — I do not own any part of Northland Holder.”

Selectmen sent the ordinance to the town attorney, Geoffrey Hole, of the Portland firm Bernstein Shur, for review.  A vote to schedule a public hearing on the proposed ordinance is expected at the next selectboard meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, at the town office.

Buckfield News Briefs

Tough sledding

So, far, it’s not been the sort of winter weather we saw last season, but that doesn’t mean towns aren’t again struggling to get by. 

In Buckfield, road crews reportedly went through 1,000 yards of sand prior to the most recent storm.  Thanks in part to the December 11 ice storm, and one other event which caused “freak” black-ice conditions, Buckfield put its trucks on the road 12 times before New Year’s, says Town Manager Glen Holmes.

According to Holmes, the town already has gone through 25 percent of its 4,500-yard sand stockpiled for the season.

Securing the trash

Buckfield selectmen are recommending the installation of security cameras at the transfer station on Route 140, following the theft of a donation box from the “swap shop.”

“There wasn’t much in there — it couldn’t have been more than $2 or $3 — because I try and get it out every week,” said the shop’s volunteer manager, Mary Alice Standard, of Sumner, who uses the money to pay the electricity bill for the two cargo containers used to house donated goods. 

Still, selectmen recommended putting in security cameras, in part because, in a tough economy, copper, steel and other materials at the site could make a tempting target for thieves.

“Knock on wood, we haven’t had problems up there in years, but there have been times,” said selectboard chairman Chris Hayward.

“It’s a small investment for what we could potentially save ourselves in damages,” agreed Selectman Chip Robinson.

At a special town meeting in October, voters okayed $3,000 for security cameras that have since been placed at the municipal complex on Route 117 and at the highway garage, on John Ellingwood Road.

Town Manager Glen Holmes said money for the transfer station cameras will be included in his budget that will go before voters at the annual town meeting in June.

Culvert conundrum

Sometimes, you have to go straight to the top.

At the November 18 meeting of the Buckfield selectmen, Town Manager Glen Holmes read a copy of a letter he’d received that day from John Meader, a resident of Roundabout Road.  In the letter, addressed to David Cole, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT), and copied to State Rep. Terry Hayes, Meader complained of a hole in the pavement and gravel shoulder.

“This hole originates over a culvert,” wrote Meader.  “It has occurred several times yearly for perhaps five years now and is periodically repaired by the state department of transportation.  The repairs have involved no more than filling the hole with gravel and putting tar patch on top.  This is ineffective long-term.”

Noting that the Roundabout Road is a “busy section” of Route 124, used frequently by logging trucks, Meader complained that his frequent complaints to MDOT have not resulted in a permanent fix.

At the most recent selectboard meeting, Holmes read a letter from Cole promising that the fix is on the way.

Although he said the hole in question has been “monitored” and that it “has not become a hazard,” Cole said a “major ditching project” is scheduled for the Buckfield section of Route 124 this year.

“The work will include permanent repairs of the hole by replacing the culvert,” wrote Cole.  “The decision to wait for permanent repairs is a prudent one considering all of the issues.  The culvert replacement will be achieved more efficiently in conjunction with the ditching project.”

Mutual aid

Buckfield has joined a county-wide mutual aid agreement sponsored by the Western Maine Firefighters Association.

Although Buckfield had agreements in place with all bordering towns, it frequently answered requests for help from other nearby towns, which had the potential to create legal snafus, according to Town Manager Glen Holmes.

“There are some lawyers who would tell us that if one of our firefighters got hurt in that situation, they would not be covered under our workers’ compensation because that was not a place where they were authorized to be,” he said.

Reviewed and cleared by the Maine Municipal Association, no town in the pact will have to pay for aid received from mutual aid towns.

“It’s a give and take,” said Holmes. 

Generally, he said, towns get as much aid as they receive.  The only know exception, Holmes added, occurred with aid rendered between fire departments in Rumford and Mexico.

“Mexico literally went through their entire year’s budget in six months this year, going to help Rumford, because they get so many more calls,” said Holmes.

Holmes said this should not happen to Buckfield.  However, he did make note of one in of the aid agreement, which could prove beneficial to Buckfield residents, even if the town may occasionally give more than it gets.

Under the mutual aid agreement, a Buckfield firefighter is allowed to pass off incident command to a more experienced officer from another town.  That, said Holmes, could give the town access to more advanced training in a critical situation. 

Under the agreement, it would not be unusual to hear on the scanner that a fire chief from Paris, or Oxford had taken control of a fire scene in Buckfield, if its chief was unavailable.

Sidewalk rules

Buckfield Town Manager Glen Holmes has reportedly been working on a sidewalk ordinance, which he plans to present to the town’s ordinance committee at an as-yet unscheduled meeting, sometime this month.

“It will include a parking ban,” he promised, at a recent selectboard meeting.  “It will very clearly say that if you park on the sidewalk, you will be removed.”

Roads posted

If you want to get there from here, you better stick to the state routes through Buckfield, at least if you are in a truck.

Buckfield has permanently posted four roads — East Buckfield, Bear Pond, Paris Hill and North Hill — to heavy trucks with more than two axles.  Exempt from the ban are emergency vehicles, moving vans, school buses and delivery trucks, as well as trucks belonging to residents of the four roads, as well as current and future businesses.  Fines are set by the ordinance at $50 for a first offense and $100 for a second.

According to Town Manager Glen Holmes, the roads have been posted for years.  However, signs posted at either end of each road lacked bite, at least until the October passage of a road posting ordinance.  Selectmen are able to pass traffic ordinances without a public vote.  The creation of the ordinance will allow for easier prosecution of offenders, said Holmes.

"This is not a personal pet peeve with me,” said Diane Dunn, a North Hill resident who stumped for the postings.  “I am concerned that heavy truck traffic will damage our roads and increase cost to taxpayers."

The four posted roads are 9.81 miles long, combined, representing about 21 percent of all public roads in Buckfield.

Community counts in fire response

PARIS — Monday’s meeting of the Paris selectboard began and ended with thanks or local firefighters, who battled valiantly for four days against a raging blaze at the NEPW Logistics warehouse on Pine Street.

However, firefighters were quick to deflect that gratitude, pointing instead to the community reaction that helped make their work possible.

It wasn’t just local folks who turned out.  Firefighter spouses from as far away as Rumford and Farmington manned the firehouse kitchen alongside regular auxiliary members and planning board chairman Russ Case, turning out meals for hungry firefighters.

No complaints were heard from businesses shut down during the first day of the fire, when firefighters worked off Main Street hydrants, before switching over to draw water from the Little Androscoggin River.

Instead, many carted food over to the fire scene, including Maurice’s, Yanni’s House of Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts and many others. 

“McDonald’s sent over just boxes and boxes of hamburgers,” said Deputy Chief John Longley.

Despite the halt in traffic, the Big Apple station at the corner of Main and Pine Streets acted as a warming station for firefighters.

“Basically, they kept the doors open just for us,” said Paris firefighter Darrell Rugg.

On top of that, workers from Elements Day Spa offered massages to weary firefighters, some of whom worked 20 hours without a break while Oxford sent over fresh socks to warm feet forced to trudge through water that ran to the knees at some parts of the NEPW warehouse, as crews dumped in water for days on end.

Oxford Hills Middle School, closed for two days by the fire, offered up its space as a command post, media center and bunkhouse.

And, with the operation necessarily running into the wee hours, the Oxford Hannaford opened its doors after hours to the fire service, as needed.

But perhaps most important at all, according to Paris Fire Chief Brad Frost, were the nameless folks who stepped in to lend a hand.  Just ordinary people off the street who brought coffee, passed out bottles of water, lent modal support, or simply held their tongues during a frustrating few days.

“I’ve really got to thank everyone, and I mean everyone in this community for their support,” said Frost.  “We really appreciate it.  I mean, I know, we had Market Square pretty well bunged up [with fire hoses and blocked traffic] for quite a while.”

“The thing is, we’ll never be able to thank everybody,” said Longley, “and even when we try, we knows that, unfortunately, we’ll miss someone.”

“There are some people who chipped in that, really, we’ll never know who they were,” said Rugg.

Frost agreed.  Having been so focused on command during the long ordeal, he said he was still learning of different ways people helped out.

“Frankly, I still don’t know about a lot of what went on, as far as the community kicking in,” said Frost, added, however, that he was glad for the support since it allowed him to concentrate on the work at hand.

Drew Gilman, who owns the NEPW warehouse, said Tuesday that he’s thrilled with both Frost’s on-scene leadership and the behind-the-scenes support of the community.

“It was just phenomenal on all angles,” he said.  “From the fire department, to the rescue workers, the auxiliary members, the Chamber of Commerce, the local businesses and even regular citizens, the public support was just incredible.

“We can’t say enough in terms of the help people in this  community have offered us, and are still offering us days after the fire was put out,” said Gilman.  “It’s very humbling.”

“What happened here has really restored my faith in people,” agreed Longley.  “I’m really very proud of my town.”