Wells Voters to decideon Water Extraction Regulation

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
WELLS—
Voters in Wells will decide on Nov. 3 whether the town will have an ordinance that allows and regulates large scale water extraction in the town. Question 1 includes a proposed regulation that is the product of a year-long process carried out by the town’s Ordinance Review Committee.
The proposed ordinance adds large scale water extraction as a permitted use in the town’s land use code in certain districts in town. It defines large scale water extraction as “extraction of water from ground water sources, aquifers, springs, wells, and similar sources in a total amount on any given day of 20,000 gallons or more.” Such extraction would require a permit. However, the proposed ordinance exempts extraction of water to be used within the town of Wells for “agricultural purposes, drinking water and domestic water supply to private residences and commercial users (that do not sell water for ultimate consumption outside the Town of Wells); water supply for public facilities such as schools within the Town of Wells; fire suppression; or for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes with the Town of Wells.”
The ordinance establishes an application process involving the Planning Board that requires the applicant to, among other things, detail the total maximum daily quantity of water to be extracted; the purpose of the extraction; identify the rates of drawdown and recharge of the aquifer or other ground water sources used, and other potential environmental impacts on the surrounding area; a traffic analysis by a professional engineer in Maine of the expected daily average vehicular trips, peak hour volumes, access at the site and other activities related to moving the water to the place it is ultimately processed; and site plans detailing the area of the extraction, including, but not limited to, the location of extraction points, roads, pipelines, and test and monitoring wells.
The Planning Board would have the ability to approve, deny or approve with conditions any application. Any approval would specify that it be only for extraction up to the maximum daily amount in the application. The approval would be for a period of three years, with renewal possible upon another review. That approval also would be good for three years before another review. An approval would be granted only if the applicant demonstrated that its activity would not cause “unreasonable changes in ground water flow patterns relating to the aquifer, any surface waters within the Town, any ground subsidence beyond the property lines of the applicant’s property, adversely affect the long term sustainability of the aquifer, or create a health risk.” The applicant also would be required to demonstrate an ongoing follow up monitoring system of the operation.
The ordinance includes a clause in which the applicant would agree that it would abide by the codes and ordinances of the town and “at no time rely on any national or international trade agreements, treaties or other instruments of legal means to abridge the rights of the citizens” of Wells.
Finally, the ordinance gives the Board of Selectmen the right to revoke or suspend the extraction permit under certain circumstances.
The debate about the question emanated largely from negotiations in the summer of 2008 between Poland Spring (and its parent corporation Nestle) and the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District to allow the extraction of water for bottling purposes. While no agreement was reached, opponents to large scale water extraction in Wells urged that the town enact a ban on such activity. The town implemented a temporary ban, which has been twice extended, while it determined how best to approach the issue. The proposed ordinance was the approach the town chose to take.
Opponents (those who encourage a “no” vote on Question 1) argue that enacting an ordinance would open the way for a company like Nestle to begin extraction, and that the town would soon lose control of the situation. Ed Pare, a Wells resident who is a member of the group Protect Wells Water, said that the town code should be left unchanged.
“In the code there’s a section for each district with a list of permitted uses,” Pare said. “If (the use) is not listed, it is not permitted in the district. Now, large scale ground water extraction is not a permitted use. For large scale extraction, you must apply to the DEP and also have a permit from the town. Since it is not listed as a permitted use the Planning Board would have to deny a permit.”
Pare said he asked Andrew Fisk, a Bureau Director at DEP what would happen if DEP issued a permit and the town did not. Fisk responded in an email that the two permits “are not related as they are different laws. That does not mean that our permit trumps the town’s denial - so in your example the project could not proceed as it didn’t have all necessary permits. We condition permits to that end.”
Supporters of the ordinance (those who encourage a “yes” vote) argue that a tight regulation offers the town the best protection for its water resources. “The ordinance very clearly allows the town to control the amount of water to be extracted,” said Selectman Jim Spiller. “Great care was taken by the ORC to allow owners to use what is justifiably their’s without taking from anybody else. They’ve largely achieved that goal.”
Spiller disagreed that not having the use listed as permitted in the current regulation would prevent it from happening. He said the enactment of the temporary bans on extraction might have taken that protection away. “Not passing this will not prohibit water extraction,” he said. “Water extraction is a permitted use in the state of Maine. If we turn down the ordinance, it would be easy for an applicant to come in and say they have the right to extract. If or when that occurs, the town would have no regulation whatsoever. DEP regulations are nowhere near as tight as this. To protect itself, the town has to pass this.”

Noble High Students produceAward Winning Literary Magazine

By Barbara Leech
Staff Columnist
NORTH BERWICK—
Nobel High School students are gearing up to create, organize and publish this year’s edition of Knight Vision, the school’s award winning literary arts magazine. According to Sarah Hall, Junior English teacher and faculty advisor for the magazine, this is the second year that Knight Vision production, once an after school club activity, is offered as a .5 credit elective course for students Grade 9 through12.
“Last year was the first time Knight Vision was a class and we got a great response from the students,” Hall said. “It is such an overall group effort and really gets students involved in the critiquing and creative process. It was offered both semesters so we produced two editions and won an award of excellence for our work.”
Hall said it was the second year in a row for Knight Vision to win the excellence award in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) contest for student literary magazines. The annual contest’s mission is to encourage all schools to develop literary magazines, seeking excellence in writing and school-wide participation in production. Hall said that Nobel High students in all grades submitted work that encompassed several different genres. She is hopeful this year’s course, offered spring semester only, will be equally rewarding for the students involved.
“We print about 50 pages in our magazine and it has everything from drawings to photography to poems to written music…it really represents the creativity at this school,” Hall said. “And the selection of work, the layout, the advertising that is sold….it is all done by the students. It is amazing to see it come together.”
Tiffany Currier, 16, was part of last year’s award winning production staff and has enrolled in this year’s Knight Vision course, which begins in January. The North Berwick teen said she chose the course because it appealed to her love of writing and art and magazines in general.
“It was a good match for me,” she said. “I am very glad I did it. It was a fun way to learn and create something at the same time.”
Currier said she is looking forward to the production work, the reading and selection process and may offer her own writing skills to the effort this year.
“I think I have been inspired to maybe submit something,” Currier said. “I love writing and I find that reading memoirs is the most interesting. So I think that may be what I try for. We will see.”
According to Hall, Knight Vision was created several years ago by members of the Nobel High faculty. She began working as its advisor three years ago, and says that last year’s staff consisted of about nine students but she is hoping a few more join the team by enrolling in the course.
“There is a ‘drop-add’ period so there is still time for students to decide to take part in this course,” Hall said. “I think all students that do walk away with more knowledge about what goes into creating a literary arts magazine, editing, design, their own ability to critique work and a sense of pride in the final product.”
Photo caption: Junior Tiffany Currier, North Berwick, is ready to begin production work on the next Knight Vision, an award winning literary arts magazine at Nobel High School. (Courtesy photo)

Professor helps build Psychology Dept.at Cambodian University

By Jim Kanak
Staff Columnist
WELLS—
For Dr. Cindy Lahar, Department Chair of Biological and Social Sciences at York County Community College, a vacation trip to Cambodia in 2000 literally changed her life. As a result, Lahar got involved with the Royal University of Phnom Penh and has worked with the school since 2004 to help build the capacity of the university’s psychology department, the only such department anywhere in Cambodia.
“It’s the only psych department in the country,” said Lahar. “There is a highly needy population for mental health services, but none are available. The psychology department is being called on to train people.”
Lahar explained that Cambodia’s history is a particularly traumatic one, dating from the brutalities of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, when much of the population was killed. “They targeted educated people.,” she said “Teachers and doctors were the first to be killed so many moved out. Once the country began to rebuild in the 1990s, there were few educated people, but the population sees education as very important.”
Lahar applied for and received a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the country in 2004 and work with RUPP’s psychology department. She got another scholarship in 2006.
“Fulbright’s goal was to train all the teachers there in research methodology,” Lahar said. “I proposed to do training in research methods and to do research into volunteerism, to explore the motivation for volunteering and whether it was different in these cultures. I learned I had to step back and ask a more basic question - what does it mean to be a volunteer and how does someone define volunteerism?”
The second Fulbright involved working with the psychology department as a “teacher, trainer, all around specialist - however they needed me,” Lahar said.
She has returned once or twice a year, along with professionals also from outside of Cambodia, to work with the teachers in the department. Lahar said she has started to see the efforts bear fruit. “We have developed a Master’s program and kicked it off in 2008,” she said. “There are 12 to 14 students in their second year to earn a Master’s in Counseling. There are 15 or so active teachers in the undergraduate program, but only one has a Master’s. The teachers need training to be able to present material to the undergraduate students.”
The goal is to have the program’s graduates accepted as master’s level counselors outside of Cambodia. “There are a lot of Master’s programs in Cambodia, but few are accepted outside the country,” she said. “We need to push them toward international standards in the curriculum.”
Lahar’s next trip to Cambodia begins in January, 2010. She has a sabbatical at YCCC and plans to spend most of the semester working at RUPP. “It’s been an incredible experience,” she said. “Some years I go there and think ‘what more can I do?’ Then I get there and in a few weeks, I’m so busy. Every time I leave there saying ‘boy, I’ve got to get back there soon.’”
Lahar’s work at RUPP has actually resulted in a new organization she formed in Maine, a nonprofit called Reach Out To Education, or ROTE. It’s creation stemmed from the efforts of one of her Cambodian colleagues to keep rural youngsters in school. “One of the teachers in the Psych Department introduced me to a friend who was the first person from his village to graduate from a university,” said Lahar. “He started an organization to help support kids who would drop out to work. It gives money to the family to allow the kids to stay in school.”
Lahar has raised $2,400 in each of the last two years to bring over to that program. She had been getting donations from individuals, but decided to form the organization as a tax-exempt group to formalize things.
Her work has not been overlooked by her YCCC colleagues. “Cindy’s work in Cambodia has enriched our college environment,” said Paula Gagnon, Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs. “Sharing her curriculum development work in Cambodia has enabled those in our Academic Community to benefit from her experiences. It has also brought YCCC students into direct (electronic) contact with students from halfway round the globe. A small community college in Maine has a first-hand experience internationally as a direct result of Cindy’s work.
For Lahar, that work will continue. “This is a lifetime engagement,” she said. “I have made great friends. It’s just marvelous. I’ve been blessed with opportunities.”
Photo caption: YCCC Professor Cindy Lahar, third from left, with teachers at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Lahar’s been working with the university since 2004. (Courtesy photo)

South Berwick Determined to Keep Everyone Warm

SOUTH BERWICK—
Townspeople are planning an “old school” community supper at Spring Hill Restaurant to raise funds to supply local families with heating oil and Keep South Berwick Warm this winter.
Soups and breads from nine local restaurateurs and bakers, raffle prizes from local merchants and a bucket at the front door for cash donations -- on Wednesday, Oct. 28th, from 5-7 p.m., the people of South Berwick are holding a very special supper at Spring Hill Restaurant on Pond Road in South Berwick. It is an old-fashioned community fundraiser being held by townspeople working with Social Services to help local families deal with heating costs this winter. Just like days gone by, there’s no set donation or entry fee -- there will be a bucket by the door where people can give whatever they can to help their neighbors get thru this difficult time
To that end, restaurants in South Berwick and York are pitching in and providing soups and breads for the event. Among them are Nature’s Way Market, Pepperland, Forgarty’s, The Catered Event, Redbarn at the Outlook Farm, The Black Bean, The Brixham General Store, Spring Hill Restaurant, When Pigs Fly Bread. Local merchants including Abby Chic, Salmon Falls Gardens, The Early Bird, Vacuum Village, the Little Hat Company, and Kimmi’s Best Biscotti are providing prizes for raffles to be held during the event. Tickets are also available ahead of time from The Early Bird and The South Berwick Pharmacy. We also have Jeff Lind and Carl Pehrsson playing acoustic jazz music.
“The money we raise from this supper, the raffle and any subsequent donations that are made will give a family a few hours of heat, or help with weatherization of their home,” says Pat Robinson, one of the key organizers. “The support we’ve gotten from the local restaurants and merchants has been very enthusiastic -- if we see the community respond the same way, the event should really make a difference in local families’ lives this winter. If people can’t come, we hope they’ll mail in a donation. We really hope to make sure that all of the families of South Berwick stay warm this winter.”
When residents make their donations to the South Berwick Fuel Fund this year, the checks will be written out to a new organization in town: SoBo Central. SoBo Central was recently incorporated as a non-profit organization with the goal of bringing together five community projects into one tax-exempt nonprofit.
In addition to the Fuel Fund, other programs that have joined to create SoBo Central are Hot Summer Nights, which has run summer concerts for 10 years; Green Up, a local sustainability group formed last year; the South Berwick Community Food Pantry, formed to bring food to residents in need, and Smart Growth South Berwick, which is focused on nurturing the downtown and runs the annual Home for the Holidays event.
“None of these groups had official non profit status and all are run mainly by volunteers. Many of the same people worked with two or more of the organizations, so the new group will help bring together overlapping causes and make all of the efforts stronger,” explains Nicole St. Pierre, SoBo Central Board President.
“Rather than have five groups with separate administrations, SoBo Central pulls them all together so they can share administrative functions and costs. That makes them all more efficient,” says SoBo Central Treasurer, Dave Stansfield.
Donations to the Fuel Fund can also be made directly to SoBo Central, c/o Fuel Fund, 9 York Woods Road, South Berwick, ME 03908. Write “Fuel Fund” on the memo line.
All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. For more information, call Pat Robinson at 207-337-2792.

International Students reflect onFirst Weeks at Thornton Academy

By Devin Beliveau
Staff Columnist
SACO—
At the start of the school year, Thornton Academy welcomed 40 international students into its inaugural boarding-student program. A month into the academic year, it’s clear that these students indeed feel welcome.
“I love this place,” said Chou Han, a junior from the Chinese city of Suzhou, which is near Shanghai. He believes the best part “is the relationships between the teachers and the students.”
“I think it’s a great school,” said Denitsa Atanasova, a junior from the island nation of Malta, located in the Mediterranean Sea. “It’s an amazing opportunity for all of us to be here and I hope that we all make the best of it.” Atanasova has wasted no time in taking full advantage of the opportunities that Thornton offers, having already joined Speech Team and the Interact Club (a community service organization). “And I’ll probably join some more,” she added.
“It’s much, much, much better than I thought before I came,” said Shirley Zhao, a junior who came all the way from China’s capital city of Beijing.
“I’m on the Cross Country team and in Interact,” said Melody Chen, a junior from Taiwan. “And that’s really fun,” she added.
The best part of junior Atanasova’s American experience so far is “how friendly everyone is. We came by ourselves and we knew no one. Everyone is always so nice to us, and we made so many friends in the course of a month. That’s really helped us sort of adjust to living here, and being away from home and away from our parents and family and all that.”
The American approach to signing up for classes was the biggest surprise for Alex Li, a sophomore from Beijing. At Thornton “we can choose the classes. In China we can’t choose our classes,” he said.
11th grader Chen also noted the difference between TA and Taiwan: “Compared to Taiwan everything’s different. Every class is really different. In Taiwan we all stay in the same classroom all day.”
“There are a lot of sports teams, and a lot of games everyday,” noted Melo Geng, a sophomore from Bozhou, China, a small city in the middle of the country. “I had never seen a football game (before).” For his own sports plans, Geng says, “I want to join the basketball team.”
Thornton Academy constructed a new dormitory for the boarding program, and the international students have been impressed. “I never was in a boarding school before,”
explained Daniela Montoya, a 9th grader from Columbia. “So to see the dorm is amazing, it’s very nice.” Chen concurs: “It’s amazing, we have everything, and it always smells good, at least the girls side.”
And for 9th grader Emily Hu from Shanghai, the best part is simply “the kitchen.”
With regards to his new adopted home state, sophomore Li says Maine is “very quiet, and it’s very beautiful, and very natural I think. Very different from Beijing where there is a lot of noise.” 9th grader Hu’s first impression was that there are “a lot of trees.” 9th grader Montoya says, “It’s cold, but I love the cold!”
11th grader Atanasova summed it all up saying, “It’s so much different then what I imagined, and so much better too.”
Photo caption: Thornton Academy welcomed 40 international students to its campus this fall. The students are pictured in front of their dorm. (Jenn Haas photo)

Hussey Seating remains an Industry Leader

By Barbara Leech
Staff Columnist
NORTH BERWICK—
The latest product to come out of Hussey Seating Company, a family-owned business since 1835, is part of recent renovation projects at two major sports arenas in Kansas City.
The Quattro Extreme Series stadium seat, which combines the comfort of an upholstered indoor chair with the durable weather-resistance of an outdoor seat, has been installed for the first time at Kauffman Stadium (home of the Kansas City Royals) and Arrowhead Stadium (home of the Kansas City Chiefs).
“We got the contract about five months ago to renovate the VIP sections of these arenas with our latest product,” Tim Hussey, sixth generation, President and CEO of North Berwick’s Hussey Seating Company said. “We did the seating there about ten years ago, and that was the largest contract in our company’s history at that time, so it was exciting to be called back. And it’s always nice to see a new product going in.”
Hussey’s high quality range of spectator seating includes fixed plastic and upholstered chairs, telescopic platforms, and telescopic gym seating traditionally known as bleachers.
According to Hussey, 51, the Quattro Extreme seating stands up to the elements with everything from rust-proof stanchions and marine-grade fabric to the use of Gore-Tex thread favored by the sailing industry.
The company, started by William Hussey 174 years ago, began with the invention of a new type of plow designed to handle tough New England soil. The company thrived for 60 years as the Hussey Plow Company, but following a fire that destroyed the facility, the Hussey family decided it was time to rebuild and evolve with the times. New product inventions, including seating, were born. Since then, the Hussey name has become a world leader in developing and manufacturing seating solutions for sports arenas and schools around the globe.
A total of 1,500 of the new Quattro Extreme upholstered chairs, which took about one year to develop, were recently installed in Kauffman Stadium and 2,000 of the chairs went into Arrowhead Stadium’s renovations. According to Hussey, these were relatively small contracts and were among the 1,200 to 2,000 contracts the company handles annually, but they represented the first placement of a new product, which he hopes will go far.
“It is exciting to see a new product out there in a major arena… it is good publicity for our company and I believe it is the best product in the industry,” Hussey said. “We have found that even in this recession, renovation projects such as this keep us moving ahead and successful.”
For many schools and sports arenas, the present economy is bringing about more renovations and fewer costly new construction projects. This, according to Hussey, has kept his business going and supports the marketing of the new seating product as a means of making VIP section seating better and keeping fans happy.
“Many sports and entertainment venues, including schools, have sections of club or suite seating for season-ticket holders and other special guests,” said Hussey. “The Quattro Extreme, is ideal for this purpose because it can differentiate that area from the rest of the stadium and justify a higher price of admission.”
The new Quattro chair is presently being installed as part of a 40,000 seat project, Estadio Chivas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estadio_Chivas), which is a new soccer and multi-use arena being built in Mexico. Hussey said that arena is using the new product for the majority of their 45,000 seating.
“They wanted a top of the line arena and the comfort and durability that these seats provide,” he said. “Everyone is looking to stay competitive and seating is an important part to fans.”
But for Hussey Seating, which employs 185 people at their facility tucked away on Dyer Street, it is on to the next project, which most likely will be a school renovation or small arena.
“About 75 percent of our work is K-12 schools,” he said. “Right now work means reseating a 40 year old arena in San Diego with 1,000 telescopic seats. We have managed to keep up with the times and our industry and thankfully remain very busy.”
Hussey says his company is making plans for a big celebration for next year, their 175th anniversary. For more information about the company visit online www.husseyseating.com.

Land Conserved in the York Pond Region

SOUTH BERWICK—
Great Works Regional Land Trust and Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative (MtA2C) announced on Oct. 8 the successful purchase of 91 additional acres of conservation land in the York Pond region of Eliot/South Berwick. The forested parcel on Rocky Hill features wetlands, vernal pools and the headwaters of Quamphegan Brook. It is the seventh project that Great Works Regional Land Trust has secured in the York Pond region.
Interest in conserving the lands around York Pond began in the late 1980’s and efforts that began over 20 years ago have now yielded over 600 acres of permanently protected land in this rapidly growing region of southern Maine. The York Pond Conservation Area is situated between Routes 236 and 91 on the northerly shores of York Pond and Bartlett Upper Mill Pond, and encompasses much of the abandoned settlement of Punkintown. The lands are owned by Great Works Regional Land Trust, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Town of Eliot (Eliot Town Forest) and Town of South Berwick. The conservation area is home to rare and endangered species, historical and cultural artifacts and lies within a 3,000-acre region of unfragmented forest.
This recent addition to the York Pond Conservation Area was purchased with funds generously donated by 94 individuals in the community, generous grants from the Davis Conservation Foundation and the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, along with monies raised by MtA2C. This is the 47th successful acquisition since 2003 made possible by the MtA2C campaign.
MtA2C has received recognition by the State of Maine Department of Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its landscape-scale and multi-organization approach to the land protection in southern Maine. A coalition of ten conservation partners, MtA2C is comprised of The Nature Conservancy, Great Works Regional Land Trust, York Land Trust, Kittery Land Trust, The Trust for Public Land, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, US Fish and Wildlife Service/Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, and York Rivers Association.
The focus area for MtA2C covers 48,000 acres from the Tatnic Hills south over Mt. Agamenticus to York Pond, down the York River and south along the coast to Brave Boat Harbor and Gerrish Island in Kittery; and includes six communities (York, Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, Wells, and Ogunquit). This focus area represents the largest unfragmented coastal forest between Acadia National Park and the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The Initiative aims to conserve a broad assemblage of ecological, scenic, agricultural and recreational lands that weave together the rich fabric of the region’s lifestyle. MtA2C has protected over 2,554 acres of land in the region since the Initiative began in 2002.
Great Works Regional Land Trust has scheduled a Nov. 8th hike on the new property. Contact GWRLT for more information: info@gwrlt.org, 207-646-3604 or visit the website www.gwrlt.org.