The scene along the river is far different from the 1970s when people were warned away from the Kennebec. “There’s bottleneck sturgeon that have come all the way from the ocean up to Waterville.” “If you sit on a park bench in Ticonic Bay in June or early July and look out on the river, you’re going to see sturgeon jumping out of the water and you’re talking 6-foot sturgeon,” Grenier said. Bald eagles can be seen flying overhead, sturgeon jump into the air and shad, or river herring, are plentiful in spring and early summer. Grenier has fished many years in Ticonic Bay on the Kennebec - the area between the Lockwood Dam in downtown Waterville and the rapids by Halifax Park in Winslow - taking hundreds of people to fish and enjoy the wildlife. “We’ve come a long way since then, but we have a long ways to go,” said Grenier, now 74, of Waterville. That was before the Clean Water Act of 1972 was enacted when rivers including the Kennebec River were open sewers, he said. I think if we sit down and talk we can get everybody on the same page of the playbook.WATERVILLE - Willie Grenier remembers casting a line in the Androscoggin River in the Lewiston-Auburn area when he was 12 and hearing a toilet flush nearby, its contents flowing right through a pipe into the water. “I really don’t see them being inconsistent. “I think we should have a conversation about future and the city’s future,” Francke said. It’s a business that doesn’t owe the city or residents anything, and its expansion was anticipated, they have argued. The church and rectory properties are surrounded by churches and various housing, and a large hardware company isn’t compatible with this section of town, he said Thursday.ĭespite the serious need for housing in Waterville and other ideas that have been proposed, such as renovating the church into space for council meetings and other uses, some people don’t see a problem with Ware-Butler’s activity. The speed limit is low, but nobody pays attention, and you have a school down the street.”Ĭouncilor Claude Francke, who lives about two blocks from Pleasant Street and represents the area, has expressed disappointment in Ware-Butler for not approaching him to discuss its plans. All the construction done on Main Street has shifted traffic to Pleasant Street and coming out of your driveway or walking, you have to be really, really careful. “I don’t want to live in a commercial area. Pleasant Street resident Laurie Trefethen opposed the event center, but in hindsight, she would rather have had that in the neighborhood than see a beautiful church demolished, she said. could be used for multifamily housing and that it’s easier to remake an existing property than to build new homes in today’s economic climate.Īlthough Ware-Butler is a good neighbor and the city is glad the company chose to establish headquarters locally, “this massive sprawl” is concerning, Burdick said in a meeting this week. Samantha Burdick, Blanning Board chair, has suggested 74 Pleasant St. Some locals are also wary about Pleasant Street’s transformation amid a housing crisis. Ware-Butler has grown from about 39 employees at three stores to 340 employees at 15 locations since Chris and Jason Brochu of Pleasant River Lumber acquired the hardware company in 2020, according to Alan Orcutt, the chief operating officer.Ī larger company requires a different overhead structure - human resources and accounting departments, for example - and they need space to work in Waterville, where the company’s headquarters are based, said Orcutt. But at the heart of a discussion about rezoning is the neighborhood’s character - and how, in a city experiencing many changes, the qualities that make it residential and charming are slowly evaporating. Company officials have said they do not intend to expand retail operations at 74 Pleasant St. The Planning Board this week voted 4-2 to recommend rezoning 74 Pleasant St., but Ware-Butler cannot move forward without approval of the City Council, which will consider the issue during its next meeting Tuesday.ĭebates over Ware-Butler’s long-term plans have repeatedly come up during Waterville City Council and Planning Board meetings.
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