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No More Booze for the Saco River?

September 12, 2007 - Fryeburg -- No more booze parties on the Saco River?

That may well be the case if Fryeburg's chief of police Wayne Brooking Jr. gets his way.

Every summer, between 5000 and 6000 people canoe and kayak the popular Soaco River waterway, on the busiest weekends.

"When we go before the state task force on the Saco River, the Fryeburg Police Department will be proposing that either we get a platoon of law enforcement officers on the Saco River on weekends, or we prohibit alcohol on the river altogether," the chief of police told selectmen here, last week. "Because, alcohol is the root of the problems and the cause of every arrest we make."

"When we go up to Augusta, we're going to say, 'this is what's happening on your river'," said chief Brooking.

The police chief's comments came during a discussion at the August 30 selectmen's meeting on "employment of off-duty police officers."

The conversation centered on duties performed by Fryeburg police at Fiddlehead Campground on Route 5 where many of the unruly behavior complaints along the Saco River originate.

"None of these officers that are on duty are off-duty when working at Fiddlehead Campground," Brooking explained. "They are working for the Fryeburg Police Department. They sign-on that they are on a detail, whether it be traffic control, or a dance or at Fiddlehead Campground. Fiddlehead Campground is not hiring officers off-duty. The money paid by Fiddlehead goes through the town office and the officers are paid by the town."

Furthermore, the police chief said, "we even have a town policy that prohibits our people from working as an officer 'off-duty'. They are prohibited from doing that. They can act as a private security guard."

"To me, as a taxpayer, that doesn't look good," Selectmen Ed Wilkey told the police chief. "We're down there at the Fiddlehead Campground handling all their problems -- for what we're getting out of there in payment and the potential liability -- if something happens, the town will get hit."

Selectmen Chairman David Knapp said local police officers are covered by a "municipality liability shield" that's in place and the town gets a stipend from Fiddlehead Campground co-owners Dr. Rob Rose and Eric Root.

"Money is a concern to us, at a variety of levels," said Knapp. "I think we want to enter into a flat contract per season with Fiddlehead and make sure we cover our costs."

"That would be no different than the seasonal contracts Naples and Harrison have with the Cumberland County Sheriff's office," stated town manager Phil Covelli.

"There seems to be an opinion around town that all of our problems on the Saco River stem from Fiddlehead Campground," chief Brooking said. "That is not true."

"Let's let the police response numbers speak for themselves," said Chairman Knapp. "I think there will be a disproportionate number of police responses to Fiddlehead Campground."

"We review a restaurant when it comes up for a liquor license renewal, and we asked the police chief if there's been any problems at that establishment, before we renew their license," Selectmen Wilkey said. "To me, it's the same with a campground, when it comes up for renewal. I'm concerned for the taxpayers. And, we've heard about how the Saco River arrests taxes the Oxford County Jail."

"We tried this year to bail as many as we could in the Fryeburg police station, to free up the jail," chief Brooking said. "We'd like to hire a whole platoon of officers, but the bottom line is we're not there yet," said Knapp. "But, if Fryeburg is leaking money, I think Eric Root and Rob Rose would be willing to meet with us to discuss this."

The selectmen said they will set up a meeting with Dr. Rose and Root for that purpose.

It was at that point the police chief made his comment about having a "platoon" of police officers on the Saco River next year and the possibility of "prohibiting alcohol on the river" altogether.

"None of this is a reflection on you guys at the Police Department, selectman Wilkey told the police chief. "Your department did an excellent, excellent job on the Saco River this year".

"My kudos go to the Saco River Recreation Council who personally went down the Saco River every weekend and picked up all the trash," chief Brooking stated.

"They picked up 37 tons of trash from the Saco River last year," said Knapp.

This article first appeared in the Bridgton News, September 6, 2007.


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Regions: Sebago


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