Aug. 12, 1987

Aldermen voted 4-1 in committee Monday to require Charles Malcolm Roma to move the one-time Warren Church parsonage within 90 days or lost it to the city of Westbrook. Roma was City Council president when he bought the house from the city for $1, with a five-year lease of the land it stands on next to the police station. The lease is up Aug. 14. If the city and Roma don’t renew the lease, state law gives him a reasonable time to get the house off the city land. Roma has said he has put about $40,000 into the house during his five years of residence there.

Linda Morse, whose house its at the intersection of Running Hill Road and Spring Street in Westbrook, fought back tears Thursday as she videotaped the demise of two towering maple trees that had stood minutes before, shading her house. Three, 100-year-old maples were cut down. The stretch is being widened to four lanes. Residents are bitter because little or no notification was given by the state of the tree cutting or any other impact widening would have on their land.

With the opening of school three weeks away, Westbrook is looking for a new junior high school principal. Timothy W. McCormack has resigned that job as of the end of August to become assistant superintendent of Auburn schools, a new position. He had been at the junior high school for three years. Teacher will return for the new year Sept. 1 and students begin Sept. 8.

Building permits issued in Gorham for June include $132,000 for the installation of temporary classrooms, one each at the Village, Narragansett and White Rock schools. A total of $2 million in permits were issued, including six new houses in the $140,000-$150,000 range.

The Blue Rock Industries quarry pit at Exit 8 covers about 12 acres and is now probably 125 feet deep, according to manager Robert Nunley. He said the rock was extremely high quality because it is hard enough to make a good course aggregate for concrete and crushed stone for bituminous paving, yet soft enough to be easily blasted and crushed. Nunley said Blue Rock will probably keep digging at the quarry as long as it can – a core drilled a while back showed at least another 100 feet of the same rock. Nunley said several million tons have been dug out of the quarry over the years.

Aug. 13, 1997

Aldermen moved 5-2 in committee to set base pay for Westbrook city department heads at an “average” level, and to accept mayor Kenneth Lefebvre’s recommendations on pay for specific jobs. Lefbvre and James Bennett, administrative assistant, also offered a scale “5 percent below average.” The committee voted for a scale “using average pay for basis.” An example of the difference: “5 percent below” pegged the administrative assistant’s pay scale at $59,728; “average” pegs it at $62,872.

Twelve or 13 Westbrook city department heads met with Mayor Kenneth Lefebvre at Westerly Winds Golf Course Friday for a session on goal-setting, along with lunch and golf. An anonymous letter to the American Journal told about the session, and James Bennett, the mayor’s administrative assistant, explained it when called by the newspaper.

The letter said the employees were “celebrating the rape of the taxpayers with up to 8 percent raises. At city expense they had a buffet lunch and played golf all afternoon. Did anyone see the public notice of this?” Bennett said the meeting began at 9 and broke up about 2:45 p.m., and included a luncheon at city expense. It was not a celebration, he said. “We did work almost the entire day, typical goal-setting work for the next year.”

Advertisement: Happy 50th anniversary to Harry and Anne Foote. From their staff at the American Journal.

Joe’s Sanitary Market was located at 846 Main St. for many years. When the store closed the building was converted to offices and connected to a new medical and professional building that was built next to it. Medical and professional offices still occupy the building. Joe’s Sanitary Market was located on the first floor right side of the building. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org. (Photo and research courtesy of Mike Sanphy)