July 19, 1989

Westbrook’s new budget commits the city to the first total revaluation of city property since 1975. It will cost an estimated $285,000. When the new values first show up in taxes, in 1990, taxes on homes will go up and taxes on commercial and industrial property will go down, aldermen expect. City Council President Donald Esty said a major reason for this is that the city has done a better job of assessing improvements of commercial-industrial properties than residential improvements; hence, revaluation will find more undiscovered additional value in homes. A contract for the revaluation work probably will be awarded this summer.

Mayor Philip Spiller has sworn off weight lifting, but not Westbrook politics. “If they want me they can have me” for another two-year term as mayor, he said Monday, just before his appointment to get results of tests after he saw his doctor about chest pains and was sent to the hospital. The pains came on after Spiller, 67, tested himself with a weight-lifting machine his son Philip Jr., 16, had been using.

The cancellation of Westbrook Together Day washed out the major fundraiser for a special team of the Westbrook Soccer Club that is going to England Aug. 2-15 to take part in an international competition. This is the first time an entire team from Westbrook has taken part in international competition. The 17 boys on the team have raised about half their expenses and need to raise a total of $1,300 each to get to England, where they will play eight matches with English teams.

Westbrook Fire Department Dispatcher Donna Post recently completed a four-day course at Bates College to qualify her as an emergency medical dispatcher instructor. She and other trained instructors hope to begin classes this fall designed to give dispatchers the tools they’ll need to respond to a medical emergency. Post, a 13-year dispatcher, is a certified EMT.

Gorham High School’s class of 1944 held its 45th reunion July 8 at the Salmon Falls Country Club. Special guests were former teachers Mr. and Mrs. John Gilmore of Cape Elizabeth. In Westbrook, the class of 1949 is planning a 40th reunion Sept. 30 at the Holiday Inn West in Portland. The planning committee is trying to locate several class members. Westbrook High’s class of 1979 is holding its 10th reunion July 29 at Michel’s Restaurant, Westbrook.

Advertisement: Grand Opening July 29-30, new cluster housing development “Old Canal Village,” located on Dale Avenue, Westbrook. Ribbon cutting 1 p.m. Saturday, July 29. Refreshments and drawings.

July 21, 1999

Westbrook’s city computer system crashed on Wednesday after being filled with messages being bounced back and forth from a police station email address to another computer system, each forwarding messages to each other. City business limped for a few days but kept moving forward and looked on the way to a full recovery later this week. “Somebody’s electronic mailbox ended up expanding to the point where it took up all the room on the server, which meant we couldn’t run anything else in the city,” Jeff Manter, Westbrook’s computer guru, said.

Frank Amoroso joined a long line of other Westbrook school administrators last week and submitted his resignation as school business manager. Amoroso, 60, said this week that he has “reached that magic age” and plans to retire. “I probably would have left sooner, but I wanted to make sure there was a smooth transition,” he said. Stanley Sawyer starts work as Westbrook’s new school superintendent Aug. 1. Amoroso’s retirement is effective Sept. 17.

Westbrook property tax bills are out this week for the 1999-2000 year. The rate is $21.45, up 1.75 percent from $21.08. The tax base has shrunk 6.5 percent but the tax bills have not changed drastically (if you’re not in business) and there will be no city layoffs, which pleased Mayor Don Esty.

For the first time in 32 years, Westbrook High School will start the year this fall without “Gup,” that is, Robert Fish, the beloved English and drama teacher who has led the Sock ‘n Buskin Society through countless theater productions. To the surprise of no one, the high school’s 1999 yearbook was dedicated to Fish, who at age 58, is retiring.

The Gorham Business and Civic Exchange has hired its first paid executive director, Virginia Wilder Cross, a former president of the group. Cross, president of Working Words & Graphics, Gorham, was one of the Exchange’s first members and has served on the board of directors since 1996.

The Maine Department of Transportation will hold its first meeting associated with the environmental study for a bypass of Route 25 in Gorham Village, on July 26 at Gorham High School. The study will cost about $600,000 and will be funded by the state. John Duncan, head of the transportation planning organization PACTS, estimated last fall that the Gorham bypass would cost at least $6 million and was still six years away from completion.

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50 YEARS AGO

The Westbrook American reported on July 15, 1964, that Mr. and Mrs. Earl Anderson of White Rock visited Rhode Island over the previous weekend.

Gregory Clarke of West Buxton drove to Washington, D.C., on business.

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The lower end of Church Street, between Main Street and Wayside Drive (later renamed William Clarke Drive) is shown before the buildings were demolished by urban renewal. The church steeple visible was the old Westbrook Congregational Church on Main Street at Brackett Street.  The area now is a municipal parking lot. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, and the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m., September-June. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.