Factory One licenses get unanimous OK from council

McNaughton appointed to planning board

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — There were very few comments — except for words of praise — for five business license applications at the Feb. 12 Dexter Town Council meeting.
    Four of the applications were from Adrian Cronkhite of Monument, Colo., who now owns the old Dexter Shoe factory building that housed the Watering Hole tavern for the past nine years.

    The applications were for liquor, special amusement, victualer’s and pool room licenses, the same type that were held by the previous owner.
    Cronkhite purchased the property from John Chappell recently, and plans to reopen part of the premises as Factory One, a scaled-down version of the Watering Hole with new furnishings in a more compact setting.
    After Vice Chairman Fred Sherburne opened the public hearing — Chairman Michael Blake was unable to attend — former councilor Missy Stone said that Cronkhite contacted her after the Watering Hole closed, asking what the status of the building was. “He told me that he was interested in the building, he wanted to come home (to Dexter) but wanted something to come home to,” Stone said. “He’s put a lot of work into it already. The changes he’s made are amazing.”
    The other new business application was for a victualer’s license for Riverside Meat Market, owned and operated by Matthew Secich. “For those who haven’t been in there, you should really take it a look at it,” Councilor Fred Banks said. “It’s clean and very well stocked.”
    Sherburne added that Secich “wants to get involved with the community. He wants to buy as many things locally as he can. We’re lucky to have his business in town.”
    All five license applications passed unanimously.
    The council also unanimously appointed Mark McNaughton to one of the two vacant positions on the planning board. Councilor Ron Apel said that McNaughton operates a financial planning service “and is very involved in the community. He is an excellent candidate.”
    In other business, Town Manager Shelley Watson thanked the Maine DOT’s Guilford division for giving the town 970 yards of winter sand recently. “Our pile was getting depleted, and what we did have was in frozen, five-foot chunks,” Watson said. “We do owe them a favor sometime in the future.”
    Watson said that snowplowing has been a challenge for the public works department this year and another truck was sidelined for a while with mechanical problems. “So please be patient with us,” she said.
    Watson also said that budget meetings will begin soon in the hopes that the work can be mostly completed by May.
    Prior to the start of Thursday’s meeting, Sherburne took a few moments to thank the emergency services for their assistance in battling the fire that destroyed his former barn earlier this month. He had recently sold the property to Jason and Heather Bowden of Corinna, who just started moving into an adjacent home.
    “The weather was miserable that evening,” Sherburne said. “I’d just like to thank everyone involved with fighting that fire. My heartfelt thanks go out to the Dexter fire department and those from the surrounding communities. I think there were 12 departments at that fire … I’d like to thank the friends and neighbors who helped the Bowden family, who supplied what was needed to them and myself as well.  It just goes to show you what a wonderful town this is.”
    The next regularly-scheduled Dexter Town Council meeting is Thursday, March 12.