I participated in a sidewalk demonstration held on June 16 in front of Cianbro headquarters in Pittsfield. Cianbro has a vision, but it is not the vision of the people.

Company officials say they are going ahead with their plans for an East-West corridor as if they own the state and without putting forth much information. They have not yet responded to concerns people have expressed, so we went to their front door in hopes that they might start paying attention to us.

In a report aired on WABI TV 5 about the protest, Andi Vigue, president of Cianbro, made comments about investments the company has made in Brewer, and the jobs that it has created. Therefore, he believes the people will understand that Cianbro is looking for the betterment of the whole and that this highway will create a tax base that will provide for the people of Maine.

The operation Cianbro developed in Brewer is all well and good, but it was put into an existing facility and didn’t destroy people’s homes and livelihoods in the process.

While at the protest, some folks from Cianbro headquarters were upset that an elderly woman was sitting in a chair in a grassy area abutting the sidewalk and a few water bottles had been placed there. I found it ironic that they asked that the woman and bottles be removed from their property, even though they were causing no harm and were temporary. Apparently, they felt the need to protect their property.

Perhaps that incident should give Cianbro some sense of how property owners must feel to have their property permanently destroyed by outsiders, and why the property owners want to take steps to prevent this from happening.

Carol Gorecki

Orneville


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