NORWAY – The director of Gov. John Baldacci’s homeless initiative was given a buzzing reception Wednesday afternoon as she tried to talk above the noise of a chain saw during dedication ceremonies for a shelter on Hayden Avenue.

The dedication and open house of Rumford Group Home’s latest facility, Pinewoods Supported Housing, marked the official opening of the four-apartment building for homeless mothers and children.

The commotion began a few minutes into a speech by Nancy Fritz, director of homeless initiatives, on the project’s front porch when next-door neighbor Bernhard Loeb of 28 Hayden Ave. wandered out into his wooded backyard and started up the saw, drowning out Fritz’s voice from the scores of people gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Loeb, who has posted a sign on the tree in his front yard saying the homeless project was not welcome in the neighborhood, had been watching the ceremony from his home for about five minutes before he decided to take the action.

“I have every right in the world to cut wood on my property. I hope I didn’t annoy anyone,” he said. He agreed to put down the saw to talk to a Sun Journal reporter, but refused to talk to the Rev. Anne Stanley from Christ Episcopal Church in Norway, who also approached him.

Loeb said he is frustrated with going from town boards to police and beyond in an attempt to stop the project from being constructed in the quiet residential neighborhood.

“What can you do? You can’t fight city hall. There’s too much money involved in this,” said Loeb, who has been fighting the project for nearly two years but said because Norway has no zoning ordinances on the books there is little he can do.

Loeb said construction has been an ongoing problem for him and his neighbors as cars parked up and down the street blocked passage for emergency vehicles and homeowners. Additionally, he said, the three overhead light poles on the site shine brightly into his living room making it almost impossible to view television or just relax. “That’s the least of the problems,” he said.

He said Rumford Group Homes did erect a six-foot fence between his property but he still has a view of the top floor of the two-story house, and it has done little to reassure him that there won’t be trouble.

Loeb said he believes drugs and alcohol may become a problem and because the housing is for young children and their mothers, the children’s fathers may come on site also bringing potential trouble.

“If this was a home for senior citizens it would not be a problem,” he said. “This is a homeless shelter. They are homeless for some reason or other. They will bring the problems here with them.”

Rev. Stanley, who also spoke at the ceremony, said afterward, “I do think that sometimes we fear things that haven’t happened yet. He hasn’t met his new neighbors yet. They haven’t moved in.”

She said she understood that people living there will be going through an interview process and Rumford Group Homes is careful and conscientious in its selection process.

“They’re very careful, extremely careful,” she said, and there are rules residents must follow.

“It’s awfully important to reach out to people who need a jump-start in life,” she said, referring to future residents.

“We have to give and take in this life. Sometimes we have to make compromises, especially to people in need,” she added.

The Pinewoods project is one of two homeless shelters in Norway that have recently opened under Rumford Group Homes. The building has four apartments: two with three bedrooms, one with two and one with one. Two apartments are designed for chronically homeless people and/or families who are disabled.

The program is designed to serve four families for up to a total of nine to 12 homeless individuals by providing permanent housing, according to information from Rumford Group Homes Inc. The tenants will also receive support services. A social service agency staffer will have an office on site.

“These are homeless folks and chronic homeless folks that will get a fresh start. We’re thrilled about that,” said Alan Monier, executive director of Rumford Group Homes.

Fritz, who said she grew up in a home with an alcoholic and abusive father, said her life and that of her mother and two brothers might have been different if she had a homeless shelter such as the one in Norway to go to.

“These projects help people stabilize their situation and improve their quality of life,” she said shortly before being drowned out by the chain saw. “… In the end we are all paying for homelessness.”