Acadia National Park Brings Good News For Seawall Road Repairs
Town Thanks Volunteers Who Came Through For the Manset Pier
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Links Pub.
SOUTHWEST HARBOR—Town Manger Karen Reddersen reported during the select board meeting, June 10, that there has been a positive step forward for the Seawall Road Project.
Acadia National Park received “supplemental funding from Congress to fund storm-related damages and is working with the state to fully fund the resiliency improvements at Seawall Road,” Reddersen wrote in her manager’s report.
Acadia National Park Management Assistant John T. Kelly confirmed Reddersen’s statements on Thursday.
“The park is receiving disaster supplemental funds and plans to use the Good Neighbor Authority under section 351 of the EXPLORE Act to help fund the reconstruction of the portion of Seawall Road damaged in the 2024 storms,” Kelly said.
Acadia will be the first national park to use this authority.
“We are just beginning discussions with MaineDOT to determine the specifics of the project,” Kelly said.
The park and MaineDOT continue to discuss both the scope of the work and transferring supplemental “Good Neighbor” funding to the state.
The original estimate was about $1.5 million and the Park is prepared to give that to the state, Reddersen told the select board.
“The intent is to build it back in a way that has those mitigation efforts,” she said.
Last winter, the Maine Department of Transportation told the Town of Southwest Harbor and Acadia National Park that the state’s permanent and full repair to 1,000 feet of the Seawall Road would not occur this spring, as expected, but was being postponed until fall 2025.
A January 7 letter from MaineDOT Deputy Commissioner Dale Doughty to Reddersen and Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider explained that the postponement is due to the town, park, and state being unable to reach an agreement about future repair costs by early 2025.
Future repairs are expected because of the road’s vulnerability to sea-level rise and predicted more intense storms. It is not considered a primary road with urgent needs.
In the summer of 2024, after months of closure, the state agreed to let local businesses voluntarily do a temporary fix to get the road—beloved by MDI residents and tourists—back in working order. Those fixes to the looping road which joins Southwest Harbor to Tremont and also to Acadia National Park’s Seawall Campground, Ship Harbor Trail, and Wonderland Trail are considered temporary.
“Since it is clear that the three parties will be unable to reach an agreement by early 2025, the department has pushed the planned repairs to Seawall Road to the fall of 2025, as outlined in the July and October 2024 letters,” Doughty wrote. “The department intends to continue discussions and negotiations on the terms of such an agreement with both the Town of Southwest Harbor and the NPS over the coming months and expects a signed agreement as an outcome of this process, whereby each party is responsible for an equal share of any future repairs beyond 2025.”
The letter stressed that the town and park need to agree to a three-way cost split for future repairs after 2025.
“Acadia National Park is the first in the nation to use that and it specifically has in there talking about road improvements,” Reddersen said. ”We’re very excited that there may be a solve that doesn’t require us to enter into a contract.”
“That’s super cool,” board member Natasha Johnson agreed.
“It’s a great, great neighborly thing to do,” Reddersen said.
MANSET PIER
During the meeting, Reddersen and the select board thanked those who volunteered to repair the Manset Pier.
Volunteers and staff added a layer of 4” by 6” by 20 foot wooden timbers laterally across the pier to bring the load limit up to a 40,000 pound limit.
“We had folks from Tremont who supported this,” Reddersen said. “The work that was down there was significant and our town really came together.”
“It looks great,” Johnson said.
Southwest Harbor Harbor Committee Chair Nick Madeira said that all the feedback has been very positive, but the work is really a Band-Aid, a temporary fix, and that an engineer said the final decking has to be marine grade pressure treated wood.
Reddersen said that she’s working with FEMA and the money that the federal agency suggested it will give the project will not be enough to make those better repairs. Therefore, repairs will likely have to go to town meeting for bonding for all the work that still remains to be done on Shore Road and Harbor Avenue, too.
In the thanks for the work, the town gave “a special shoutout to local fishermen John Stanley, Ryan Donahue and sons Riley and Alex of Ocean House Boat Storage: firefighters Nate Kelmenson and Maddox Larendeau; Josh Willard, Richard Fourment, David Demo of Ellis Boat; and town employees Tom Farley, Scott Alley, Aaron Zuker, Mark Tinker, and Steven (Vin) Davis; Gus Young and Dylan Combs from Tremont’s public works department; and Brandon Thomas from Chalmers Enterprises and last but not least Harbormaster Rob Leavitt and Deputy Harbormaster Mike Slater.”
The note from Reddersen also said, “Your dedication and teamwork have made a significant impact on our community and we are so thankful for all you have done. We truly appreciate your selflessness and willingness to lend a helping hand when our community needed it most.”
WATERFRONT INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
Southwest Harbor also released a document explaining its investment in waterfront infrastructure, detailing the improvements at Manset Pier and both the Lower Town Dock and Upper Town Dock.
Those improvements include ongoing Manset Pier upgrades to the decking, enhancements to the boat ramp, and float repairs.
Lower Town Dock floats have been replaced and the gangway has been repaired. The town’s harbormaster hopes to purchase new floats this fall and install new mooring blocks and chain for a winter float.
The Upper Town Dock has already had multiple improvements.
LIQUOR AND SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PERMITS
The select board also made quick work of approving Beals Lobster’s liquor license and special amusement permits. Beal’s is located at 182 Clark Point Road.
They also approved a liquor license renewal for Eat-a-Pita at 326 Main Street. The board directed Reddersen to send a generalized reminder to local business not to charge credit card fees because it goes against state rules. The board agreed. The license was also unanimously renewed.
Seawall photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story
Manset photos: Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story
Follow us on Facebook. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.