Briefs: Real Estate, Court Indictments
Press releases, upcoming town and school meetings
BAR HARBOR—Here’s a quick round-up of news briefs, town meetings, real estate transfers, and Hancock County Grand Jury indictments.
Town and School Committees Meeting This Week Have Big Issues on Their Plates
The Harbor Committee is holding a special meeting Monday, December 18, at 4 p.m. at the Municipal Building’s auditorium on Cottage Street. They will discuss and potentially finalize a potential list of amendments to the marina masterplan and vote on sending it on to the Town Council. The Council will discuss that masterplan at its Tuesday night meeting, December 19, which begins at 6:30 p.m. That is also at the Municipal Building.
The council is also scheduled to discuss:
The town’s solar project
The town’s Comprehensive Plan
A report from the Jesup Library about its financial needs.
The council will also:
Discuss the above mentioned ferry terminal/marina masterplan;
Listen to a presentation from Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry
Potentially adopt the Housing Policy Framework
Authorize the town’s treasurer to pay bills.
Back to Monday, the Parks and Recreation Committee will welcome its newest member, MDI YMCA CEO Ann Tikkanen, and discuss the Glen Mary lease, Hadley Point’s landing commercial use, a long-term display of the Village Green holiday tree, a mural proposed at the town’s athletic field comfort station, and a National Fitness Campaign grant. That meeting is in the Council Chambers at the Municipal Building and begins at 4:30 p.m.
Also on Monday, the Bar Harbor School Committee meets at the Conners-Emerson library at 4:30 p.m. Committee members will hear an update on the new building and also finalize the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The MDI High School Board of Trustees meets the same day at 5:30 p.m. at the MDI High School library to hear updates on the budget, the building and wastewater issues, as well as plan for community forums.
A plethora of school meetings occur on Tuesday as the boards and committees potentially ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement for teachers in the school system.
Those special meetings begin at 5 p.m.
5 p.m. MDIRSS-AOS 91 12/19/23 Agenda - Special School Board Meeting
5:10 p.m. MDI High School Special School Board Meeting (this agenda is not posted online)
5:20 p.m. Bar Harbor School Committee Special Meeting
5:20 p.m. Mt. Desert Elementary School Committee Special Meeting
5:20 p.m. Southwest Harbor School Committee Special Meeting
5:20 p.m. Tremont School Committee Special Meeting
5:20 p.m. Trenton School Committee Special Meeting
6 p.m. Swans Island School Board
On Wednesday the Marine Resources Committee may meet, but its agenda is not currently online to verify the meeting.
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
BAR HARBOR
Michael Adelman and Cheryl Novins, Bar Harbor to The Janet Mary Hamel Trust, Bar Harbor, land.
Madeline M. Cote, Mont Vernon, N.H., to The Madeline M. Cote Revocable Trust, Mont Vernon, N.H., land together with buildings.
Finback on Cottage LLC, Bar Harbor to Pappas Properties LLC, Mount Desert, land together with any buildings or improvements.
Victoria Goralski, Broomall, Pa., to James Cowan and Janet Cowan, Sudbury, Mass., joint tenants, land together with any improvements.
Robert W. Graham and Susan J. Graham, Sarasota, Fla. to Robert and Susan Graham Joint Revocable Trust, Sarasota, Fla., land together with any improvements.
Rowan W. Kase and Nina M. Barbetti, Bar Harbor to Restaurant Realty LLC, Bar Harbor, land together with any improvements.
Elizabeth L. Kidder, Bar Harbor to Elizabeth L. Kidder, Douglas G. Kidder, Berkeley, Calif., and Marjorie G. Curtis, Greenfield, Mass., joint tenants, land.
Celeste Law, Bar Harbor to Chelsea R. Bothen, Mount Desert and Ariel L. Bothen, Bar Harbor, land together with buildings.
Estate of Phyllis H. Leighton, Bar Harbor to Michael A. Leighton, Bar Harbor, land.
Timothy G. Richardson, a/k/a Tom Richardson, Bar Harbor to Michael Girard and Joy Girard, Lady Lake, Fla., joint tenants, land together with any improvements.
Timothy M. Rooney, Rockland to Stephen S. Ho and Daniel E. Hudgens, Cambridge, Mass., joint tenants, land together with any improvements
Tina Smith-McBride, Torrance, Calif., to Jill A. Stewart and James W. Stewart, Bar Harbor, joint tenants, land together with improvements.
CRANBERRY ISLES
Diana Morse and Peter Morse, East Hampton, Conn., to Jill Swenson and Neil Swenson, Columbia, Conn., joint tenants, land together with any improvements.
Candace S. Corson, Solon to Garth R. Hallberg and Elise M. White, Montclair, N.J., joint tenants, land together with any buildings and improvements.
MOUNT DESERT
Sally Abbott, Denver, Colo., to Edward R. Johnston and Anne E. Rhode, Bar Harbor, joint tenants, land together with any improvements.
Timothy H. Gott, Southwest Harbor to Dylan N. Carroll, Southwest Harbor, land together with any improvements.
Terrance L. Haynes, Mount Desert and Suzette Wheaton, Swan’s Island to Joshua Benjamin Luce and Cameron DePaola, Bar Harbor, tenants in common, land together with buildings and improvements.
The Maine Trust under The Rachel Krevans 2017 Nieces and Nephews Trust, Sacramento, Calif., to Saltmeadow LLC, Bar Harbor, land together with any buildings or improvements.
William B. McKechnie, Brewer to Anne M. McKechnie, Southwest Harbor, land together with any improvements.
The Moorhead C. Kennedy Jr. Living Trust, Bar Harbor to 303 Main Street SWH, LLC, Potomac, Md., land together with all buildings and improvements.
The Nancy Sage Shea Revocable Trust No. 1, New York, N.Y., to James Dewitt Shea, New York, N.Y., land together with dwellings.
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
The Margaret R. Bergen Revocable Trust, Boca Raton, Fla., to Thomas C. Koester Jr. and Sara E. Williams, Malvern, Pa., tenants in common, land.
Indian Brook Corp., Burlington, Mass., to Gabriel G. Ewing Del Rio and Jeffrey K. Ewing Del Rio, Southwest Harbor, joint tenants, land.
Joshua S. Collins and Holly J. Collins, Portsmouth, N.H., to Harbor Ridge Condominium Association, Southwest Harbor, unit 13 for week 3, Harbor Ridge Condominium.
Linda M. Connelly, Auburn to Linda M. Connelly, Auburn and Melissa A. Cyr and James Litrocapes, Sarasota, Fla., joint tenants, unit 58 for week 23, Harbor Ridge Condominium.
Stephanie N. Davis, Southwest Harbor to Stephanie N. Davis and Anthony P. Davis, Southwest Harbor, joint tenants, land together with any buildings and improvements.
Richard Patterson Bradford and Kristen Lee Bradford, Southwest Harbor to Bernard H. Jeanfils and Yasmina C. Conti-Jeansfils, Drexel Hill, Pa., joint tenants, land.
Martha Jane Williams, Southwest Harbor to Martha Jane Williams and Carisa Ann Goodell, Southwest Harbor, joint tenants, land together with any improvements.
TREMONT
William C. Fernald, Bass Harbor to Ruth S. Brunetti, Mount Desert, land together with all improvements.
William C. Fernald, Bass Harbor to Ruth S. Brunetti, Mount Desert, land together with all improvements.
Estate of James W. Keene, Hampden to Margaret L. Morse, Bass Harbor, land together with any buildings or improvements.
Ozlem Mert, Boca Raton, Fla., to David M. Graham, Gloucester, Mass., land with any improvements.
National Park Service Selects Acadia by Carriage, LLC to Operate Wildwood Stables
BAR HARBOR, ME – The National Park Service (NPS) selected Acadia by Carriage, LLC to operate Wildwood Stables under a ten-year concession contract. The existing facilities and visitor service responsibilities are expected to transition to the new concessioner in early 2024.
The concession operations at Wildwood Stables provide impactful services for park visitors, providing visitors the opportunity to join a narrated horse drawn carriage tour on Acadia’s historic carriage roads. The concession operations also provide equestrian services such as horse boarding. The new concessioner was selected through a competitive selection process.
The current concession contractor, Carriages of Acadia, Inc., has provided outstanding service at Wildwood Stables since 2009. The NPS plans to work with both concessioners to ensure a smooth transition.
The park expects reservations for the 2024 season to be made available in early 2024. No disruptions to visitor services are expected.
Kick Off 2024 with Plans to Succeed
BAR HARBOR — Are you a small business owner looking to unlock your business potential? A free one-hour class will help you understand your financial fundamentals and give you a tool that shows you how to achieve profitability in a few clicks without complex math or troublesome spreadsheets.
Four Steps to Unlocking Profits in 2024, presented by College of the Atlantic in collaboration with Profit Decoder, is focused on helping small businesses thrive. The class takes place online on Jan. 9 from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Register at profitdecoder.com.
The class is part of Profit Decoder’s Cultivating Community series, which gives entrepreneurs the tools and skills to succeed. COA and Profit Decoder want to give small business owners the knowledge and skills to understand their financials and counter the number one reason for small business failure—a lack of financial engagement.
“Small businesses from bakers to graphic designers make up the backbone of our communities, and without these local enterprises, our communities would cease to exist as they are,” says Profit Decoder cofounder, Jordan Motzkin, a 2010 graduate of COA. “Impacting each of these small businesses has a positive multiplier effect, including hiring employees, keeping Main Street active and improving rural community wellbeing.”
The impact of these small businesses is immense, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). In 2019, the SBA reports, small businesses accounted for two-thirds of net new jobs and 44% of economic activity. This is economic activity that stays in the local community, according to the American Independent Business Alliance (AIBA), which says that local businesses generate four times the impact of chain stores. Every dollar spent in these businesses generates an additional $1.43 in local spending, creating jobs and strengthening community infrastructure, the AIBA reports.
However, being a small business is tough work. A study from the University of South Florida reports that 86% of small businesses don’t review financial statements. Not surprisingly, this lack of financial engagement is the number one reason for small business failure.
“Business owners often feel overwhelmed, scared, and confused by accounting terminology. Owners can resort to guessing about critical decisions and hope all will be okay,” Motzkin says. “Four Steps to Unlocking Profits in 2024 counters these issues by providing local business owners the tools and skills to prosper.”
“Self-employed entrepreneurship can be a lonely vocation, where long hours and an independent streak mean that business owners are isolated. Cultivating community counters this by building partnerships with and between local enterprises,” says course co-instructor Jay Friedlander, the COA Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business. “Past experience has shown that participants build ongoing connections with each other. This sense of camaraderie weaves the fabric of community and fosters future collaboration.”
This program is being led by College of the Atlantic, in partnership with Profit Decoder as well as Mount Desert 365, Heart of Ellsworth, and UpStart Maine. Maine Community Foundation is sponsoring this free program and all participants also receive a free Profit Decoder subscription for a year, a $149 value. Register today at profitdecoder.com.
MDI Hospital and Healthy Acadia Want to Know Community’s Health Needs
The CHNA is a community survey that MDIH and Healthy Acadia partner on that aims to collect feedback from community members who live, work, go to school, or otherwise spend time in Bar Harbor, Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Swan’s Island, Tremont, Trenton, and surrounding communities to learn more about the health needs in our region.
The steering committee, made up of partners from organizations across our region, aim to hear from as many people as possible, ensuring that the insights gathered reflect the ideas, interests, and needs of everyone. Through your feedback and input, they will gain a comprehensive understanding of strengths, areas for improvement, and significant issues, helping them to formulate goals and strategies for a healthy, strong community.
The survey should only take about ten minutes to complete. It is available online at bit.ly/CommunityHealthSurvey2023 or simply scan the QR code. A paper version will be available at local libraries and other community locations or can be sent to you by contacting Leslie Goode at leslie.goode@healthyacadia.org or by calling 207-460-3050.
A report including the results of this survey will be available in May 2024. The last Community Health Needs Assessment and Action Plan was completed in 2020 and is available on the MDI Hospital website.
RECENT GRAND JURY INDICTMENTS
The following cases were indicted by the Hancock County Grand Jury:
• Jonathan Asbury, 49, Bernard, trafficking in prison contraband, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, failure to give correct name, violating conditions of release June 17 in Bar Harbor.
• Robert Coulombe Jr., 68, Bangor, burglary, theft by unauthorized taking, criminal trespass July 6 in Mount Desert.
• Robert Goodwin, 54, Southwest Harbor, aggravated assault July 17 in Mariaville.
• Thadeous Macleod, 36, Lincolnville, operating after revocation May 23 in Mount Desert.
• Casey McDonald, 36, Ellsworth, two counts unauthorized use of property, theft by unauthorized taking, aggravated criminal mischief, attempted theft by unauthorized taking, two counts burglary of a motor vehicle, operating after revocation, violating conditions of release Oct. 29 in Bar Harbor.
• Jessica McElvogue, 39, Bar Harbor, two counts unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, endangering the welfare of child June 11 in Bar Harbor.
• Anders Palmateer, 35, Mount Desert, aggravated assault, aggravated criminal mischief, assault, criminal mischief July 18 in Ellsworth.
• Steven Rowley, 50, Ellsworth, burglary, theft by unauthorized taking April 17 in Bar Harbor.
• Constance Stewart, 36, Bangor, aggravated criminal mischief, unauthorized use of property, criminal OUI, driving to endanger, operating after suspension, leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage, failure to report accident Oct. 5 in Bar Harbor.
• Jordan Thomas, 24, Northport, aggravated assault, domestic violence assault, two counts violating conditions of release Oct. 8 in Bar Harbor.