Cornell Knight Back Part Time as Town Manager
Town Council Will Discuss the Potential Eradication of Cruise Ship Committee
BAR HARBOR—According to a press release sent out by Town Clerk Liz Graves Monday night after the Town Council left an executive session to discuss the town manager search, Cornell Knight, who retired as town manager at the end of 2021, was hired back on a part-time basis Monday.
The press release reads,
”The Town Council is contracting with Knight to work three days per week for the coming months while the search for a new permanent manager continues. The town reopened the search in late June when several candidates withdrew their applications. Finance Director Sarah Gilbert has been serving as interim manager since January.
“‘The Council is so grateful for Sarah Gilbert’s help over these past eight months, but it’s time to provide more support for her, staff, and the Council as we continue to work through infrastructure projects, draft the comprehensive plan, take on housing issues, and begin to think about the FY25 budget,’” Council Chair Valerie Peacock said. ‘Cornell Knight’s experience with the staff and town means he can get right to work while we hope to find a new manager in the stack of applications we’ve just received. We’re happy to welcome him as interim town manager.’
“Prior to accepting the position as interim town manager, Knight was acting as part-time interim town manager in other towns as an employee of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group. As a condition of his temporary service for Bar Harbor, Knight is no longer employed by Eaton Peabody Consulting Group.”
In February, Knight served as Farmington’s interim town manager via an Eaton Peabody Consulting Group. He earned $650 a day. Farmington just restarted its town manager search again. Stephen Eldridge is now serving as its interim town manager.
The release did not specify Knight’s pay in Bar Harbor.
Knight was the town manager in Bar Harbor for seven years. He was followed by Kevin Sutherland who resigned this January. Prior to Knight, Dana Reed had been the town manager from 1986 to 2014. Knight had been one of two finalists when he was originally hired.
When Knight resigned in 2021, he wrote, ““I am most appreciative of the opportunity to have served the Town of Bar Harbor. My wife and I have made a home here and we really enjoy this special part of Maine.”
Eaton Peabody Consulting Group is part of Eaton Peabody, the law firm that is part of the cruise ship disembarkation suit against the town.
CRUISE SHIP COMMITTEE
The Bar Harbor Town Council could bring an end to the town’s Cruise Ship Committee tonight during its regular council meeting that begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the town’s Municipal Building on Cottage Street.
The committee was asked not to meet earlier this year after a lawsuit. The lawsuit involves the company of one of its members, Eben Salvatore, who works at Ocean Properties. Salvatore is also a member of the Association to Protect People’s Livelihoods (APPLL), a nonprofit that is the lawsuit’s main party.
The item to potentially disband the committee is under “unfinished” business and it would schedule a public hearing about the potential amendment that would end the committee.
The advisory committee required 17 members and specified that its members would be:
One Town Councilor
Harbormaster
Deputy Clerk (not currently listed on members list)
Police Chief
Maritime industry representative
Two downtown business representatives
Two residents at large
One Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce representative
One representative from Cruise Maine
One member with “working knowledge of the cruise ship industry in the State of Maine”
One shore excursion company (that works with cruise ships) representative
One taxi tour industry (that works with cruise ships) representative
One representative of an entity that receives cruise ship tenders
One representative of the scientific community (currently vacant)
One Acadia National Park representative
An advisory committee means that it makes recommendations to the Town Council rather than takes actions. The Parks and Recreation Committee and the Marine Resources Committee are structured similarly and also have just advisor roles. This is unlike the Planning Board, Design Review Board, and Appeals Board, which do have the authority to make decisions.
As we’ve reported previously, the town’s Age Friendly Committee has discussed disbanding. That is not currently on the council’s agenda.
POLICE MENTAL HEALTH LIAISON
Also, on the agenda is a request to restructure the police department’s newly approved mental health liaison. That position had been approved as a contracted position with an outside agency. However, according to a memo by interim Police Chief David Kerns, the organization does not want to pay the rate that the town would like to pay, and instead would prefer to pay the rate of one of the department’s dispatchers.
Kerns has suggested making the position a town employee instead. The position could instead be considered a town employee, funded by the town using ARPA funds, which is a one-time use of federal funds meant to help municipalities during the COVID pandemic.
COUNCIL RULES OF ORDER
The council will also discuss possible amendments to its rules of order. This discussion began at its last meeting. The suggested motion would be to approve the potential changes to the five-page document.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
There is a public hearing about the senior taxpayer assistance program’s amendment to the land use ordinance and one for the vehicles and traffic ordinance.
The updates would clarify renters’ qualifications and rebate payments,
Adjust the program’s timeline
Update the rebate formula to be half of the state’s Property Tax Fairness Credit, unless the town does not have enough money in its budget. Then it would be a pro rata share of the budgeted amount.
And for the vehicles and traffic ordinance, the changes would include:
Increasing the overtime parking fee to $40;
Increasing the unpaid citation fee after 30 days to $80;
Changing the curb cut spaces hours of operation to 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The council will also hear an update about the town’s Comprehensive Plan.
APPLL vs TOWN OF BAR HARBOR
The council will also head into executive session last night to discuss the cruise ship disembarkation lawsuit.
OTHER NEWS
RURAL WORKFORCE HOUSING SURVEY
The Planning and Code Enforcement Department is working on a land use ordinance amendment to allow more employee living quarters and shared accommodation uses (two types of dormitory style workforce housing) in the more rural areas of town. Currently, most of the workforce housing types mentioned above are only allowed in or near the village centers.
Purpose of this survey: To collect feedback from rural employers to increase workforce housing options.
How your responses will be used: The information will be used to write the potential land use Ordinance amendment.
If you are rural employer and would like to fill out the survey, email cmartinez@barharbormaine.gov.
TOUCH A TRAIN
HEALTHY ACADIA EVENTS
September Events to Highlight, Garner Support for Local Food Justice Projects
For a second consecutive year, Healthy Acadia, Impact Justice, and College of the Atlantic are teaming up to highlight and garner support for local food justice projects with three days of community conversations and engagement events planned for September 7, 8, and 9, 2023.
On Thursday, September 7, the partners will cohost their second annual farm dinner and conversation focused on food justice in Maine’s prisons and jails. The event will be held at College of the Atlantic’s Beech Hill Farm in Mount Desert, Maine, and will feature renowned guest speakers Maria Girouard and Randall Liberty. The experiences and perspectives of these two outstanding individuals will engage diners in meaningful thought and conversation around topics of food justice as they enjoy a beautiful and delicious meal featuring local foods and support two critically important food access and corrections projects.
A member of the Penobscot Nation, Maria Girouard is the Executive Director of Wabanaki REACH. She holds a Master’s degree in history from the University of Maine and is a historian with particular expertise in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act. Maria is a longstanding community organizer and activist for environmental and social justice. She is a founder of The Peoples' Garden community garden at Penobscot Nation and dedicates many volunteer hours to community gardening.
Randall Liberty is the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections. He is also a certified UMaine Extension Master Gardener and founder of the prison’s gardening program. Commissioner Liberty has more than 36 years of leadership experience in the fields of corrections and law enforcement, having served as the Warden of the Maine State Prison since 2015 where he has worked to reduce recidivism through enhanced programming, education, and vocational training.
A limited number of tickets for this event will be available for sale starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, August 18, 2023. Tickets are priced at $275 per person and must be purchased in advance. Every dollar raised through ticket sales will be divided equally to benefit Healthy Acadia’s Downeast Restorative Harvest project and Impact Justice’s Chefs in Prisons. Interested community members are invited to email development@healthyacadia.org to learn more, purchase a ticket, or explore options if cost is a barrier.
On Friday, September 8, community members are invited to join, “Visions of Food Justice: Community and Carceral Systems in Maine,” a panel discussion focused on local food systems and food justice projects underway in the region.
The Downeast Restorative Harvest project is breaking ground on a community garden in Washington County, Maine, to engage jail and prison residents, members of the recovery community, agriculture educators, and other community members in growing food for the jail’s kitchen and for donation to local food assistance programs. Maine State Prison has developed a robust horticultural training program to provide healthy food and meaningful vocational training for residents. Nationally, groups like Impact Justice are working to expand access to nourishing food in prisons and jails as a fundamental human right.
In this panel, Dr. Kourtney Collum will lead a discussion with Regina Grabrovac, Leslie Soble, and Rebekah Mende about their work and expertise on these and other projects to realize food justice and build community food security in Maine and beyond. The discussion will be held at College of the Atlantic, Center for Human Ecology Room 102, 105 Eden Street, Bar Harbor, Maine, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Dr. Kourtney Collum is the Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Associate Dean of Faculty at College of the Atlantic (COA). Kourtney teaches a range of courses that examine ways of transforming food systems to achieve better health, equity, justice, and sovereignty for the humans and other-than-human beings entangled in those systems. Kourtney serves on the board of the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, is a member of the MDI Food Access Project and the Hancock County Food Security Network, and serves on the advisory council for the Downeast Restorative Harvest Project. Kourtney’s most recent work focuses on addressing the growing rate of hunger among college students across the United States, including at COA.
Regina Grabrovac (she/her) is a previous farmer and lifelong homesteader. For the last twelve years, in her role as Food Programs Manager at Healthy Acadia, Regina has managed various food programs across Washington County that help increase food security and access to healthy foods, including the Downeast Gleaning Initiative, Washington County Food Pantry Network, and several community gardens. Regina is leading the on-the-ground efforts to develop the Downeast Restorative Harvest program, a large community garden based in Machias in partnership with the Washington County Jail and the Maine Department of Corrections.
Rebekah Mende is the Vocational Trades Instructor in Sustainability with Maine State Prison. The maximum-security correctional facility is well known for its robust horticultural program, which engages residents in the growing of food for the prison’s dining services and local food pantries. The prison has also partnered with UMaine Cooperative Extension to offer a horticultural training program for prison residents looking to develop skills in the horticulture industry. In addition to providing meaningful job-readiness training for residents, the garden and compost programs have led to significant cost savings for the facility. Rebekah has focused her work on prison food reform for over 10 years with combined experience in both private-sector prison advocacy as well as present-day, security-informed experience.
Leslie Soble (she/her) manages the Food in Prison Project and is the lead author of Impact Justice’s national report, Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison. An ethnographer and folklorist, Leslie has spent nearly five years immersed in research on the carceral eating experience and its impacts on individuals, communities, and the environment. In her current role, she oversees Impact Justice’s initiatives at the intersection of food and incarceration.
This event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration requested. To register, visit https://coa.swoogo.com/coffeeconversation/Schedule and scroll to the bottom of the page. For more information, please email kcollum@coa.edu.
On Saturday, September 9, from 4:30 to 7 p.m., all are invited to the land that is now home to the Downeast Restorative Harvest Garden, located at 73 Broadway, Machias, for an unforgettable celebration of community and the flourishing future gardens of the Project. The event will feature live music, headlined by the renowned fiddling sensation, Gus La Casse, and the soul-stirring sounds of Milk and Honey Rebellion. Indulge in delectable delights from two scrumptious food trucks, offering a mouthwatering array of options. Feast on Johnny's Tacos, bursting with flavor, or savor the irresistible Za'spresso Pizza, sure to leave you craving more.
This event is open to the public and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required. While a suggested donation of $20 at the door is greatly appreciated to support the Downeast Restorative Harvest project, no one will be turned away. To make an online donation in support of this event, go to bit.ly/DERHGardenParty. For more information please email Regina@HealthyAcadia.org or call 207-255-3741.
To learn more about Downeast Restorative Harvest, contact Katie Freedman by email at katie@healthyacadia.org or by calling 207-667-7171. To learn more about Chefs in Prisons, contact Madeleine Cunningham at mcunningham@impactjustice.org. To make a gift directly in support of these projects, please visit bit.ly/restorative-harvest or impactjustice.org/donate. The organizations are tremendously grateful for all community support.
Healthy Acadia is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that engages in a broad range of initiatives to build healthier communities and make it easier for people to lead healthy lives across Washington and Hancock counties, Maine. Learn more at www.healthyacadia.org.
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