Could Glen Mary Be Up and Running Next Summer?
It’s a big maybe.
BAR HARBOR—The town is a bit closer to signing a 10-year-lease with the Village Improvement Association that would allow work to proceed at Glen Mary Pool and the park itself interim Town Manager Sarah Gilbert and Public Works Director Bethany Leavitt told the Parks and Recreation Committee Monday.
The Village Improvement Association (VIA) has been leasing the pool and surrounding woodland park to the town since 1995 and 2014 respectively. The lease for the pool expires in 2024, which makes it harder for the town to invest in the site, according to what Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman John Kelly said July 2022.
The town’s initial new lease was not immediately accepted in June by VIA President Richard “Dick” Cough. The town has said in the past that it does not want to put extensive money into renovating the Glen Mary pool area without a lease in hand. Once the lease is signed, the next steps are to determine what to do in the pool area, and begin enacting that plan. Similarly, the town and VIA are looking into a plan for the wooded and vegetated area of the site.
The newest proposed lease is below. It has one amendment pertaining to the vegetation management plan.
The lease would make the VIA in charge of the creation of a vegetation plan in the woods, but the town would be responsible for the maintenance of the area. It also stipulates that anything the town put on the property will not damage that portion of the property more than it currently does in that area. It also allows capital improvements to be made in the area as long as they are beneficial to the public and “meet the criteria for a public park.”
The pool was last upgraded in 2009 and is no longer waterproof thanks to multiple broken PVC and black pipes beneath it and is in need of repairs. The park surrounding it, many said at the meeting, also needs a maintenance plan to help with the trees, many of which are coming close to the end of their life spans. This is the vegetation plan that the lease refers to.
The park was originally conveyed to the VIA by Mary Shannon in a deed dated September 1894.
The deed had conditions for the area’s use and reads, "The conveyance is made upon the following express conditions subsequent, to wit, that the property above described shall be held forever as a public park for the use of persons either permanently or temporarily resident in Bar Harbor; that it should be called Glen Mary Park; that the fine old pine trees thereon shall be specially cared for; that settees shall be placed and maintained thereon for the benefit of the public; and that no buildings detrimental to a park shall be erected on the land."
Mary Shannon is also known in town history for trying to give the town a lot for a public library, but since she stipulated that no Catholic could ever be a trustee, her gift was refused. Her cottage home was The Ledge Lawn, which is now the Ledgelawn Inn.
“Glen Mary is the first park ever in Bar Harbor,” Dick Cough said at that July 2022 meeting. “Basically, she wanted the trees taken care of and there to be a park for everyone to enjoy.”
A member of the public asked about Glen Mary during the public comments portion of the meeting, wondering if there was an update.
Parks and Recreation Chair John Kelly said that the item was on the agenda. “Glen Mary Update” was not a specific item on the agenda, but Kelly knew that Bethany would give an update on Glen Mary, during her Public Works Update, Agenda Item F. That item is not detailed for the public in pre-meeting materials.
Both Jeff Dobbs and Erin Cough who are on the Parks and Recreation Committee are also on the VIA’s board of directors.
GRAFFITI
During her report, Leavitt said the town has been experiencing graffiti in multiple locations.
“Graffiti has cropped up everywhere,” Kelly said. He mentioned multiple places in Acadia National Park (his employer) have been plagued as well.
Leavitt is investigating anti-graffiti products and looking into using them at the skatepark.
LIFE FLIGHT
The Life Flight landing pad had subsurface work done on July 24. That work needed to occur so that the town can properly provide foundational support for the proposed concrete pad on the athletic fields near the skate park. The pad needs to support both a helicopter and ambulance. A concrete road would connect the pad to the road. Life Flight provides statewide critical emergency medical care transport throughout Maine. During transport, medical service providers often undertake complex and critical care for patients. The town’s athletic field off Park Street by the YMCA is one of the main places it lands on MDI. The site is close to MDI Hospital.
TOWN HILL PLAYGROUND
Leavitt said she’s going to work with Town Hill Village Improvement Society President Perry Moore to discuss a fence at the Town Hill Playground as well as placement of a port-a-potty. The Town Hill Village Improvement Society leases the Town Hill firehouse to the town for $1.
Perry Moore said,
“The mission of the VIS is to be caretakers of the community spaces in Town Hill. While this was originally mostly about the cemetery, in 1949 we took over the old schoolhouse and this became a meeting place for organizations based in Town Hill like the volunteer fire department. In 2007 the last congregation to use the church handed it over to the VIS because they didn't have the time nor energy to take care of it. That building—like the cemetery and schoolhouse—is full of family memories of a lot of Town Hill residents and part of the collective community history.”
Custodians of memory and community, the organization has structural issues at the buildings. There’s a fire house, two cemeteries, a church, and a playground, and there are needs that its small, all-volunteer board have to deal with to take care of those community spaces.
The organization recently requested funds in the Bar Harbor Fiscal Year 2024 budget. The agency received $5,462 last budget and requested $8,110 for the upcoming budget year which begins in July. The roof at the firehouse needs repair and there are other building issues as well as tree issues at the cemeteries.
A local mom has been hoping for a fence around the playground and has been collecting pledges since last year.
COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION
Monday was the first meeting for new member Erin Cough. Jeff Dobbs recommended Jon Kelly for chair and Greg Veilleux for vice chair. There were no other recommendations for either position. It was unanimous. Dobbs nominated Erin Cough to be secretary but she declined stating that it was her first meeting. He withdrew the motion and then nominated Bob Huff who was unanimously elected.
USE REQUESTS AND MEMORIAL BENCH
The Parks and Recreation Committee heard two requests to use the Athletic Field or the Village Green.
The first was from Friends of Acadia to hold a trivia with a park ranger event on the Village Green on August 23 of this year. Kelly said he was a park employee and recused himself. The motion passed 4-0. He left the council chambers during the discussion.
Emily Nelson of Acadia National Park and Paige Steele of Friends of Acadia spoke about the event, which would be part of community outreach between the park and local community. The event is on a Wednesday and will require minimal set-up, except for a projector screen and some sound equipment.
The second was a request from Climate To Thrive to hold a climate solutions fair on the Village Green on Saturday, September 30 (with a rain date of Sunday, October 1) of this year.
Brianna Cunliffe of a Climate To Thrive said it would be lightly amplified voices but not music, at the event. There would be about five or six tables with information but no projector. There would also be a small sound system and some chairs.
The event had previously been on the Jesup Memorial Library lawn and about 50 people attended. The town’s Task Force on Climate Change is also participating but a Climate To Thrive is MDI based not Bar Harbor based. The application was accepted with the condition that it must have a set-up plan, which will be approved (or not) by Leavitt.
There was no local sponsor indicated on the agenda, however, there was for a request by Vettes of Coastal Maine (sponsored by Wonder View Inn) to stage on the Athletic Field June 1, 2024. That request was removed from the agenda and is set for another meeting.
Don and Pat Murphy’s family proposed a memorial plaque on an Agamont Park Bench. The family could not make the meeting, but there was a letter that the family sent in about the request. Leavitt said she saw no issues with the request. It also included a donation of $3,410. It passed unanimously.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
http://barharborvillageimprovementassociation.com/who-we-are/
https://www.barharbormaine.gov/291/Parks-Recreation-Committee
https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/proposed-dog-park-site-explored-monday
