Council May Appoint Former Member on Tuesday
FY 2024 Budget, School Bond, and Ethics on the Agenda
BAR HARBOR—The Town Council may appoint Clark Stivers to fill Jeff Dobbs’ council seat until the June election during its March 21 meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Bar Harbor Municipal Building. Stivers has served on the council in the past and is a frequent letter writer to the Mount Desert Islander. He was elected to the council in 2014. He also serves on the Communications and Technologies Committee.
Budget, School Bond, Property Sale, and Ethics
The council is also scheduled to discuss the municipal budget, Conners Emerson School Bond, and ethics ordinance.
According to, interim Town Manager and Finance Director Sarah Gilbert’s memo to councilors,
“Total expenditures for municipal budget, $23,646,478, Education, $8,330,965 and assessments, $5,057,743. After recognizing revenues other that property taxes and the use of fund balance, the amount needed from property taxes is $22,119,229 or an 11.1% increase from the prior year. Following public comments, a possible motion: to adopt the proposed budget as presented and subsequently amended by Town Council. A review of the warrant articles, including the budget related articles, will be reviewed by Council at a meeting in April.”
There will be a public hearing on the budget during the council meeting.
The Conners Emerson School Bond would be a general obligation bond, of $58,538,288, which according to Gilbert, “figures an estimated interest rate of 4% for 25 years with level annual principal payments.”
The council will also potentially sign an order to sell a small piece of town-owned property to the owners of the Black Friar Inn. The land abuts their property and the town lot on Summer Street.
Gilbert said, “At the March 7 meeting, a motion passed to update the purchase to $6,500 less rent paid of $5,500 or $1,000.”
Like the budget and the school bond, the voters would have the final say about the property.
The council is also slated to have discussion and a listening session with the public about the town’s ethics ordinance.
Note: Gilbert’s memo says that the link to the survey is on the town’s website. The Bar Harbor Story could not currently find that link, nor could we find the survey on Polco, a survey site the town uses. Apologies if we’ve overlooked it.
