Mount Desert Selectboard Discusses Warming Center At Somesville Union Meeting House
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MOUNT DESERT—On Monday night, the Mount Desert Selectboard discussed a proposal from the Somesville Union Meeting House to become an emergency warming center for the Somesville area.
.The proposal was to have it be both a cooling center and heating center in times of power outages and severe weather. The proposal was presented by Tony St.Denis, a trustee at the Somesville Union Meeting House.
“We have been working with A Climate to Thrive. They have been trying to find areas on the island that might be in need of shelter,” St.Denis said.
The goal for Climate to Thrive and others is to have multiple warming centers scattered throughout the island in accessible locations for the people who live in different areas.
“They are thinking of it from more of a geography point of view,” explained Gus La Casse, manager of municipal strategy and policy coordinator for A Climate To Thrive.
Bar Harbor’s municipal building and fire station have served as warming centers. Other Bar Harbor buildings are capable of hosting larger groups as well. Southwest Harbor’s Harbor House has also served as a warming center. The goal, according to a memo included in the Mount Desert Selectboard’s packet is to have “multiple accessible centers” in each of the four island towns.
In those centers people could warm up, cool off, and charge medical equipment and devices.
The meeting house in Somesville is accessible to people from Bar Harbor as well because of its location. It would likely be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There would be a point person contacted by the town manager about an event. The point person would then arrange volunteers. The project would also require a generator at the site.
According to Fire Chief Mike Bender, both the school and the Seal Harbor Fire Station have been used in the past. The problem for the town, Chief Bender said, is providing staff during storms because the firefighters are usually busy responding to multiple calls during events.
Locations aren’t really an issue because there are places around the town that can be utilized, Chief Bender said.
Neighborhood House Executive Director Anne-Marie Hart said the Neighborhood House is wrapping up a $75,000 project to make it a warming center. A warming center has hours, she specified, whereas a shelter does not. That money has been raised from private funds.
“I’m excited about this because, like I said, the Neighborhood House is such a comfortable, warm, inviting space that’s a perfect warming center,” Hart said.
The Neighborhood House also received approval for three upcoming events that would take place on town land.
Those included the Neighborhood House Memorial Day Community BBQ on May 26, 2025; Neighborhood House Family Concert on the Green on August 8, 2025; and the Neighborhood House/Police Association Community BBQ on September 7, 2025.
All are on the Northeast Harbor Village Green.
Liquor licenses renewed included Mandy Fountaine’s for Abel’s Lobster Pound; Eliza Bishop’s for Milk and Honey Kitchen; Maude Kusserow’s for The Salt Market.
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
The board reviewed and approved a draft scope of work with A Climate to Thrive for incorporation of the findings of the Vulnerability Assessment into the upcoming Comprehensive Plan update in an amount not to exceed $11,460.
“It seems very elaborate to me,” selectboard member Martha Dudman said who said she read through the information. “It just seems like a lot of time to put this together.”
Public Works Director Brian Henkel said that A Climate to Thrive understands the steps the town needs to take because of its previous work with the town and its climate vulnerabilities. The committee doesn’t want to have a plan where one section stands alone by itself, he said, but has the pieces integrated in.
It allows the town to dictate the terms, Mount Desert Sustainability Committee Chair Phil Lichtenstein said, and that way they don’t have to be dictated by the deadlines of the state’s grant.
SEAL HARBOR FIRE STATION GENERATOR SITING AND STUART BURR
The board released $4,850 from the Fire Stations’ Building Reserve account and authorized Chief Bender to use such funds for the purpose of conducting a site survey of fire station #2 in Seal Harbor.
“The site survey was requested by Hedefine Engineering & Design, Inc., who I have asked to provide me with a proposal for general project management services in the replacement of the generator at station #2. Our CIP has this generator scheduled to be replaced in fiscal year 2026. The reserve has an approximate unencumbered balance of $1,018,785.41,” Chief Bender wrote in a memo to the board. “The existing generator was purchased and installed in 1989 when the fire station was constructed. It is currently inside the building, located at the rear of one of the truck bays and only provides emergency power to critical equipment. Present electrical and building codes require generators to be located outside the building. The site survey was requested by Hedefine, and it is necessary to determine if the property boundary lines will allow a generator to be located outside the building while conforming to required setbacks.”
“It seems like a lot of money to figure out where to put the generator,” selectboard member Martha Dudman said.
“That was the quote they gave me,” Chief Bender said, but added that it might be the high end of the expense and it will hopefully cost less.
The board members also accepted gifts to the Mount Desert Fire Department in memory of Stuart Burr who died this past February of congestive heart failure.
Those gifts included $500.00 from Mr. and Mrs. Douglass Maines; $25.00 from Barbara Hamblin; $50.00 from Donald & Carol Hagberg; $100.00 from Cooper Friend; $50.00 from Timothy & Jean Taylor; $100.00 from John Walls Jr., and $25.00 from Terry & Ellen Savage.
Burr was born in Bar Harbor and grew up in Northeast Harbor. He was brilliant at mechanics and heavy equipment and worked for H.E. Sargent Construction, building Interstate 95 as well as the Ford Garage in Southwest Harbor and Richard Merchant Construction Company in Northeast Harbor.
He worked for the town of Mount Desert and also as a caretaker for multiple Northeast Harbor properties. He retired as a superintendent at the Mount Desert Water Company in 2015. He did not stop then, but worked summers for the Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce at the Northeast Harbor Marina helping visitors.
The Mount Desert Fire Department honored him as its Firefighter of the Year and Distinguished Public Service award in 2018. It was in honor of a half a century of service. Contributions in his memory can be sent to the Mount Desert Fire Department at P.O. Box 248, Northeast Harbor, ME 04662.
Appointments/Recognitions/Resignations
Ballot clerks were appointed for the town meeting. Heidi Smallidge will be the election warden.
The selectboard unanimously accepted Zachary Mitchell’s resignation from refuse/MEO (effective March 28, 2025) and C. Justin Kelley’s resignation as a mechanic (effective March 14, 2025).
CLERK WEEK
The town approved the Annual Professional Municipal Clerk’s Week Proclamation; May 4-10, 2025 and thanked its hardworking clerks.
OTHER APPROVALS
The town approved a heat pump replacement in the police department’s server room in the amount of $4,200 with funds from the Public Works Building Reserve.
The board approved the purchase of a new $5,812 line striper from Sherwin Williams Paint Store with funds coming from the Public Works Equipment Reserve.
RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES
The board recommended the retirement of the renewable energy certificates generated by the town-owned solar photovoltaic array located at the town garage.
“I move to retire them,” Dudman said and chuckled. “Retirement is very nice.”
SHRED-ON-SITE DAY
Lichtenstein said that the sustainability committee would like a shred-on-site day at the town garage. The board unanimously moved to allow the sustainability committee to operate a small information table at the farmer’s market.
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