Otter Creek Working Waterfront Resolution Unveiled

Gallery Settlement Moves Forward, Messy Trash Issue Discussed

Aug 21, 2024

MOUNT DESERT—The Mount Desert Selectboard is getting closer to a potential resolution to restore Otter Creek’s working waterfront.

Selectboard member Rick Mooers presented a resolution to fellow board members during their meeting Monday night.

The board will peruse the resolution and expressed intent to have it become part of its Comprehensive Plan, but took no formal action.

The resolution will be tweaked for a typo in its third paragraph and possibly have some added language after comments by Howie Motenko, who is a member of Acadia National Park’s Advisory Commission. He suggested adding in other stakeholders in the third paragraph besides just Acadia National Park, suggesting citizens or federal representatives could be involved in a hoped-for land acquisition, which would allow the town to enhance the access to the boat ramp in Otter Creek so that vehicles with boat trailers can get in and out efficiently.

Town Manager Durlin Lunt has said that there are currently five main points needed to start restoring Otter Creek’s working waterfront.

The goals involve the tidal flushing of the inner harbor, getting land from Acadia National Park to make the village’s boat launch ramp a bit more usable, clearing the vista so that people can see the harbor again, restoring the traditional trails that were there before Rockefeller acquired the land, and determining the ownership of Quarry Path.

Otter Creek Boat Ramp and Access. Photos: Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story

In an August 12 letter to the Selectboard, Lunt wrote, “As a next step, I would like to discuss this resolution with Acadia Park administration to determine which of the resolution items, if any, can be achieved at the local level.”

He went on to say, “To some degree, the Park is constrained by their operational mandates dictated from above, but we need to work with them, and our federal partners, to determine pathways that allow for greater authority for Park administration to collaborate with their local partners.”

THE GALLERY AT SOMES SOUND SETTLEMENT

After an executive session, the Mount Desert Select Board made quick work of the rest of the items on its multi-faceted meeting Monday night. That session was about a release and settlement agreement with the owners of 1112 Main Street.

After the session, the board members approved a release and settlement agreement between the Town and 1112 Main Street, LLC and that the Selectboard sign the settlement agreement once it is signed by the manager of 1112 Main Street.

”The board is not setting any precedent in conjunction with this action,” said Chair John Macauley.

The agreement detailed in an August 15 letter from Public Works Director Brian Henkel states that the damages occurred during a storm, characterized as an extreme weather event, and the town’s “sanitary sewer pump station was overwhelmed.”

As a result, “highly diluted sewage” backed into the gallery. The town agreed to cover damages of $27,018.46.

PUBLIC COMMENT CHANGE

Vice Chair Wendy Littlefield suggested a specified time on the board’s meeting agenda for public comment.

“If people come and they have a reason why they come, I’d like to give them an opportunity to speak,” she said.

Select Board member Martha Dudman quickly agreed as did others.

Samuel DiBella (D-Hancock) said that he came to the Monday meeting to announce that he is running for the Hancock County Commissioner seat currently held by Paul Paradis (R-Bar Harbor) and that public comment would have been the perfect time to do that. DiBella is currently on the Hancock Select Board.

The board decided to give people three-minutes to speak in a standing public comment item on its agenda. The discussion would be about items not on the agenda. It passed unanimously.

THE TRASH ISSUE

Warrant Committee Chair Phil Lichtenstein announced during the meeting that he was concerned about the dumpsters overflowing at Sargeant Drive as well as the trash situation at the town’s marina.

“The town has a problem,” Lichtenstein said. “We’re the only town in the island that offers municipal pickup for businesses and citizens.”

The dumpsters, he said, are unmonitored for trash and recyclables and available for 24 hours and can be accessed by people who are not residents of Mount Desert.

“I think it’s time for a gate,” he said. He also suggested measures at the marina. “I think it’s really time to do something.”

He suggested having specified hours and an attendant. He suggested having police officers checking on the area and “cracking down” on it as well.

Select Board Chair John B. Macauley said, “My understanding was there’s not enough room,” for certain mitigation possibilities.

The town, he said, had tried to shut the lot off before and then people put garbage outside the access point.

”I think one of the problems really exist in enforcement,” Macauley said.

Public Works Director Brian Henkel said he’d been working on plans that he thought he’d bring into the next budget cycle. He will now go forward with Harbormaster John H. LeMoine and work out a proposal for how to deal with the miscreants misusing the locations.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

William Renault was appointed as a per diem firefighter with a starting pay of $27.97 an hour.

Michael Slater was appointed as a dockhand/launch operator for the Northeast Harbor Marina, effective August 20, 2024 for the remainder of the 2024 season, at a starting pay of $20.00 an hour

Todd Daley, Jr. was appointed to the buildings and grounds position effective August 5, 2024. Colby Hamor resignation from the buildings and grounds position was accepted and effective July 26, 2024

PHOTOVOLTAICS, HUMAN RESOURCES, AND SANITARY SYSTEMS

The board agreed to proceed with SolarLogix to develop the final contract for two photovoltaic systems. It also approved the contracted services agreement for human resource services with Zach Harris of Aloha HR Consulting LLC.

The solar contract came after two Maine-based contractors bid on the contract. A letter from A Climate to Thrive’s Beth Woolfolk qualified the SolarLogix’s bid as almost $9,000 higher, but that the proposal was better presented, more organized and thorough than the other bidder.

In May, voters decided to install solar panels at the Somesville fire station, Otter Creek pump station, and Northeast Harbor wastewater treatment plant. The cost was $270,000.

It agreed to let the Acadia Community Theater have a cabaret show on September 20, 2024, at the Northeast Harbor Village Green and to close the clerk’s office for Clerk’s Networking Day, September 18.

The board approved the use of up to $60,000 from the wastewater capital reserve account with an unencumbered balance of approximately $86,032.14 to fund the current year of Vortex Company’s plan to video inspect, clean, and GIS map the town’s sanitary sewer collection system and further to authorize Wastewater Superintendent Ed Montague, on behalf of the Town, to execute a contract for the same.

THE BOND

A more balanced budget cycle or less overall interest paid were the choices before the Selectboard when it came to reviewing bids for its general obligation bond.

There was a $20,000 favor for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust’s bid, and in it, the town paid less in interest. Katahdin had less variable interest payments.

In the end, the board authorized the $2,845,000 general obligation bond with Bar Harbor Bank & Trust effective on or about August 23, 2024.

The bond has been approved to finance multiple voter-approved projects at the 2024 Town Meeting. Those include, but are not limited to, a solar photovoltaic project, sidewalk and curbing improvements, and parking lot and sewer improvements.