Tremont Select Board to Enter Into Agreement to Possibly Purchase Properties as New Public Safety Facility
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
TREMONT—In a battle of desires, the desire of the fire chief to have the most functionally proficient space and the desire of the select board to procure new assets for the town in the most monetarily efficient manner, led to a debate regarding the possible purchase of two existing buildings for the town’s new public safety building at the Tremont Select Board’s June 2 meeting.
For several years, the Town of Tremont has been setting aside money into a reserve account to help fund a new public safety building which would have space for the fire department, the ambulance service, and possibly some workspace for police officers. In 2023 the Tremont Select Board created a public safety building committee and since then, the committee has been meeting regularly.
Over the course of the meetings, the committee had decided that the best possible and most easily available site was property that the town already owned, the parcel which had previously been set aside for an ice rink adjacent to the town office.
The committee was preparing a report to present to the select board that speaks to both the selection of the town owned parcel as the site and a preliminary “wish list” design for a potential building when along came a new possibility.
Michael Wagner approached the town about purchasing a property, which he owns along with his wife, Patricia Wagner, at 31 and 37 Harbor Drive for potential use as the new public safety building. The property consists of a two-bedroom, two-bathroom residence and a commercial steel building with three large garage bays that is currently a boat shop.
At the June 2 meeting, Town Manager Jesse Dunbar presented this opportunity to the select board for discussion and a possible vote to enter a purchase and sales agreement with the Wagner’s for the property at a price “not to exceed $972,000.”
The select board has discussed this option multiple times prior to June 2 in executive sessions and Select Board Chair Jamie Thurlow had met with the public safety committee twice prior to the June 2 meeting to bring them up to speed on the select board’s thoughts and developments.
“The committee members seem very excited about pursuing the new option as did the select board. There will need to be modifications to the garage and pending further investigation they don’t appear to be significant enough not to pursue acquisition of the property as the best option. At the moment, the board has expressed that they feel that the acquisition and remodeling costs would be below the cost of constructing a new facility adjacent to the town office,” Dunbar said as an introduction at the June 2 meeting.
Dunbar also said that the town’s attorney, James Collier, said that the most normal course of action for municipalities, when entertaining the purchase of real property, is to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with the sellers that includes all of the necessary caveats and requirements that the town needs to be met before a purchase is actually made. After entering the purchase and sale agreement is when the town would do any necessary inspections and remodeling planning and requests for proposals from contractors.
After signing a purchase and sale agreement no purchase would be made without any and all due diligence inspections, title work, a public hearing, and town meeting voter approval.
Alen Feuer, who is a board member of the Southwest Harbor-Tremont Ambulance Service and a Tremont volunteer firefighter said, “The contingency for due diligence is paramount. We have to do the work to make sure that this lot will not only satisfy our needs but also, in fact, be less expensive than the plan we were originally looking at.”
“I don’t think that we are at a point to sign a contract and move forward on a property. I feel this is an impulse purchase. I think it falls drastically short of my expectations, and I don’t think it is anywhere comparable to what the committee was expecting. I don’t think that we have done our part proving that this property trumps any other options that we have,” said Tremont Fire Chief Keith Higgins. “The current station that we have is 5,700 square feet and the property that the town is considering purchasing is under 5,500 square feet. Fire stations used to be just a place you can park a truck, but now it’s more about environmental safety. Like being able to take showers before you go home to your family.”
When fighting fires, chemicals and carcinogens can get on firefighters’ gear as they encounter particulates and dangerous chemicals. Showers after responding to calls helps decontaminate. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has best practices about how responders decontaminate both gear and themselves and one major recommendation is “showering as soon as possible after significant smoke exposure.”
There was some confusion regarding the exact size of the 37 Harbor Drive building and what the preliminary plans for a newly constructed building were with someone mentioning 12,000 square feet for a new building on the ice rink lot.
Board Chair Jamie Thurlow said that he was confused over the 12,000 square footage as he was under the impression the whole time that they were looking at building basically a 50 x 100 building.
Board member Eric Eaton said, “I would like to see numbers on what it would cost us to do what our original plan was and then what it would cost after purchase, to renovate, to make that adequate if we were to use that spot. I would hate to buy something without having the numbers in front of us.”
“The engineer that the town uses says that a very base price would be $400 a square foot,” for a new facility, said Dunbar. That would equate to $4,800,000 for a 12,000 square feet building or $2 million for a 5000-square-foot building at the very lowest estimated per square foot price given by the engineer.
Chief Higgins said, “We were talking 2030 for a new station. We can stay right where we are at for five years. We can do our homework and if it’s still the best option, we can move forward. It falls short of my expectations, 100 percent. I understand that the committee is anxious. They want to solve a solution for housing for the ambulance service which the ambulance service committee hasn’t fully decided which direction it’s going to go in.”
The Harbor Drive property does include a separate two-bedroom two-bathroom residence that could be modified to sleep more people and be utilized as shift sleeping spaces for both the ambulance service and fire department.
“We have a job, as a board, as you know, like when we deal with the school. We have to cut money to make it affordable in town. So, by you saying this is falling short, I mean, you want the Taj Mahal and we are saying we don’t feel like we can afford that. So, we are trying to rein it back,” said Thurlow.
Not all community members appeared to be onboard with either option for a new fire station/public safety building.
Audience member Kenneth Seavey said, “My question to this is, as long as I have been alive, I can name two fires. One wasn’t very long ago and by the time the department got there, three-quarters of the building was gone and the other one I put out with a five-gallon bucket full of water. Why are we wasting money for another fire department? I understand the ambulance housing but buy an apartment building and put them up. But we don’t need to be wasting money on a fire department anymore because it’s obvious they ain’t doing their job.”
Feuer then spoke about having the engineer go over the building to make sure that it will meet the specifications that the public safety building committee has developed for the new public safety building.
“This has been done. The engineer has been hired,” said Thurlow.
Higgins asked, “Who is the engineer? We don’t know.”
“Greg Johnston,” said Dunbar.
“So, let’s put it out to bid and let’s get some engineers in here who have built public safety buildings,” Higgins said, “Could he (Johnston) send us examples of the last public safety buildings he has created?”
Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett asked, “What’s wrong with Greg?”
“I don’t know,” replied Higgins.
There was discussion regarding all of the requirements of a new fire station, such as stoves and ovens that shut themselves off automatically if firefighters are in the middle of preparing a meal and get toned out to an emergency call. The design of the building itself to prevent “crunch zones” when backing fire apparatus in or pulling out. And the need to be self-contained in such a way that firefighters can shower and decontaminate prior to returning to their residences.
“We are doing our due diligence. We are checking through the list. Jesse is doing all of this. Certain people are making it sound like we are not doing that. But it’s being done. This is very publicly, I want to state, this is being done. This list that we have, Jesse is handing that over to the town’s engineer and having him look through it,” Thurlow said.
After assuring everyone attending the meeting that nothing would be purchased until the engineer could check the buildings against both the town’s and the public safety building committee’s needs and assuring that the purchase of this existing property would both meet the needs for a new public safety building and save the town money over building a new structure, the select board voted on a motion.
Jewett made a motion to “have the town manager, on behalf of the select board, negotiate and sign a purchase and sale agreement with Michael A. Wagner and Patricia L. Wagner for the Town of Tremont to purchase their real estate situated at 31 and 37 Harbor Drive in Tremont (Tremont tax map 14, lots 20 & 21) upon commercially reasonable terms, subject to Town Meeting approval, and at a purchase price not to exceed $972,000, and a closing date of no later than January 6, 2026.”
The motion was seconded and unanimously passed.
According to Town Manager Jesse Dunbar, the select board will be discussing this possible real estate acquisition in executive session again at tonight’s, Monday, June 16, select board meeting.
Other Select Board Meeting Business
Thurston’s Lobster Pound applied for a renewal of its liquor license. Dunbar told the select board that there have not been any complaints regarding Thurston’s liquor sales in the past year and the license renewal was unanimously passed by the select board.
With the new Bernard Wharf harbormaster’s office in its final stages of completion, Dunbar asked the select board for authorization to spend $8,809 to have the connectivity for the wharf’s camera system moved to the new building and to relocate at least one of the cameras. This request was approved unanimously.
The League of Towns is working on a regional collaboration effort for certain topics that affect more than one, if not all of the towns that are a part of the region, such as housing. At the last League of Towns meeting, it was suggested that the local select boards/councils start getting a regular update from the town managers on regional collaboration issues and progress. Dunbar asked the select board if he could add a regional collaboration update to the agenda as a standing item for the first board meeting of each month. This request was unanimously approved.
The next meeting of the Tremont Select Board is tonight, Monday, June 16, at 5 p.m., in the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room at the town office.
LINKS TO KNOW MORE AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED IN TREMONT
Town of Tremont Board / Committee Member Openings
The Town of Tremont is seeking volunteers for the following boards and committees:
Acadia Disposal District, 1 seat
Board of Appeals, 1 alternate seat
Harbor Committee, 2 seats (at-large); 1 seat (boat storage-repair), 1 seat riparian owner
Housing Authority, 2 seats
Library Trustees, 3 seats
Planning Board, 1 seat
Sustainability Committee, 1 seat
If you are interested in volunteering your time, please visit the Tremont Town Office Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. or call (207) 244-7204 to obtain an application, or visit our website at www.tremont.maine.gov. Applications may be submitted in person, via email to clerk@tremont.maine.gov, or by mail to PO Box 159, Bernard, ME 04612. Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on June 13, 2025.
Public Hearing - Deer Hunting
The Tremont Select Board will hold a Public Hearing on July 7, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. at the Tremont Town Office in the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room. The purpose of this hearing is to accept comments concerning allowing Deer Hunting to take place in the Town of Tremont. The options to be discussed include Expanded Archery, Resident Only, and Limited License Hunt. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.
MDI Bio Lab is Recruiting 20 Tremont Families to participate in a PFAS study
05-23-2025
In January 2024, Tremont Consolidated School (TCS) discovered PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals” ) in its drinking water, slightly above the state limit of 20 ng/L, and switched to bottled water as it explored water filtration options. MDI High School had discovered PFAS in drinking water two years earlier and now filters all drinking water at the school.
Dr. Jane Disney from MDI Biological Laboratory and Dr. Megan Romano at Dartmouth Medical School have received pilot funding for a project to help 20 families understand PFAS exposure and its impacts on child health. The project is “PFAS Understanding in Local Schools and Environments” or “PULSE”. They will work with families to identify potential PFAS sources and identify resources to limit exposure.
Events
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Telephone - 207-244-7204
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