VIA Holds Off on Glen Mary Lease Renewal While Hoping to Fast Track Revitalization
Wading pool work needs still being determined
BAR HARBOR—The town’s lease for Glen Mary Woods needs to be renewed for the town to work on the Glen Mary Pool, and according to interim Town Manager Sarah Gilbert, a proposed lease that was emailed to the Village Improvement Association on June 12 was not immediately accepted.
“The proposed lease was emailed to Dick Cough, VIA President, on June 12, 2023 and on June 15, 2023, he let me know the VIA was going to hold off on extending the lease,” Gilbert said.
The Village Improvement Association 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 last July.
At the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting on Monday, committee member Jeff Dobbs, who is also on the Village Improvement Association’s board said, “The VIA would very much like to take on the project.”
According to Gilbert, the updates to the lease are in item #7. It requires the VIA to fund the vegetation management plan (VMP) and to present such plan to the Parks and Recreation Committee for public comment. “Also, the final sentence of that paragraph is new,” she said.
That final sentence begins, "Any annual funds needed to implement the final VMP above the amount funded in the town’s annual budget will be provided by the VIA or deferred to a future budget year."
Cough told the Bar Harbor Story that there is still an active lease that doesn’t expire until 2024. “The new lease hasn’t been rejected; it is only on hold until the VIA determines to what degree we want to be involved in the project. As you know, the Town is extremely busy with other projects and if we can take some of the responsibilities off their plate perhaps we can fast track things.”
“Aside from getting it done as soon as possible, the VIA Board wants to make sure we build a safe and fun environment we can all be proud of that is accessible for not only toddlers, but pregnant mothers, handicapped people, and anyone else who wishes to use the facility. We also hope the town will provide financial support to complete the project since this is for the entire community. Once completed, we don’t see anything operating any different than it has in the past or does now. We have an excellent relationship with the town and want to assure that it continues. The VIA has been designing, constructing, and beautifying village parks and the Shore Path since 1881,” Cough said.
Though multiple people were attending the committee meeting specifically to hear an update, there was no update. Public Works Director Bethany Leavitt was not attending. Gilbert took her place as the staff member present.
Chair John Kelly said of the Glen Mary project, “The town is still in the process of due diligence, water tabling, mapping . . . ”
“We want to make sure both Sarah and Bethany are in the loop and on board with our plan and that we utilize their expertise and anything they may have already accomplished concerning Glen Mary such as surveys, engineering studies, etc..,” Cough said via email. He was not at the Monday night meeting. A discussion of the Glen Mary Pool was not an item on the agenda, but it is regularly asked about by members of the public attending and Monday was no different. Leavitt also typically gives an update about the project during her comments.
One member of the public said that they felt like progression on the project was like “plodding along in molasses.”
“This town is trying to fix its sewer system. It’s pretty important. She has a lot on her plate,” Kelly said of Leavitt. The member of the public said that they understood.
During an impromptu end-of-the-meeting discussion, Dobbs said that there were some positions that needed to be worked out in the lease about the roles of the town and the VIA.
Kelly added that there are things in the covenants for the land that are issues and they may need to change the language involved. Gilbert said tree management was outlined in the newly proposed lease. The lease had modifications that had been mentioned previously, she said.
In July, the Parks and Recreation Committee met at the site of the currently empty and embattled Glen Mary Park wading pool trying to determine if the pool will be history soon, too. 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.
The park was originally conveyed to the Village Improvement Association by Mary Shannon in a deed dated in 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,” Cough said at that July meeting. “Basically, she wanted the trees taken care of and there to be a park for everyone enjoy.”
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
http://barharborvillageimprovementassociation.com/who-we-are/