Backside towns at a crossroad; will citizens take control or will incumbents continue to rule?

Other news: lobster pound road under state control; marijuana store owner may hold office, attorney says

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, March 26, 2022 - George Jellison’s nativist acolytes are thinning out.

That holds enormous implications, and perhaps opportunity, for the town which is facing huge price tags for deferred maintenance.

For most of Jellison’s 11-year tenure on the select board, the Main Street sidewalk project has symbolized the town’s ineptitude. After almost a decade, a shovel has yet to hit dirt. Cost? $2 million.

Cost to rebuild the town garage which has partially collapsed on the trucks parked inside? Another $2 million.

And bids are going out soon to build a new sewer plant.

No wonder Jellison said Tuesday he was reluctant to form a committee to update the comprehensive plan.

Why shine a light on the board’s woeful performance under his watch, especially before an important municipal election?

Going forward, Jellison will no longer have two members who helped him form a bloc on most issues.

Dan Norwood’s resignation March 14 with more than two years left in his term speak volumes about the state of the town.

And Chad Terry’s not seeking re-election may shift the balance of power and reshape future town policies.

The three, who often voted together along with Allen “Snap” Willey, have served longer than any other three select members the last decade.

Town manager Marilyn Lowell is recommending that Norwood not be replaced until the November general election, leaving the board with only four members for seven months.

In May, chairman Jellison will need loyalist Willey to be re-elected as a buffer against the creeping non-natives with their “fancy ideas” such as upgrading a popular skating pond and providing affordable housing for working families. Willey has an unusual number of challengers in a municipal race - five candidates for two slots, including his.

How did such a non-controversial subject as improving a beloved skating pond and housing a working family become such a lightning rod in Southwest Harbor?

Because the “Backside”of MDI - while it has a catchy allure - is more like “Backwater,” burgs isolated from ideas and events which advance their civility and functions whose elected officials make decisions based on grievances and personal relationships.

Not satisfied with just denying the request for Chris’s Pond support, Jellison let loose a full court demonization of the Conservation Commission by well-known local gadflies at the March 8 select board meeting in a perverse display of nativist chauvinism. They forced Commission Chairman James Geary to explain its legal status, its funding and purpose.

The town should be grateful that the Conservation Commission is fortified with $600,000 in funds, most of it in an endowment, owing to its excellent development efforts.

The town should be grateful that most of the operating cost of the library is privately supported, and organizations like the Common Good Soup Kitchen and Harbor House are there to provide essential needs.

The skating pond upgrade became a flash point after members of the Conservation Commission coupled it with a grant to build a small recreational area at the town landing in Manset. They would write grant proposals for both the landing and the skating pond. Who could possibly object?

In one ugly week last May, the Harbor Committee, dominated by commercial fishermen, trashed the idea of any town land be used for recreation instead of commercial use.

Almost reflexively, George Jellison rebuffed the Conservation Commission’s proposed grant at the select board meeting the next night. The one-two punch was greeted with howls, and at the 2021 town meeting in May, 118 residents voted unanimously against Jellison, Willey and Terry.

Did it make a difference that the proposals had the imprimatur of such blue chip organizations as Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Island Housing Trust and that the chief proponents of the effort were largely women - Select chair Kristen Hutchins, select member and grant writer Carolyn Ball and members of the Conservation Commission?

Are such organizations, with their out-of-town donors, anathema to Jellison, Willey, Norwood and Terry?

Kristin Hutchins made a strategic and political mistake when she resigned “in a huff” as select chair immediately after the 3-2 vote against pursuing the Chris’s Pond grants. Had she stayed, the board would have reversed itself May 25, 2021, after Terry changed his mind. That motion failed 2-2, with Jellison and Willey opposing, and Norwood absent.

Jellison has now voted against Chris’s Pond three times: May 11, 2021 when he moved to reject the idea which passed 3-2, May 25, 2021 when he voted against Terry’s change of heart and March 8, 2022 when he voted against it again, even after the town meeting vote.

And for the last year, Jellison has ridden this as personal vengeance, with no pushback from Norwood nor Willey, and only occasionally from Terry.

Meanwhile, the town is in terrible shape.

Its roads are a mess. It has the highest tax rate on MDI. It is the only town on the island which offers no recycling. Its biggest asset - the harbor - is a mosh pit of self-interest.

There is no advancement on big thorny questions - a Main Street sidewalk project entering its ninth year, an uninsurable town garage which has collapsed in parts, municipal storm water runoff and virtually no affordable housing.

Whatever good work in town owes to organizations and institution that are a distant reach from the clutches of the select board - the fire and ambulance services and the school which reports to a separate body, and, of course, the Conservation Commission.

Instead of tackling the town’s challenges, the Jellison era will be remembered as a period when the board devolved into settling petty grievances by its chairman, attacking small businesses, particularly ones owned by women, with trumped up narratives, wasting the precious time of the police chief and others, and not solving real problems the town faces.

“I can no longer be effective on the board,” wrote Dan Norwood in his resignation email to the select board March 14 in which he appeared to take a swipe at the citizens on the Conservation Commission. The QSJ left two messages on his voicemail with no reply.

“The desires of committee work are distracting and even impeding the select board’s ability to progress with critical work for the town such as an unsafe, uninsurable town garage, investment of designated funds, Manset dock safety and other infrastructure.”

Maybe if he, Willey and Terry didn’t indulge in Jellison’s pettiness and fake issues, they would have had more time to solve real problems.

SWH is not alone on the Quietside with such town-frown struggles. In Tremont, residents voted 428-215 for a moratorium against campground development last Nov. 2.

Instead of heeding to the wishes of the voters, the boards have reacted with even more antipathy toward citizens.

Municipal governance on the Quietside is facing a test of fortitude and character, as citizens clash with the strong-arm tactics of entrenched boards.

Jim Vallette, vice chair of the Warrant committee, stated in an email he supports the Chris’s Pond grants.

Candidate Natasha Johnson said she voted at the May town meeting. And since there were no votes opposing the skating pond upgrade, one may assume she voted in favor.

“If the town doesn't want to move forward with this conversation at this point in time, that's okay,” said Conservation Chair Geary. “We're basically just going to be patient and sit on the sideline for a while and see what happens.

“I think what's going on in Chris's pond is, I would argue, fairly benign. We’re trying to do something that's in the long term the best interest of the town of Southwest Harbor. Obviously, there are people who don't agree with that.”

Vallette stated in his candidate statement, “Southwest Harbor is better than this. It is a resilient, beautiful town, one that pulls together for each other when a boat comes loose or someone needs to pay medical bills or a lift. If I run, and am elected, I hope to reflect this community spirit on the Select Board.”

“We have some critical gaps in services and excess expenses, especially when it comes to our garbage. Southwest Harbor’s property tax rate is the highest on MDI, yet some of our services are among the worst. Something is off with this formula.”

FOOTNOTE: State law, Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA c. 17 - “Every elected official in the State is subject to recall by the voters of the district in which the official is elected as provided in this chapter. Grounds for recall are neglect of duty, misuse of office or incompetence in the performance of duties when that neglect of duty, misuse of office or incompetence in the performance of duties has a material and adverse effect upon the conduct of the office.”

Infrastructure, affording housing

SOUTHWEST HARBOR - The town has a closed sewer system as opposed to one combined with waste water, but that does not mean it’s free of the sludge overflow similar to the problems in Bar Harbor.

The current system can accept up to 1 million gallons of overflow before sludge overtaxes the treatment plant and flows into the harbor, said Steven Kenney, water and sewer director. The plants treats about 300,000 gallons on an average day.

The staff is constantly monitoring areas where joint openings are susceptible to water leaking into the sewers.

Climate change portends new pressure points, including many 1 million-gallon plus days of storm water and erosion from rising seas.

Select member Carolyn Ball cited the pressure on infrastructure, coastal erosion and affordable housing as areas needing updates in the comprehensive plan. The board voted to create a single committee to tackle the issues, overriding Ball’s preference for different committees. Chad Terry was the member who preferred the uber committee.

An updated comprehensive plan will enable the town to better compete for grants in these areas, Ball said.

Attorney: Marijuana store ownership should not conflict with select board seat

SOUTHWEST HARBOR - The lawyer who helped draft the town’s retail marijuana ordinance said the stricter language inserted by previous Town Manager Justin VanDongen to include select board members as a conflicted role to owning a store was an overreach and should be struck, Town Manager Marilyn Lowell reported to the select board Tuesday.

Portland attorney Ben McCall said the state law prohibited only law enforcement officers from owning a retail marijuana store, reported Lowell, who will prepare an amendment to the ordinance to remove that stricter language.

That will allow Natasha Johnson, co-owner of the only retail marijuana store in Hancock County (Meristem in the Seal Cove shopping strip) to run unencumbered for the select board in May.

At a meeting last month, select chair George Jellison and member Allen Willey voted against a motion by Carolyn Ball to amend the language, forcing the town to seek the legal opinion. The motion failed in a 2-2 vote with Terry joining Ball.

Seawall not town jurisdiction; Charlotte Lobster Pound to make parking adjustments

SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound is looking more like George Jellison’s Ukraine.

What Jellison had tried to orchestrate in his gross abuse of power turned out to be a celebration rather than a condemnation of his target - the lobster pound at Seawall which is one of the town’s most iconic businesses and an internationally acclaimed enterprise for its method of sedating lobsters before they are steamed.

Maybe Aimie Jellison Williams, George’s sister who lives across the street, just couldn’t stand Charlotte’s notoriety. Who knows?

But George Jellison dragged the town and its police resources through months of manufactured safety concerns which, at one time, threatened the future of a local business which has been at the same spot since the Sixties under different owners.

Seawall road is a “wrought way,” a state road without shoulders, select member Carolyn Ball enlightened the board Tuesday.

The town has limited jurisdiction over the road where Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound is located, police chief John Hall reported.

Owner Charlotte Gill “has come up with some pretty unique and phenomenal alternatives.” Hall reported. “The end result is that the property owners (Gill) are going to make some modification to their property on the edge of the road to physically prevent cars from parking in that area.

“The designation of that way is a wrought way. Basically what's happening is cars are parking on private property. And we can't enforce parking ordinances on private property.

“I don't foresee any ordinance changes that we need to do or address that,” Hall said.

Jellison made parking at the lobster pound an issue after his sister complained to him. He cited safety concerns even though there is no record of even a minor accident in the area. He ordered chief Hall to cordon off that area with signs and cones so that it looked like what Hall described as a “crime scene.”

At one time, Gill complained that the actions threatened the future of the lobster pound.

Gill said Tuesday one backup plan is to use available space at a friend’s lot to park cars and to shuttle the customers to the lobster pound. That house happens to abut Jellison’s driveway on Seawall Road.

The owner of the house at right on Seawall Road has offered parking space to Charlotte’s Lobster Pound customers. The house on the left is owned by Select Chair George Jellison.

The Islander Facebook page had 49 comments on its article as of this writing, with overwhelming support of Charlotte’s, including this from Terry Stanley:

“I pass that spot daily May thru October, pulling a 16' landscape trailer. In my opinion it's no worse than many other tight spots around the whole island. Driving on MDI in the summer is tough, everywhere. And, if ever a serious accident happened in that spot we would hear the "told ya so's" loud and clear. But from a distance it seems like this spot is being singled out. Don't know the owner, never eaten there, but seems like much ado about nothing. Warning signs for traffic congestion, let her run her business.”

Three commenters said the deer in front of Aimee Jellison’s house is much a more serious safety concern. She has denied feeding deer.

Bar Harbor petitioners ask town manager: Do agreements, contracts with cruise ships exist?

BAR HARBOR - What are the actual agreements between visiting cruise ships and the town?

Is it a log of schedules written on a spread sheet? Is there a form? Is it a log on a white board? Is there a contract?

The Harbor Master’s office has no such spread sheet, log or form. It refers to the schedule on https://maine.portcall.com/#!?tab=2&port=Bar%20Harbor.

No one, including town council members nor the town manager, seems to have a clue about what exactly is the town’s legal arrangements with cruise ships. Which leave the industry to claim all sorts of binding arrangements.

So if the citizens petition succeeds in November, capping visits at 1,000 persons a day, can the industry come back and claim ghost contacts unknown to any authority at Bar Harbor?

“The issue is critical in that it will largely determine the period of time over which the initiative’s limitations come into full effect, could lead to further direct legal challenges to the town by either industry or citizens, and if not absolutely legally sound, could allow the Town Council to implement restrictions earlier than they have so far been willing.

“Of considerable importance is what constitutes formal and legal ‘acceptance’ of a cruise ship’s application to visit,” Sidman stated in a letter to the Islander.

“The initiative’s supporters are mindful of the importance of not putting the town in legitimate legal jeopardy by reneging on prior, valid and accepted cruise ship ‘contracts’ (which we have been told repeatedly exist and are a major reason for Town Council reluctance to act).

“However, despite many promises, the town manager has so far not fulfilled his expressed willingness to provide the actual and definitive list of cruise ships ‘accepted’ (including when and by whom) to visit in coming years, nor the all-important legal language constituting a valid and enforceable “contract.”

“Do these actually exist? The issue is critical in that it will largely determine the period of time over which the initiative’s limitations come into full effect, could lead to further direct legal challenges to the town by either industry or citizens, and if not absolutely legally sound, could allow the Town Council to implement restrictions earlier than they have so far been willing. Stay tuned for further developments.”

Town Manager Kevin Sutherland was unreachable because he is away until Tuesday.

Also unclear are the exact number of people who disembarked in Bar Harbor in previous years.

The number of passengers reported publicly is an estimate of the passengers who booked cabins in the “lower berths” of each ship, not the actual number who come onshore. A wild card is the number of crew members who disembark. In some instances, they make up as much as half of the visitors.

The petition is prompting such questions and gaining support.

Beth Warner of Salisbury Cove wrote the Islander:

“The citizens’ initiative to limit the number of passengers disembarking downtown is fantastic!

“The circus created by cruise ships descending on Bar Harbor grew out of seriously flawed logic and this excuse: ‘Ships are needed during shoulder seasons of spring and fall.’ This false notion created an addiction of catering to cruise ships and like all addictions, it had to be fed. To do so, excuses increased along with denial of reality. Denial sees to it facts are neatly ignored, ridiculed, dismissed or obscured. Addiction works to make what is harmful appear less harmful and normalize harm. It’s insidious and sad.

“Downtown no longer needs to be mistakenly reduced to a destination where, for a few hours, passengers disembark by the boatload to spend chump change on keychains, coffee, postcards, cones and cheap crap. Passengers don’t need lodging; they are served 12 meals a day. Cruise ships are petri dishes for diseases, defy U.S. labor laws by enslaving workers below decks, routinely violate U.S. environmental laws, spew bilge and fly flags of convenience registering in Panama to avoid paying all U.S. income taxes. Constantly catering to them was a mistake. Mistakes in some cultures are seen as opportunities for healthy change. “

FOOTNOTE: SHE’S COMING BACK ….

The notorious Caribbean Princess, the subject of more than $60 million in criminal fines for rigging up a system to dump waste directly into the ocean and then not enforcing court-mandated penalties, will visit Bar Harbor 13 times starting July 30, according to Portcall.com.

In January, the parent company of the ship pleaded guilty a second time for violating a court-ordered environmental compliance program for a total of $21 million in fines.

In 2013, a “whistleblowing engineer” reported to the Coast Guard that Caribbean Princess was using a “magic pipe” to discharge oily waste off the coast of England, resulting in a 2016 conviction on seven felony charges and a $40 million fine, the largest-ever involving deliberate vessel pollution.

CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS AND AMPLIFICATIONS

The QSJ incorrectly attributed comments to Bar Harbor resident Charles Sidman in last week’s edition. Sidman is leading the citizens petition to place a 1,000 limit on cruise ship visitors starting in 2023. The QSJ regrets the error.

CLF lawyer recommends ways MRC should alter its member agreements

SOMESVILLE - The staff lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation who has been a driving force behind the effort to stop out-of-state trash from filling up the landfill in Old Town has also been monitoring the Municipal Review Committee, the regional municipal waste disposal consortium of 115 towns.

Peter Blair recently wrote these recommendations:

1. End the waste quotas. Towns shouldn’t be financially penalized for reducing their waste.

2. I completely agree that we can’t have sludge processed in the anerobic digestor. The digestor needs to be free of contaminants nothing but yard waste and unpackaged organics. Using the pulp wastewater is good for generating methane but bad for having a digestate that can be land applied or used at all. If they start using the digester to just process clean organics the digestate can be used as a soil amendment as it should be free of heavy metals, PFAS, and other chemicals of concern. This will be another revenue stream. My concern with developing a composting operation is that there may not be enough organic material for both composting and anerobic digestion. I expect the MRC will need to invest in the facility since they already have the digestor the priority should be using that for the time being to cut down on costs. Once we have source separated organics and know the total volume it may make sense to explore composting.

3. Abandon the all-in-one system. It isn’t going to work. The end products will never be marketable. You can’t unscramble the egg. We need towns to start source separating. Three waste streams at a minimum: organics, recyclables, and trash.

4. Phase out the fuel briquettes. It’s just incineration with extra steps. Focusing on real recycling where you sell the commodities can make the system profitable. In Vermont, the Chittenden Solid Waste District made $3,363,064 from the sale of processed recyclables last year. This was a 115% increase from the previous years. The U.S. recycling end markets are starting to form, and the MRC should find a way to use the existing sorting processes at the facility to separate recyclables so they can be sold.  

5. I agree that members should be able to leave. Hopefully with a properly run facility that actually focuses on recycling they won’t want to, but they still should not be locked in.

6. Clear transparent reporting that explains what is going in, what is coming out, and where it is going.

7. I don’t know enough about what is in the wastewater to have a clear idea of the best way to address that issue. My concern with having them treat it is that it would be very expensive and at the end of the day the towns are going to be the ones paying for the upgrades. Do they have any treatment processes on site now? Are they directly discharging the water to the sewer? Can it be hauled to a nearby WWTP?  Ideally they should have to manage it themselves but for the time being there may be a better solution.

It is clear MDI towns need more expertise and information from folks like Blair instead of solely relying on their public works staff and town managers who are eager to make their jobs easier.

TRIBUTE: P. Oliver Wenger

1945 - 2022

BAR HARBOR - Powell Oliver “Ollie” Wenger, 77, of Bar Harbor, Maine passed away peacefully on Saturday, Mar 12, 2022, at his home surrounded by family and friends. Born in Virginia, Ollie moved to New Jersey in 1969 after graduating from Virginia Tech, and then to Delaware when he accepted a position with DuPont where he worked as a mechanical engineer. In 1988, Ollie relocated his family to Connecticut when he was promoted to Assistant Plant Manager. After an early retirement in 1992, he and his first wife Cheri moved to Maine to assist with the operation of Windward Cottages. He took full ownership of the property in 1996 and spent the next 25 years making sure his customers had a great experience whenever they visited Maine. Through most of these years, his second wife, Kelli, enjoyed working alongside him.

Ollie was hardworking, quiet, and gentle. He enjoyed visiting with customers, many of whom were regulars for many years. They expressed that, while they loved coming to Bar Harbor, the reason they came back year after year was because of Ollie. He was always willing to go the extra mile to make their stay something special. Woodworking was also a favorite pastime which he shared with anyone who was interested. His attention to detail and methodical processes ensured that whatever he built was something that would last many years. Ollie thoroughly enjoyed being on the water, especially lobstering. He would often introduce his customers to this quintessential Maine industry with a ride to catch mackerel on the way out and an opportunity to fill a lobster trap or two before letting them help drive the boat back. He responded readily to anyone in need, both to people he knew and to complete strangers. The way Ollie chose to live his life will be his lasting legacy.

He is survived by two sons Bradley and his wife Sophie La Salle, and son William: stepdaughter SarahJoy Chaples and her partner Mike Farrington; grandchildren, Jacob, Bryce, Riley, Brady, Brian, and Nicholas; and great granddaughter, Kinsley. His grandchildren meant the world to him, and he was proud of who they are becoming. Additionally, he leaves behind his siblings and their spouses, Dottie Smucker, Carl and Sandy, Wade and Eunice, Betty, Lois, and Norman and Jeanne, along with numerous nieces and nephews. Ollie was predeceased by his parents, Powell Oliver Sr. and Hazel; his first wife, Cheri (Smith); his second wife, Kelli (Davis); and his brother, Dave.

A memorial service will be held at 1pm, May 21, 2022, at Jordan-Fernald, 113 Franklin St., Ellsworth. In honor of Ollie, in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Cancer Society, Memorial Processing Center, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com

TRIBUTE: Michael H. English

1952 - 2022

BASS HARBOR - Michael H. English, 69, passed away peacefully on March 10,2022 after many years of illness with COPD. He was born November 7, 1952, in Summit, New Jersey the son of John G. and Elizabeth R. (Vroman) English.

Michael was proud of his reputation as an accomplished finish carpenter. In 1989 he combined his skills in carpentry with his love of boats and the maritime. He moved from Henniker, New Hampshire to Mount Desert Island, Maine where he worked with custom boat builders, first Ellis Boat and then Hinckley Yachts.

Michael leaves behind a brother, John G. English and his family who live in the Philippines and his sister, Karen E. English who lives on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Services will be private.

Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com