Row of huge utility poles punctuates Northeast Harbor's troubled Main Street project
Other news: Road work on the Quietside; Aquafarm appeals rejection; revaluations in all MDI towns soon underway
NORTHEAST HARBOR - May 28, 2022 - Is this what the town intended?
Twelve utility behemoths which replaced wooden poles now line Main Street like a row of landing-light towers at an international airport.
Over budget, way behind schedule and having tested the patience of every local business, the project to rebuild Main Street is coming in for a hard landing, with a look and feel more appropriate for a maximum security facility than a quaint New England village.
Carefully chiseled by generations of half percenters, Northeast Harbor was an elegant and understated hamlet for the various Rockefellers and Astors. Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard for four decades, was a founder of the town as a summer enclave for the wealthy and influential. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor, summered here. His daughter Mika, and hubby Joe Scarborough, still do.
It started out as an initiative to bury all the unsightly overhead wires and cables hanging over and down Main Street and to create a parklet at the south end of Main Street. There were infrastructure improvements such as replacing the century old water conduits and widening the sidewalks. The annual town meeting approved the $4 million project in May 2018.
After multiple meetings with stakeholders, a “Community Outreach Report” by consultants Todd Richardson and CES Engineering laid out the major considerations in August 2018. https://www.mtdesertprojects.com/_files/ugd/72714b_4dce856f71fe493d90ab5b25edf086c5.pdf
“Burying the existing utilities on Main Street allows for optimum use of the proposed utility corridor on Main Street,” the consulting team wrote. “The majority of utility entrances that currently exist for businesses served from the overhead utilities on Main Street are located nearer the front of the buildings. Shorter conduit runs for individual services to businesses are achieved by utilizing Main Street as a corridor for the underground utilities.
So what happened?
A deus ex machina in the form of a citizens petition changed everything in September 2018, when a second town meeting overrode the May decision and the Board of Selectmen voted that October to cut down the project by burying the wires only on one side of Main Street and to eliminate the parklet. The price tag though would still be slightly under $4 million, Town Manager Durlin Lunt said then.
The petition was largely driven by some Main Street business owners and others who complained that the planning process had involved too little public deliberation and engagement, according to the Islander’s Dick Broom.
“They objected to the cost of burying the utilities and the disruption it would cause, saying it would severely hurt their businesses,” Broom reported.
Some of the petitioners wanted to move the utility poles to Tracy Road, behind Main Street. But the consulting team had dismissed that idea.
“Servicing businesses from behind Tracy Road will require permanent easements to be granted from a number of neighboring properties. This could be challenging, time consuming, and costly. Furthermore, the installation of additional services from behind Main Street may restrict the development potential for many of the businesses both on Main Street and those that are adjacent to Main Street.”
As it turned out, a maze of required easements on Main Street - 35 in all - held up the project in 2021 which was now behind schedule by 18 months, and still in flux. In the end the town saved only about $500,000 from the original $4 million and the disruption to business was massive.
One town official told QSJ, “The whole business really ripped the town apart - lots of bad feelings on all sides. There is a vein of hostility and resentment that runs deep through this town, and this brought out the worst in everyone.”
Lost in the fog of combat, very few questioned the aesthetics. The giant towers were installed silently and without fuss last winter, everyone so relieved the project had some forward progress. Only extreme winter weather hampered the installation, causing delays.
As summer people descend, there will be plenty of talk - some murmured whispers, others loud and contentious. This has already started.
When I oversaw the Living/Arts section back at the Boston Globe, I would simply summon Bob Campbell, our Pulitzer winning architecture critic, to opine on such matters.
I have no idea what Campbell would say about the towers.
I am fairly certain though that the industrialized incarnation of Northeast Harbor 2022 is not going to sit well with the Comfortable Class.
And the project is not complete. Per an agreement, the contractor will halt work and come back after Labor Day to put down more asphalt over the thin coat it layered over the dirt this week.
Traffic stalled on Babson Creek bridge as DOT begins planning for replacement
SOMESVILLE - Motorists got a glimpse this week of what traffic might be like in 2024 when the state begins to replace the bridge on one of the most traveled roads on MDI.
The bridge over Babson Creek at the intersection of Routes 198 and 102 just south of the Somesville Post Office is the major connector between the Quietside and Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor. It was built in 1949.
On Wednesday and Thursday, traffic was one lane as workers took borings under the bridge.
Maine DOT project manager Andrew Lathe said the state has yet to decide on which of several options when work starts. They are:
Detour traffic through Crooked Road
Build a one-lane temporary bridge
Build a two-lane temporary bridge
More traffic woes on the Quietside
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - About six ramps on Route 102 from Somesville through the center of town will be reconstructed this summer, affecting traffic.
“The Maine Department of Transportation is currently working on estimating a project to reconstruct various curb ramps on Route 102 in the Town of Southwest Harbor that were impacted by 2020 LCP Projects,” said Randall Barrows Senior Project Manage.
“The subject project will be advertised for competitive bids in June of 2022. Construction will occur during the summer months; exact start and completion dates will be forwarded once a schedule from the Contractor has been reviewed and approved.”
The purpose is upgrade the ramps to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Meanwhile the DOT has completed the light capital paving of all 12.4 miles of Rt. 102 stretching from Pretty Marsh through Tremont.
The LCP program is used by the state to apply a thin maintenance surface treatment on a seven-year cycle on 600 miles of roads a year. The intent of this program is not to preserve or improve the roads, but rather to maintain the safety and serviceability of these roadways for the traveling public. That stretch has deteriorated badly the last several years with potholes and cracks.
American Aquafarms asks court to reinstate application for Frenchman Bay sites
SOMESVILLE - As previously reported by Bangor Daily News, American Aquafarms is appealing the state's decision to terminate its application for two salmon raising sites in Frenchman Bay.
You may read the entire court document by clicking here.
In its appeal filed May 19, the company contends the state created an "arbitrary" deadline by giving American Aquafarms between November of last year and March of this year to address the issue of having insufficient testing for its AquaBounty egg supply.
The company said it filed the appeal because the state's decision was a "capricious action" and was "unsupported by the evidence."
On April 19, Maine's Department of Marine Resources terminated American Aquafarms' application for its site, citing the company's inability to submit any documentation on the strain of eggs it planned to import from GM salmon producer AquaBounty's Rollo Bay Canada facility in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
American Aquafarms said the state failed to give it enough time to respond to objections to the testing data concerning AquaBounty eggs.
In its termination decision in April, the state said the company was not barred from submitting a new application, but needed to supply adequate information on its egg supply.
FOOTNOTE: Henry Sharpe, president of Frenchman Bay United, which is opposing the aqua farm, wrote to say that a chart published last week by the QSJ on nitrogen emission contained information from only one lease. The correct chart is below:
Spiking housing prices prompt new revaluation
BAR HARBOR - Not less than a year after the last revaluation, the town is poised to conduct another one in 2024, at a cost of $400,000.
That’s because the 2020-21 effort was not a full reval, said assessor Steve Weed. Plus, the price of housing from April 2021 to April 2022 increased 20 percent, putting the town close to non-compliance with state law which requires assessments to be no lower than 70 percent of actual value.
The last reval trangulated data points, such as sales of homes in different parts of town. A full reval will require visits by assessment professionals to every property looking out for improvements or deferred maintenance so a more accurate comparison may be possible.
The Town of Mount Desert is in the midst of a partial reval, costing about $77,000, said assessor Kyle Avila.
Southwest Harbor is about to launch a full reval for $92,500 which will affect the 2024 tax year. Tremont is also undertaking an $77,000 full reval.
Revaluations always produce winners and losers. The 2020-21 reval here recalled homes in downtown getting a larger share of the increase in assessment because that neighborhood was in greater demand than other parts of town.
Cara Ryan seeks write-in for warrant committee
BAR HARBOR - Warrant Committee member Cara Ryan has decided to seek re-election as a write-in candidate.
“I've served on warrant for two years now and thought I'd take a break, but with so many challenges facing Bar Harbor - from our huge needs in housing, public works and schools to managing over tourism and supporting year-round residents - it feels important to stick with the work as well as give citizens more options for their vote,” she stated.
“There are excellent people running - veterans Julie Berberian &andBob Chaplin, but also Louise Lopez who volunteered when we had a vacancy last winter and became a solid asset during the budget review.
“We all try to bring an impartial, wide view to the issues we consider to help voters navigate ballot items with a little more confidence. And we're working more closely now with council in the annual budget review - to help shape priorities and support them with the funding they need. I hope Bar Harbor sees more applicants to warrant and other committees in future years. We need everyone to be part of the process.”
Sawyer’s Specialties opens second store in NEH
NORTHEAST HARBOR - The only cheese store worth visiting on MDI opened its second store on Thursday here on Main Street.
Scott Worcester now has stores on Main Street in both NEH and Southwest Harbor. NEH store manager Alexi H. van Heerden introduced me to a marinated combination of sheep and goat cheese from Meredith Dairy this morning. The stores also have a solid selection of fairly priced wines.
Lincoln’s Log
NORTHEAST HARBOR - I am grateful to Shaw’s Jewelry for including my work in its annual exhibit of local artists.
“An artistic tradition for 22 years, the MDI Open is an opportunity for Mount Desert Island artists to present their recent paintings, sculpture and craft to the local community,” Shaw’s stated on Facebook. “About 50 local artists show one piece in this non-juried event. The range is dynamic in media, technique and experience. Come see what your neighbors have created!”
The opening was Thursday. The exhibit will run through June 16.
My piece, called “Seasons,” was created on an iPad and then rendered onto canvas. If it sells, I will donate my portion the Neighborhood House.
Tribute: Helen Bomberger Barry
1921 - 2022
BAR HARBOR - Helen (Bomberger) Barry, formerly of Richland, Pennsylvania, and an 11-year resident of Birch Bay Retirement Village, Bar Harbor, Maine, passed away peacefully at 100 years of age on May 16, 2022.
Born in Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania, Helen was the daughter of the late Elmer J. and Tillie (Royer) Bomberger. Helen was also predeceased by her sister, Gladys Bomberger, and loving husband of nearly 30 years, Carl A. Barry.
Helen was a 1939 graduate of Richland High School and a 1943 graduate of West Chester University. She was a devoted second grade teacher in the Eastern Lebanon County School District. Throughout her 33-year teaching career, she was known to inspire her students to pursue their skills and passions. Upon her retirement, Helen’s sense of adventure and love of learning led her to travel the world, visiting Europe, Australia, Asia, and many places in between. Helen also discovered a passion for quilting, in which she invested much of her time and talent. She proudly hand-stitched all of her quilts and generously gifted most of her masterpieces to her church, family and loved ones.
Helen was family-oriented and deeply rooted in her faith and the Richland community. She was a member at Grace United Church of Christ (U.C.C.) in Richland, and later the Somesville Union Meeting House U.C.C. in Maine. She also attended services with her daughter at the Union Congregational Church of Hancock and the Bar Harbor Congregational Church where her son-in-law held interim pastoral positions. She enjoyed volunteering in her community and daily walks and coffee with her neighbors. She enjoyed cooking and entertaining, and never missed an opportunity to play the piano or step onto the dance floor. Beloved by her students, Richland community, Birch Bay staff, and many friends and family, Helen’s quick wit and zest for life brought joy to all who knew her.
She is survived by her daughter Pamela B. Bowie and her husband Rev. Keith Bowie of Mount Desert, ME; son J. Philip Barry, Wood Ridge, NJ; and also, three grandchildren, Kristin Seifert and her husband Torsten of Prosper, TX; John Bowie and his wife Melissa of Penfield, NY; Patricia Bowie of Somerville, MA, and five great grandchildren: Sebastian, Christopher, and Alexandra Seifert, and Lia and Evelyn Bowie. Also, Helen was a wonderful aunt to her niece and nephews.
Helen’s life will be celebrated with family and friends at the Birch Bay Retirement Village in early summer. A memorial service in Pennsylvania will be held at a later date. Donations may be made in Helen’s name to any of the churches she attended: Grace U.C.C., 22 Church St, Richland, PA 17087; Somesville Union Meeting House U.C.C., P.O. Box 96, Mt. Desert, ME 04660; Union Congregational Church of Hancock, P.O. Box 443, Hancock, ME 04640, or Bar Harbor Congregational Church, 29 Mt. Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609. Helen’s family extends their deepest gratitude to the medical and professional staff at Birch Bay, Northern Light Hospice, and Mount Desert Island Hospital for their thoughtful caregiving.
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com