SWH board okays dredging of skating pond (not the one you're thinking of)
OTHER NEWS: Siting of hazardous waste facility gets new scrutiny; M5 sailboat departs by backing out of harbor, escaping town's ordinance limiting large boats
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, July 27, 2024 - The town may get its skating pond by next winter, just not the one most residents expected.
The select board Tuesday night approved $26,500 to dredge and seal Goog’s Pond, about 100 yards uphill from the town office building, so that it may hold water.
Except for long-time locals, many - even the police dispatcher - didn’t know the pond and small picnic area next to the Ridge Apartments had a name.
The select board wrestled with how to fund the project when Scott Alley, the town’s public works foreman, suggested using its undesignated fund balance.
Town Manager Marilyn Lowell expressed reservation saying the pond project was not on the town’s “priority list.”
Member Natasha Johnson said she was okay with using the fund balance. Member Jim Vallette added,
“I think there are a lot of people in town who want Goog’s Pond restored. It's going to be an additional skating area, especially for younger kids, because the other pond is more of a hockey pond. It'll spread out that usage. So it'll be a pretty cheap town, recreational area.”
The “other pond” Vallette referred to is Chris’s Pond, where work is “on hold,” Lowell said, “pending the transfer of land from Maine Coast Heritage Trust to private landowners. It's really complicated.”
When the idea of community fund-raising to pay for the cost arose, Lowell said that would definitely push the question into the next fiscal year.
Noah Burby, the newest select member, then said he believed once the pond was restored, the Conservation Commission, volunteers and skaters would coalesce to maintain and even improve the pond. He moved to use the undesignated fund and was second by Chapin McFarland.
Contractors preferred to start in August, to avoid the fall, Alley said.
The dredging will include taking down trees which have grown in the Pond, he said.
“You've got that big drainage ditch on the backside. They're going to fill that in, and that should seal up the pond so it will hold water.”
The pond is “man made” and therefore will not require DEP permitting, he said, in answer to a question. It also has adjacent municipal parking, which is a big gating factor at Chris’s Pond.
“And you'll gain more real estate as far as lawn area, and they're gonna try to get the pond little bit deeper. It's gonna look pretty nice,” Alley said.
Conflict of interest raised in siting of household hazardous waste facility in SWH
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Select board member Jim Vallette is ratcheting up his scrutiny of Acadia Disposal District, which has proposed using the transfer station here to site a regional household hazardous waste facility.
He raised the question of whether the consultant hired by the district has a conflict of interest because it also does work for the transfer station owned by Eastern Maine Recycling Inc.
“Turns out Haley Ward (consultant) also has as a client EMR; did some groundwater monitoring at the EMR site.
“I looked into the code of ethics for engineers. It's their responsibility to inform a quasi municipal body like Acadia Disposal District that there is a conflict,” Vallette said.
Haley Ward is assisting in the selection of a site for the facility. But so far only the transfer station here has been considered.
I asked Tony Smith, president of the district, why other towns were not considered such as the transfer station on Sargeant Drive in Northeast Harbor, which is much more centrally located on MDI. Others have eyed the Hancock County airport in Trenton. He did not respond.
The EMR facility here would require residents to drive on Rt. 102, one of the busiest arteries on MDI, and onto Seal Cove Road past a busy shopping strip and then onto Long Pond Road, a densely populated residential neighborhood.
Vallette said he was not aware of Haley Ward’s conflict until recently. Previously, he said he was hearing “quite a bit of concern” from residents and that they would like more information.
The district was awarded $350,000 in federal funds last year for a regional repository for household hazardous waste.
Acadia Disposal District consists of the towns of Cranberry Isles, Frenchboro, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Tremont and Trenton. It seeks to manage waste disposal collectively and consolidate its bargaining power.
Southwest Harbor rejoined as a member last year to seek leverage in its negotiations with EMR for a new contract. When the other towns demurred, SWH stayed in the consortium to have a voice in the siting of the hazardous waste facility.
The QSJ has written in the past about Tony Smith’s conflict of interest as representing Mount Desert and as a member of the board of Municipal Review Committee which provides solid waste disposal services to 115 towns, including all four on MDI. The regional MRC waste-to-energy plant in Hampden failed in May 2020 after operating only seven months. Most of the trash since then has been going to landfills and all the towns have had to scramble to seek their own recycling solutions.
This week, Vallette also said the Acadia district board at his request is developing rules for length of terms served by members which now do not exist. Smith, for instance, said he has been involved with the district for 22 years.
As M5 departs SWH, harbor master casts wary eye on ordinance regulating large vessels
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Well, that was fun while it lasted. New harbor master Rob Leavitt, though, will be keeping watch for the return of the sailboat M5.
The boat left Friday after a 10-day stay. The 255-foot craft had to back out of the harbor because there was no room to turn around. It wasn’t until it passed the Coast Guard station was it able to come about.
The town has an ordinance which gives the harbor master great discretion on regulating vessels longer than 150 feet.
“No Vessel larger than one hundred fifty (150) feet may enter Southwest Harbor coastal waters without notifying the Harbormaster of an approved float plan. The Harbormaster will allow or deny entry based on navigation safety, and appropriate mooring options.”
Leavitt was not given any notice when M5, said to be the largest single masted sailboat in the world, pulled into the dock at Dysart’s marina in mid July.
Leavitt, who started as harbor master July 1, said he was caught off guard when he saw the sailboat come into the harbor.
Although the ordinance allowed vessels up to 150 feet, Leavitt said he is more comfortable with a maximum of 125 feet, or even 100 feet. Southwest Harbor is the largest and busiest port on MDI, with fishing boats competing in the traffic lanes with recreational boats, ferries, barges and other commercial vessels.
The depth of the boat is equally as important as length. Nine to 12 feet is the prevailing low tide in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Bass Harbor.
M5’s swing keel has a maximum depth of 33.5 feet under sail and 12.5 at the dock.
None of the other harbors in MDI may accommodate a boat with a 255-foot length.
Southwest Harbor’s waterfront has a reputation as an absentee landlord, said one mariner. It had five harbor masters in four years with the job vacant for much of that time.
“Half the time we didn’t even know if they had a harbor master,” he said.
So boat captains call marinas directly instead of getting no responses from calling the harbor master’s office, he said.
Harbor masters also must walk a tight rope because visiting vessels are big economic generators in Coastal Maine. Not only do they benefit marinas with dockage fees and fuel purchases, they also stock up on equipment and supplies. The M5 carried more than 20 crew members who no doubt patronized the local pubs and restaurants.
It also drew onlookers who could dine at the Upper Deck restaurant and Beal’s Lobster Pound where there were clear views of the boat.
The local ordinance was enacted after residents voted unanimously in 2017 to ban cruise ships.
Fortification of Harbor Drive embankment in Bass Harbor ‘virtually complete,’ DOT says
TREMONT - The DOT’s regional office said this week the other major road project on the Quietside - the fortification of the bank of Harbor Drive in Bass Harbor so it doesn’t fall into the ocean - is virtually complete.
There was two-way traffic Wednesday through Friday last week.
But the orange cones still haven’t been replaced.
Harbor Drive is the main entry point from Rt. 102 into Bass Harbor. DOT’s repair coincided with the closure of Seawall Road. Both roads opened around the same time.
Summer culture guide composed by Rolling Stone editors? Concerts, new records, books, places to travel and Leonard Leo protest
NORTHEAST HARBOR - Rolling Stone, the mag not the band, has published a list of things to do this summer. No. 3 on the list? Protest in front of Leonard Leo’s summer home!
Protesters will be out in force tomorrow Sunday at 2 p.m. Here is the item:
