Harbormaster to join police department
BAR HARBOR The Bar Harbor Town Council voted Tuesday night to restructure the harbor department, merging it with the police department, and to appoint Bar Harbor police special services Sergeant Chris Wharff to be the new harbormaster starting next month.
With longtime Harbormaster Charlie Phippen set to retire in May, police Chief James Willis proposed integrating the harbor department with the police department and adding the harbormaster duties to the current special services sergeant job, the latter of which is currently seasonal.
The new position would be full-time and responsible for managing parking, cruise activities and the harbormaster’s current duties. In the winter months, the harbormaster could also fill shifts in the police patrol position.
Ferry terminal eyed for demolition
BAR HARBOR Bar Harbor town officials are looking at the possibility of demolishing the deteriorating former state ferry terminal and turning it into a municipal marina.
The idea from the Harbor Committee was presented to the Town Council Tuesday night by committee member and state representative Lynne Williams, and the two groups are expected to meet possibly as soon as June to hash some of the big–picture questions about the future of the 121 Eden Street site.
Some councilors had prior reservations about employing the wrecking ball, but now they all seemed to be on board with the need to demolish the failing terminal that the town purchased in 2018.
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Bar Harbor feels effects of Canada’s cruise ship ban
BAR HARBOR The cruise ship industry has been dealt another blow, this time from the Canadian government, which has extended its ban of all cruise ships (with more than 100 passengers) in Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022.
This move essentially ends the season for the port of Bar Harbor due to a federal law known as the Passenger Services Vessel Act of 1886 that requires foreign–flagged ships traveling between U.S. destinations to stop at a foreign port.
These prohibitions also kept cruise ships from docking in town during the entire 2020 season.