Southwest Harbor navigates staff changes
SOUTHWEST HARBOR There have been a lot of changes at the Southwest Harbor Town Office in the last couple of months that are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Currently, town officials are in the process of figuring out how to conduct a search for a permanent town manager and a police chief. Since the removal of Town Manager Justin VanDongen at the Jan. 26 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Dana Reed has agreed to be the interim town manager until a permanent replacement is hired.
During their meeting Tuesday night, members of the Board of Selectmen signed a findings of fact statement that was drawn up by the town’s attorney regarding VanDongen’s dismissal. It states the board decided to remove the town manager for “convenience. As described in the contract, convenience means ‘without cause.’”
Island Briefs February 18, 2021 on News
A native of Northeast Harbor, Durlin E. Lunt Jr. has lived in Mount Desert all his life. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN SWARTZ
Town treasurer job upgraded
MOUNT DESERT The Board of Selectmen has approved Town Manager Durlin Lunt’s recommendation to upgrade the position of treasurer/tax collector to director of finance/treasurer. That action reverses a decision made in 2011 when, Lunt said, it had become hard to find someone who was capable or willing to take on the extra responsibilities of finance director.
Now, however, he told the board, “As governmental finance continues to evolve in complexity, the time has come to return to the finance director model.”
Island Briefs
Zoom meeting to gauge interest in supported living
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND ─ Do you have a family member with disabilities who lives at home but who wants to live more independently?
Join Janet Hamel, whose daughter Marty dreams of having her own place downtown, for a Zoom meeting on Thursday, Feb. 18, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. to explore what interest there may be in establishing a housing situation in Bar Harbor for those with disabilities to live independently, but with support.
For meeting details or questions, contact Hamel at [email protected] or (207) 460-7008.
Grant application approved for in-cruiser printers
BAR HARBOR A motion to authorize the police department to apply for a Maine Bureau of Highway Safety grant to facilitate the use of a statewide electronic citations system was approved by Town Council members at their Feb. 2 meeting.
One appeal denied, one withdrawn for proposed campground
TREMONT Representatives of the proposed Pointy Head Campground project withdrew their administrative appeal during the second phase of a hearing before the town’s Board of Appeals on Jan. 7.
During the first phase of the Board of Appeals hearing in December, members of the board unanimously denied a variance appeal from the campground’s representatives before tabling the administrative appeal to seek assistance from the town’s attorney. In determining whether there was basis for an appeal, board members wanted to understand how the town’s Land Use Ordinance and Site Plan Review Ordinance were to be considered in proposed construction projects.