Island Briefs
Coalition membership
BAR HARBOR A letter from the Maine Service Center Coalition requesting that the town pay $500 in dues to continue its membership was presented at last week’s Town Council meeting. The coalition serves as a clearinghouse of information, a gathering point for people with common interests, a forum for speakers to present and interact and a place for collective advocacy for the town of Bar Harbor. In addition to protecting all municipal revenue streams and modest gains of the past two years, the coalition’s priorities include addressing the need for permanent solutions to county jail funding, more responsive tax increment finance rules and regulations, changes to the general assistance burden for many of Maine’s service centers, as well as addressing the related issues of homelessness. The council voted to renew membership and appoint Town Manager Cornell Knight as the town’s representative.
Council to seek public input on cruise ships
BAR HARBOR On Tuesday, Town Council members moved to hire an outside company to create a survey to find out more about the public’s specific concerns surrounding cruise ship visitation.
“Try this, to hire an experienced professional to design, produce, compile and analyze the responses of a community survey of opinions on cruise ship visitation and to pay for this from the cruise ship fund,” proposed council member Gary Friedmann.
The motion passed unanimously.
In response to concerned citizens who would like to see some changes regarding cruise ships, council members have discussed creating a cruise ship policy to regulate the number of ships for the future.
Town Council again weighs in on cruise ships
BAR HARBOR The Bar Harbor Town Council took another step toward addressing cruise ships this week with a detailed motion that seeks to engage the citizens in future planning and limit the number that could come into town.
“I would like to propose a motion to establish cruise ship policy by developing a mailed survey of Bar Harbor residents, holding a public hearing and placing a proposed limit on the number of cruise ships and disembarking passengers on the June 2021 town meeting warrant,” said council member Gary Friedmann.
The motion carried 4-2 (Cough, Hochman). Chairman Jeff Dobbs was absent from the meeting.