Town Council Holds Two Executive Sessions, One About Town Manager Search
JUN 29, 2023
BAR HARBOR—The Bar Harbor Town Council had a special meeting on June 28 where they went into two executive sessions. The first was to discuss the town manager search. The second was to consult with the town attorney on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with cruise lines.
The MOAs are the town’s agreements with cruise lines about when they can visit and other details. These documents are currently being used as the town waits for a decision in a federal court case concerning visitation caps of 1,000 passengers a day, a cap voted in by residents last November. Prior to that cap, in August, a split Town Council (5-2) finalized those MOAs with cruise ships, shortening the season by no longer allowing visits in November and April, and lowering passenger caps. That November, town voters decreased the disembarkations to 1,000 a day and used a different mechanism that is not MOAs. That change is currently being contested in federal court with a court date in July and expected decision in late August or early September.
American Cruise Lines’ Charlie Robertson, president and CEO, was at the Wednesday meeting after the Council left executives sessions. He proposed two amendments to the MOA and apologized for his cruise line’s violation of the MOA due to an unscheduled arrival in June.
The cruise line anchored the 170-person vessel, the American Constitution, within Bar Harbor waters without a confirmed reservation on June 15.
Robertson said he understood and accepted the town’s position on the exemption for ships with less than 200 passengers. The cruise line believed that they could make requests after January because of that exemption. The town disagreed and fined the ship the cost of port fees.
“We operate in over 100 towns in the country. We don’t have fights in any of them,” he said, adding that he was determined to not make it a fight. “I hope that we can continue a very, very positive relationship.”
He said that they found out about the lack of approval in March. “I apologize for the unfair position that we put you all in. I appreciate not delving into areas that extend beyond American Cruise Lines.”
The Council unanimously denied both of his requests. The first was to approve all the requests for the 170-passenger American Constitution. The second was to allow all the cruise lines’ small ships to anchor at Anchorage A rather than Anchorage B, which is the primary anchorage for cruise ships no matter their size.
“Anchorage A is a much easier tendering operation for us,” Robertson said. He also believes it is safer. He said there isn’t a good mechanism for them to request the anchorage in the town’s policy and that is also because of the MOA’s wording.
Harbormaster Chris Wharff said that in inclement weather they can call the harbormaster’s office and request the anchorage.
“I’m sorry. If we had a disagreement about something, we should have addressed it when we found out about it,” Robertson told the council.
Vice Chair Gary Friedmann thanked him for coming in and presenting the requests. Friedmann said the MOAs were clear and he didn’t want to create precedent for the council to break MOAs in the middle of a season.
Councilor Matthew Hochman said the discussion of Anchorage A could occur at the MOA renegotiation or a later date.
Council Chair Valerie Peacock thanked Robertson for his apology and for coming in.
Robertson said the cruise line feels caught in the crossfire a little bit because of the large cruise ships but understood the town’s position.
The discussion came after the councilors left two consecutive executives sessions. An original item on the agenda to fix errors in the paid and permit parking policy update was removed from the agenda. The Council went into its first executive session at 6:32 p.m. and left at 7 p.m. There was no action after that session, which was about the town manager search. The town has been without a town manager since January after the departure of Kevin Sutherland. It is currently involved in a search with Maine Municipal Association taking the lead.
The Council then entered its second executive session and finished approximately 30 minutes later. The meeting was not streamed on Town Hall Streams, but was available to be viewed on Zoom. Councilor Kyle Shank attended via Zoom. The rest of the councilors attended in person at the Bar Harbor Municipal Building on Cottage Street.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Town and Cruise Line Come To An Agreement
UPDATED: TOWN ALLEGES CRUISE SHIP VISIT VIOLATION
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