Cost for legal fees will have to come from town’s budget
BAR HARBOR—The town’s municipal insurance has said it would not cover for the legal claim of Charles Sidman who has filed against the town councilors for not immediately enacting and enforcing cruise ship disembarkation limits approved by town voters in November 2022.
This means that the town will have to pay those legal fees out of its budget for next year. It’s currently not known how much those fees will be. The legal costs for the town related to the initiative and its defense in federal court have so far been more than $300,000.
The denial of claim came April 16. The town’s insurer is through Maine Municipal Association. The denial stated that it is “not covered by the coverage certificate” and which excludes any suit “seeking injunctive or non-pecuniary relief” and also because of “ultimate net loss.”
Claims representative Nick McDaniels wrote, “The relief sought by the plaintiffs is non-pecuniary in nature. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction and declaratory judgement.” That means that the town and its councilors’ legal fees and needs are not covered.
Sidman, lead petitioner in the citizens’ initiative for cruise ship disembarkation limits said that he was filing an administrative appeal within the town “to overturn a March 6 decision by the Town Council to keep the upcoming season intact.”
He has also filed a case in Hancock County Superior Court, where he is also suing individual councilors.
The changes require a disembarkation limit to 1,000 passengers per day or there would be fines and also requires that the changes be part of the town’s land use ordinance, which typically covers zoning and development issues.
For this season, the Council had decided to allow pre-existing cruise ships (booked before a certain date) to continue their visits to Bar Harbor without abiding by the limits which were upheld by Judge Lance Walker. APPLL (a group of some local businesses and supporters) filed a notice to appeal Walker’s decision.
BAR HARBOR’S INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE SUIT
The town had issued a press release in early April vowing “to defend the citizens of Bar Harbor against two recent actions involving control of cruise ship impacts in the community.”
The release said, “Following the federal court win, the council, recognizing that local regulations were insufficient for the proper enforcement of the ordinance, announced that reservation requests received after the November 2022 vote should not be accepted. This means that around 92 visits have been excluded from the 2024 season and an additional 80 were not accepted for the 2025 season.
“Immediately prior to Charles Sidman’s filing, the Town had been working with Sidman and his attorneys moving full speed ahead to draft and implement the rules necessary to enforce the ordinance now upheld by the courts.
“It’s unfortunate that, especially in an extremely tight budget year, any individual or group would pursue frivolous litigation over healthy political dialogue. This only serves to divert attention and resources from other important issues while unfairly adding to the tax burden of their friends and neighbors,” Town Council Chair Valerie Peacock said at the time.
Sidman had countered that the Bar Harbor Town Council issued a decision to not immediately follow the new changes without publicly recording their vote, ignored the changes’ effectiveness date for a later one, and expanded the 2024 season.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
- Superior Court Rule 80B Complaint Sidman v. Town of Bar Harbor et al
- Cover letter for Administrative Appeal filed April 2, 2024
- Application for Administrative Appeal filed April 2, 2024
- Town Council statement of March 6, 2024
Updated: Sidman Sues Council
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