Town Accepts Gifts for Fire Department, Solar Contract Approved

Carrie Jones

Jul 22, 2025

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Paradis Ace Hardware.

MOUNT DESERT—In an attempt to avoid litigation, the Mount Desert Select Board and Asticou Hotel have entered into an administrative agreement, it was announced after a select board executive session and regular meeting vote, July 21.

The Asticou Hotel announced on July 19 that it was open after extensive renovations for the Northeast Harbor historic hotel.

The issues were related to the Maine Uniform Plumbing Code and compliance over shower stalls in multiple rooms. Some issues have to do with toilet clearance, which is also part of the state’s plumbing codes. Other rooms were found compliant.

The consent agreement concerns the town’s code enforcement officer’s inspections throughout July where she observed alleged violations. There needs to be work performed to abate those violations in certain hotel guest rooms. The agreement also says that the property owner has been working in good faith to resolve those violations.

It also states that the consent agreement is meant to eliminate the violations of the town’s ordinance, but that the agreements “may allow an illegal structure or use to continue indefinitely” in such cases where the removal of the structure or use will result in a great threat or hazard to public heath or safety.

The town will issue certificates of occupancy for compliant units and those mentioned in an addendum, but not for room 305.

The occupancy certificate will be for between 105-135 days depending on the “timely cure” for the rooms.

Room 305 cannot be occupied until it has a final cure for its violation. The Asticou will pay for the town’s legal fees of $3,000 and a consolidated fee of $2,000.

The Asticou is owned by Tim Harrington who owns three hotels on MDI and one of his goals in renovating older hotels such as the Asticou, the Claremont in Southwest Harbor, and even the Salt Cottages (formerly the Colony Cottages) in Bar Harbor is preservation, he said earlier this month.

The original inn building has 50 freshly renovated rooms. In addition to those 50 rooms, there will be 15 standalone cottages called “Asticou Village.” There are also 17 spa terrace suites, each with a private harbor-view terrace.

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OTHER BUSINESS

In other business, the board accepted the resignations of Averel Wilson and Rick Wheeler from the Mount Desert Economic Development Community.

On Friday, August 22 from 4-6 p.m., the Neighborhood House will host a retirement party honoring outgoing manager Durlin Lunt, who has announced his retirement at the end of August. Lunt also received his Maine Town, City, and County Management Association Certificate.

Public Works Director Brian Henkel said the town has “been really short handed” in the public works department. The board also spoke of the MaineDOT’s Babson Brook Bridge replacement project.

“I’m pretty impressed. It’s relatively smooth sailing,” Secretary Geoff Wood said.

Babson Bridge carries Route 3 and Route 198 over the Kitteredge Brook, which is located 0.09 miles east of Route 102 in Mount Desert.

According to a MaineDOT release in March, “On-site construction of the new bridge will begin on Tuesday, August 5th and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027. Construction will take place Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 6 P.M. No weekend work is planned. Throughout construction there will be a lane width restriction of 11 feet. The contractor for this project is T-Buck Construction of Turner. The contract amount is approximately $5.2 million.”

The town approved an operation and maintenance contract with ReVision Energy for the solar array located on the town garage.

The board also accepted an unconditional monetary gift from Chris Campbell to the Mount Desert Fire Department in the amount of $500 and a conditional monetary gift from Mary R. Morgan to the Mount Desert Fire Department in the amount of $1,500 in support of the town’s ambulance service.

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COURT AND RINK RENOVATIONS APPROVED

Last week, the town’s planning board gave the okay to renovations at the town’s pickle ball and tennis courts, and also approved an ice chiller that would keep the ice a bit more cold despite the fluctuation of winter temperatures. The chiller is expected to make the rink more consistently usable for four to five months. Greg Johnston of G.F. Johnston & Associates represented the project and said that the chiller’s noise is equivalent to a lawn mower. The fence that will be built around the chiller lowers the noise level by approximately 10 decibels.

The plans feature an enlarged size, EV chargers, and a concrete pad for the chiller with a fence for noise mitigation.

Allen Kimmerly recused himself because he said he opposed the project during the town’s annual meeting in May. His voiced concerns had been about the cost of the project and its impact on the town’s debt service. The cost is approximately $900,000.

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

To read the select board packet

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