Council also hears cyber breach update, reviews budgets, and discusses town projects
BAR HARBOR—Bar Harbor Town Council Chair Valerie Peacock told those attending the councilor’s August 19 meeting, “It’s a pretty straight up meeting in front of us this evening.”
It was and it wasn’t.
The council did its necessary tasks: financial reports reviews, comments, public hearings about land use amendments. But it also held an executive session about ongoing cruise ship litigation, heard two members of the public worry that the vice chair hadn’t been reappointed to the town’s appeals board, pulled a potential land use amendment for reworking, and had an update about the recent cyber breach in the town office.
VISION ZERO GOAL FOR ROADWAY SAFETY
Another big moment happened for the town when the council passed a resolve to adopt a vision-zero goal for roadway safety.
The concept, introduced by Staff Planner Hailey Bondy at the council’s meeting in early August commits the town to creating a plan with a goal of having no traffic fatalities or severe injuries in the next ten years. It is part of the Safe Streets for All initiative, for which the town has received federal support.
The Safe Streets project is meant to make everyone safer in town and is driving forward with a draft plan currently being reviewed by staff and an expectation that the plan will be put before the town council and public and finalized by the estimated December 2025 deadline.
The vision-zero goal was unanimously adopted by the council.
“This goal was created to align with what is listed in the comprehensive plan,” Bondy said, August 5. The town’s comprehensive plan mentions people-centered transportation and improving safety on the roadways. “It’s pretty much the bread and butter for the Safe Streets for All.”
Bondy said they are hoping to come to the next town council meeting with that “vision-zero” order for the councilors to adopt.
According to the Vision Zero Network, “Vision Zero is not a slogan, not a tagline, not even just a program. It is a fundamentally different way to approach traffic safety.”
The site states that the first step to a strong vision-zero commitment is a political commitment that comes from local officials.
CYBER BREACH UPDATES
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Town Manager James Smith told the council and public that the town’s systems are back on line and there are stronger protections in place, Smith said.
A final report is expected in approximately two weeks.
“The system is secure and we’re confident with the way the town has handled that issue throughout the process,” Smith said, Tuesday.
On Thursday, the town released on its website an update on auditing of the cybersecurity incident, writing, “Following a cybersecurity incident last month, the Town of Bar Harbor has been working closely with independent cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to conduct a third-party forensic audit and to strengthen our cybersecurity posture.
“The audit to determine how the breach occurred and what, if any, information may have been compromised is still in process. In ongoing updates, we have confirmed that:
- Four email accounts were briefly impacted—accessed remotely and used to send potential phishing emails. These attempts were actively monitored and stopped as they occurred.
- There was a single instance where a user’s credentials were used in an attempt to access other devices. This attack was immediately contained, access was revoked, and the method of entry was addressed.
- At this time, there is no evidence that any data was exfiltrated (stolen) from the Town by threat actors.
“Steps already taken to strengthen and improve systems include:
- Implementing a stronger password policy.
- Requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Removing software and systems that presented vulnerabilities.
- Deploying additional hardware and software safeguards.
“The Town of Bar Harbor continues to enhance its systems daily, guided by best practices from CrowdStrike and other cybersecurity experts. Our priority is to ensure a secure and reliable technology environment that residents, staff, and officials can trust.”
The town office had been closed the last days of July and first few days of August to deal with the computer network breach.
“The town has full control of all systems, and removed access from the bad actors,” the town’s original news flash about the incident read.
In March, Bar Harbor municipal and school officials faced a cybercrime that tried to compromise some of the bond money to pay for the rebuilding of the Conners Emerson School, a project that had already begun. That attack was investigated by the FBI.
“The crime involved a fraudulent request to change bank account information that was submitted on January 9, 2025, and subsequently processed by school staff,” School Superintendent Mike Zboray wrote in a statement to the Bar Harbor community, March 14. “As a result, when Wright-Ryan Construction submitted a legitimate payment request on February 10, 2025, for $1,066,754 for the Bar Harbor School construction project, the funds were unknowingly transferred to the fraudulent account.”
The funds were returned.
A data breach for the Mount Desert Island regional school community, December 28, 2024, had prompted the school system to offer free credit monitoring for adults and identity protection services for minors, Zboray said in January. That December 28 data breach, according to MSN, led to the theft of “sensitive personal information, such as names, addresses, and in some cases Social Security numbers and medical information…. Data breaches can lead to identity theft, leaving victims vulnerable to fraud and other illegal activities.”
OTHER BUSINESS
During the August 19 council meeting, Smith also spoke to multiple infrastructure improvements. The gravel parking lot by the ball field has been paved. Crooked Road culvert work is underway. The helipad construction at Park Street, meant to be used by LifeFlight was delayed due to electric parts not delivered yet. The resurface and maintenance of basketball courts and tennis courts will likely occur next week and that will require those areas to be shut down.
Smith also spoke of the proactive police efforts and the wildlife training and focus of the fire department including coordinating with Acadia National Park about joint emergency responses.
Planning moving forward with lodging moratorium analysis work, Safe Streets for All plan, and sustainable tourism task force process launch with its consultant.
PRE-AUDIT FINANCIAL REPORT, WATER BUDGET AND WASTE WATER BUDGETS
Finance Director Sarah Gilbert gave a pre-audit financial report of the town’s finances at the close of the fiscal year. The town attorney line at $475,000 was well over 390% of the budgeted expenses due to ongoing lawsuits. Other items ran under budget.
The general fund revenues as of June 30 were also better than expected, running at 114% of the budget. Much of that was fueled by the parking fund revenue, which came it at $4,188,859, or 119.5% compared to the expected budget.
There were 77 tax liens filed against residents in the year, which was the same as the year before, but up from 65 in tax year 2021-2022.
“I think this report shows how it’s managed very well,” Peacock said of the budget.
Smith said the department heads are very mindful of their spending.
There was no public comment on either the waste or water budget. Both passed unanimously.
Task Force on the Climate Emergency
The council elected Ruth Poland, Abbey Thornton, and Taylor Ehrlich, (student representative) to the Task Force on the Climate Emergency. There was no discussion. All votes were unanimous.
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