Fire Department logs 103 calls this year. Trenton could see ordinance changes to boost local fire protection.
Oct 22, 2025
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Choco-Latté Café.
TRENTON—Long-time Trenton resident Mark Remick pleaded for a consent agreement to address a zoning violation where a shed and addition encroached on the property setback during the Trenton Select Board meeting, February 14.
“I plead for mercy,” Remick said as he approached the board. “This is a situation: we have a shed on my barn that my dad built, that encroaches into the setback. We have two generations of my family that looked at that, so we know where the property line is. We’re plenty fine. Well, we’re two generations wrong. And the addition that I put on is 22 inches from the property line. And part of the barn that my dad built also sits within the 15-foot setback.”
The house is for sale. He said he’s lost two sales because of the encroachment. The barn was built in 1984.
The setback was 15 feet then, Chair Fred Ehrlenbach said.
The board discussed precedents for similar violations, the process for consent agreement and fines, and the need to balance fairness with discouraging future violations. Board members ultimately agreed to a $4,200 fine, subject to legal review.
“The way this came to light was … one of the first contracts we were under, their mortgage company hired a title company that found it, otherwise we wouldn’t have known,” Remick said. “An expensive mistake.”
Board member Judith Sproule talked about the precedent of this sort of consent agreement and fine. She wondered if Remick could explore an easement instead.
“To me,” Sproule said, “the person most injured by this is obviously the owner of the neighboring property. And that would give that person far greater relief than you entering into a consent agreement with the town.
“And nothing in this agreement would preclude the new owners from doing that,” Remick said. “but this allows us to move forward, otherwise the property is not resaleable.”
Remick added that the closing date on the property is November 5 and the buyers are “from away.”
FIRE DEPARTMENT UPDATES AND POTENTIAL PROPOSED LAND USE AMENDMENTS
Fire Chief Steven Heckman said the department had responded to over 103 calls this year, including a wildland fire, a hazardous materials incident, and several fires caused by careless discarding of smoking materials.
“And then we had another one that just kind of goes with the still drought and dry conditions where an individual decided to discard the cigarette outside their vehicle when it went in the back of their vehicle and they just got done hauling some hay,” Chief Heckman said. “So, unfortunately, they were getting the hay out and we put the fire out, but it just was, you know, careless people, you know, and we were definitely concerned because the hazmat response, the gas was right there beside Route 3 and running into the curbing area there. So we did our best to keep that contained and just waiting for somebody to flick a cigarette. But that never happened, fortunately.”
The hazmat incident was caused by a large triangular speed square used for rafters that was in the road.
“It must have been laying in the road and the vehicle hit it just right. And Murphy’s Law said that one of those points would go right up inside to the gas tank. And that’s what it did. The bad thing was, is that she had said. And that she just filled up before she was heading this way,” Chief Heckman said. “So she had a full tank of gas and—and it went everywhere.”
The department discussed the need for improved fire prevention and response, including ensuring adequate water supply access for new developments.
Related to that, Chief Heckman proposed amendments to the town’s land use ordinance to require water supply systems to be installed and operational prior to the start of construction activities in order to improve fire safety.
The board discussed the logistics and timing of implementing these changes, ultimately deciding to wait until the next regular town meeting in May 2026 to put the amendments to a vote.
Board members also touched on the need to resubmit proposed amendments to the Shoreland Land Use Ordinance that had previously been voted down.
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