Jan 14, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Havana
BAR HARBOR—Whether the town staff should use artificial intelligence (AI), how to recruit new appeals board members, and if the board could be told when there are lawsuits involving its decisions were major topics of discussion during the Bar Harbor Appeals Board meeting, January 13.
The meeting’s agenda listed approval of minutes and the meeting schedule.
During the meeting, alternate member Michael Siklosi, attending via Zoom, asked if the planning staff had ever considered using AI to create the minutes to lighten the workload for the department.
Chair Anna Durand, also attending via Zoom, said that approximately a year ago, the board felt the minutes might be too much of a storytelling, which could show bias, and wanted it to be more minimal.
At the time, Staff Planner Hailey Bondy said, the board had decided to do the state minimum.
“It does make for some dry minutes,” Durand said and that for deeper content, people can go to the archive stream.
In a court setting, she said, the minutes wouldn’t matter as much as the actual transcript of the meeting, which can be found by viewing the meeting.
Siklosi said he didn’t see a downside to using AI.
“It’s something I would be amendable to if the staff would consider it,” he said.
Staff members are already using an AI software, Happy Scribe, to help with minute writing, Bondy said. It creates a transcript that is workable, but not always accurate, she said, which requires staff to then go through it and make changes.
When it came to the board reviewing and then approving the minutes, member Claire Fox said that six months was a bit too long between meeting and review. She wondered if it would be possible to have a shorter, set timeframe between the meeting and the minutes approval.
Town Planning Director Michele Gagnon said that every time there is an appeal, they’ll commit to having another meeting to review those minutes approximately 30 days after.
The four members (including Siklosi as alternate) also discussed the lack of membership on the six-member board.
“Realistically, we’re kind of skating on thin ice,” Siklosi said of the vacancies, worrying that if someone was sick or unavailable the board could have difficulty hearing appeals. “It was difficult to swallow, I’m speaking personally, the loss of Cara.”
Past Vice Chair Cara Ryan was not reappointed to the board in July 2025.
Ryan was nominated to the appeals board, but the motion failed 3-4 at the town council. At the same meeting, Siklosi was reappointed as an associate member.
Council Chair Valerie Peacock, Vice Chair Maya Caines, Steven Boucher, and Joe Minutolo voted against. Councilors Earl Brechlin, David Kief, and Randell Sprague voted in favor.
In Bar Harbor, applicants for boards, task forces, and committees submit their applications to serve on a board or committee and are then interviewed by a three-member nominating committee comprised of town councilors. The committee then brings its nominees before the council.
There had been no council discussion about Ryan’s nomination. However, there had been an ethics complaint in the town against Ryan about her participation in an appeals board case relating to cruise ship disembarkations.
The original conflict of interest worry was because Ryan had been asked to be a witness in the case against the town and received a $100 witness fee. She did not, however, get called to testify and gave that $100 to Charles Sidman’s GoFundMe campaign. That GoFundMe campaign by the lead petitioner of the cruise ship changes was to help him with legal fees. The ethics complaint expressed that she should not be involved in appeals board decisions about one of the plaintiffs in the case. Past Chair Ellen Dohmen and Siklosi both spoke on Ryan’s behalf, asking the council to reconsider Ryan’s reappointment.
At the January meeting, Siklosi wondered if they should be actively recruiting.
Gagnon said she wasn’t aware of any potential members in the application pipeline. That, she said, was a discussion with the Town Clerk Liz Graves and Town Manager James Smith.
Durand asked what she meant for a discussion.
Gagnon said that the discussion would be whether to advertise for a member now or wait until June when term end.
“I would be recruiting tomorrow,” Siklosi said. He did not have candidates that came to mind.
Dohmen was great at recruiting in the past, he said.
Gagnon said that the members can recruit, but “when is the appointment committee going to sit down and look at those applications. That’s a question for Liz.”
“That’s not a rolling thing?” Fox asked. “That’s something that they generally only do in June?”
“We do that once a year,” Gagnon said, “as a formal process.”
That July process coincides with the end of the fiscal year and town elections in June, as well as with the end of many appointees’ terms. In that process, Graves lists all the committee and board openings.
“But if you want to start thinking about it, that’s absolutely now,” Gagnon continued.
In 2023, the appointments committee (made up of three town councilors, which change each year) met in April, three times in July, once in September, and once in November, according to the town’s calendar, as part of the process to fill in vacancies. In 2024, it met three times in July, once in October, and once in November. In 2025, the committee met in February, three times in April, twice in July, and once in August, according to calendar.
Councilors Steven Boucher, David Kief, and Randell Sprague are currently on the town’s appointments committee. The full council appoints new members to that committee each year. The committee then makes recommendations for appointments to the full town council.
Siklosi said the Bar Harbor (MDI) Rotary Club might be a good venue for recruiting. Durand said she had many possibilities and suggested they all think about potential recruits.
Durand said she’d also like to know when the board’s decisions are taken to court.
“I don’t think that’s ever happened,” she asked.
She asked if the planning staff were notified when that happens. Bondy said the staff was not.
“It feels awkward to me to read about our decisions being taken to court in journalism,” she said.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about the appeals board.
Follow us on Facebook. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
Bar Harbor Story is a mostly reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for being here with us and being part of our community too!
Thanks for reading Bar Harbor Story! This post is public so feel free to share it.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR COMMUNITY
You can help us keep bringing our community free news if you want. No pressure! It just helps us a lot.
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Discover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.