Carrie Jones

Feb 10, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Psychiatry.

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BAR HARBOR—Appearing in cars, in offices, and in the town office, six members of the 11-member Bar Harbor Harbor Committee gathered Monday afternoon, February 9, and unanimously agreed on a couple things.

The first is that the group would suggest to the town council that their membership decrease from 11 to seven, a move that has to be done via town ordinance.

The second is that former chair Jeff Miller would be chair until July, replacing Micala Delepierre, who resigned in December because of health reasons.

Miller agreed from where he attended the meeting via Zoom.

“We appreciate that immensely,” Vice Chair Kaitlyn Mullen said.

“Thanks for taking one for the team,” member Pancho Cole added.

Mullen and Jaime Weir will continue on as vice chair and secretary, respectively.

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REDUCING COMMITTEE SIZE

The 11-member committee currently has three vacancies after Delepierre’s resignation.

“We struggle so much to have meetings,” Harbormaster Christopher Wharff said.

To do official business, a town committee or board must have a quorum, which is the specified minimum number of board members that must be attending the meeting.

There are six needed to make a quorum on the 11-member committee. Currently, there are just seven members on the committee.

Cole asked if they could reduce the quorum size.

Wharff said that would be more difficult than reducing the membership count because it would likely require a town charter change, which is a more extensive process that could impact other committees and boards than changing the number of members specifically for the harbor committee.

Any potential new members would have to fill out an application with the town clerk and then go before a three-member appointments committee (comprised of town councilors) and then before a full council. In the past this process has occurred multiple times in a year. This year, however, it has focused on the summer months when terms officially begin and end.

Four committee seats expire this year: Andrew Keblinsky’s, an already vacant seat’s, Robert Garland’s, and Cole’s.

Miller initially asked if it could be reduced to nine and say “nine or greater.”

A nine-member committee, however, would reduce the quorum by just one. A seven-member committee would reduce the quorum to four.

Five members made it to a January meeting. Six members were at the February 9 meeting.

Wharff will bring the recommendation to reduce membership to the town council.

In other business, Wharff told the committee that there is an order signed for a new hoist at Ells Pier, which is the downtown pier where the harbormaster’s office is located. The town is waiting for bids on the new gangway.

The town is open up for reservations for the summer and still working with consulting group GEI for the ferry terminal plans.

“There’s some loose deadlines on that work,” Wharff said, but he hopes for an update soon.

“Is American Cruise Lines coming back?” Mullen asked.

He said the cruise line, which focuses on smaller ships is coming back and has applied for 10-15 more visits than last year.

The group also quickly approved past minutes.

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

To learn more about the committee.

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