Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund Pays For Ferry Terminal Bracket.
May 15, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Bar Harbor Music Festival.
TREMONT—It’s not quite a decade, but it might as well be and a lot can change in nine years. Over the course of that time, Howard “Howdy” Goodwin has sat at the Tremont Select Board dais, a steady presence, helping his fellow members navigate the issues that can confront a small and tightly knit community.
In keeping with his reserved persona, Goodwin did not have much to say in the way of goodbyes, although he wore a large smile, at his last meeting as a member of the Tremont Select Board, Monday, May 4.
“Thanks for the memories, Howdy,” said Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett. “You will miss us on Mondays.”
Mondays are when the board typically meets.
“Thanks for the time, Howdy. It’s a thankless job no matter how we do it. We have been doing this a long time now together. We are going to miss you, whether you believe it or not,” Chair Jamie Thurlow said.
“I will stop by once in a while,” Goodwin said.
One of two members of the public in the audience at the time said, “Can I just say as a member of the public, thank you so much. I have learned so much coming to these meetings and the effort and the commitment you have put in.”
Goodwin responded, “Thank you.”
LOCAL CHARITY STEPS IN TO HELP PAY FOR FERRY TERMINAL IMPROVEMENTS
At its April 6 meeting, the Select Board had voted to expend almost $15,000 from the town’s Harbor Fund to cover the cost of engineering, manufacture, and installation for a new bracket at the ferry terminal on Granville Road in Bass Harbor. The previous bracket had deteriorated to the point that it had crumbled and fallen off of the concrete abutment. This bracket is what allows the floating docks to be attached to the abutment.
The town is currently working on replacing those floats via a SHIP grant obtained through the Maine Department of Transportation. Without a new bracket neither the new floats or the existing ones could not be attached or utilized.
The amount of that grant is $32,500 with a town match of $32,500. Additionally, Swans Island and Frenchboro both contributed $10,000 each as the two biggest users of the facility.
According to Town Manager Jesse Dunbar, due to the length of time that it has taken for the grant to be approved, coupled with the rising costs of construction, it will be a very tight budget just to get the necessary float work done and doesn’t leave room for the unexpected bracket replacement cost.
In a memo prepared for that April 6 meeting, Dunbar wrote, “The Harbormaster and I have both tried appealing to MDOT that due to the location and infrastructure of the abutment, it is the state’s responsibility, but that has been a flat out no in response from them.”
“If (we) were to use the grant funds in place to fund the bracket, not only would we then be short for the float replacements, but the timeline the DOT would require would delay any float launch well into May or longer,” Dunbar also wrote in that same memo.
But now, thanks to a local charitable organization, the Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund, the bracket has been paid for. At the May 4 Select Board meeting, Dunbar told the board that the charitable fund has agreed to pay for the $10,000 bracket and a Witham family member has agreed to pay for the $4,400 in engineering costs.
Both checks have already been received, Dunbar said.
Work on the new bracket has already commenced as well.
LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS AND SPECIAL AMUSEMENT APPLICATIONS
There were two special amusement permit application public hearings on the Select Board agenda, one was a renewal for Archie’s Lobster at 90 Tremont Road and one was a new application for the Seafood Ketch at 47 Shore Road.
The first public hearing was for Archie’s Lobster. Audience member Jen MacKenzie, asked, “What does ‘amusements’ entail?”
She said that she can guess, but that the word seemed very general.
Chair Thurlow responded that it refers to music and then asked Heather Lewis from Archie’s to explain what they have used it for in the past.
“At Archie’s Lobster, we usually have one person and an instrument playing music from 5-7 p.m. Occasionally we’ve had a few private events. There has even been a band or a couple of other players who would go a little bit longer but usually not more than 8 o’clock at night. It is music,” Lewis responded.
Though Archie’s was the impetus for a homeowner’s attempt to convince the town to create a noise ordinance last year, MacKenzie’s was the only comment during the public hearing and Archie’s renewal was unanimously approved. Last year’s effort failed.
Chair Thurlow said that he is an abutter to Seafood Ketch and would be abstaining from voting but would still conduct the public hearing if nobody had an issue with that. Nobody raised an issue.
A new application, Seafood Ketch garnered more comment, but it was mostly clarifying questions on frequency of performances, number of musicians, hours of performances, and direction which the music will travel.
Owner Ryan Lynde was present to answer these questions and there was not any protest.
The application for Seafood Ketch was approved four in favor with one abstention.
Maine DOT Infrastructure Adaptation Grant.
During the January 2024 storms, Lopaus Point Road where it crosses the marsh was impacted and suffered significant road flooding. This low lying section currently utilizes PVC culverts.
Dunbar wrote to the Select Board, “Maine DOT is seeking applications for its Infrastructure Adaptation Grant. Shortly after the storms, University of Maine reached out looking for projects for their senior engineering students to work on as their ‘capstone project.’ I submitted this project as an option and it was chosen by a group of seniors including a graduate of MDI High School with ties to Tremont. The students worked on a plan to install a box culvert and raise the road in that area.
“This can serve as a great starting point for an engineer to work from. The grant will cover up to $75k in planning/scoping costs, and up to $3,000,000 for a total project cost. The town share would be 5%.”
Dunbar asked the Select Board for authorization to apply for the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Grant for the needed improvements to this section of Lopaus Point Road and to also use funds from the town’s road improvement reserve for funding any estimating fees from Hedefine.
The Select Board unanimously approved this request.
Ferry Terminal Floats.
Dunbar had asked the Select Board to approve a request for bids for the ferry terminal floats that are to be funded by the SHIP grant and matching town funds but the Select Board decided that there needed to be more detail in the bid request and tabled that motion until the specifications could be worked out.
FY25 Audit.
Wanese Lynch from James W. Wadman, CPA, gave the Select Board a report on the financial statements that the company audited for FY 2025.
While Lynch quickly covered most aspects of the report, three often covered topics are the report’s opinion letter; a town’s unassigned fund balance and what percentage of the town’s expenditures it accounts for; and long-term debt and what percentage of the town’s state valuation it accounts for.
Tremont’s opinion letter was “unmodified” which means that the company gave a clean opinion on the town’s financial statements and disclosures.
Tremont’s unassigned fund balance for FY25 was $1,384,782 or 15% of the town’s expenditures. The Maine Municipal Association recommends a minimum of 10-12% for towns.
According to Dunbar, Tremont currently has no outstanding debt and in 2025 the town’s valuation was $800,531,153.
Election Clerks.
Dunbar said that “state law requires that the Select Board appoint election clerks to supervise voting and count ballots.”
This must be done every two years as that is the statutory term of office. Town Clerk Sarah Abbott had presented a list of election clerks and that list was unanimously approved by the Select Board.
Town Office Cleaning Contract.
According to Dunbar, the Tremont Town Office is currently cleaned by an outside cleaning contractor, the cost of which is based on a weekly rate. The previous cleaner had left suddenly and that is when the town hired the current cleaning company.
There is no contract for this service and Dunbar felt that a contract should be created to outline expected services and duties and then there should be a bid submission process for FY 2027.
The Select Board unanimously approved this request.
HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY
When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.
We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.
If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.
It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.
Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.
Thank you so much for being here.
Founding member information can be found here.
Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.
Discover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.