In a Split Vote, Select Board Also Approves Exploration of Police Department taking Over Town Animal Control Officer Duties.
Jun 17, 2026
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TREMONT— After unanimously approving another year of police services through Southwest Harbor, the Tremont Select Board turned its attention to a more contentious question: whether animal control duties should remain with a town employee or be absorbed by the police department in a bid to save money.
On May 13, at town meeting, the voters approved the funds for the police contract. On June 15, the Tremont Select Board unanimously approved a year-long extension of the police services contract with Southwest Harbor.
At the May town meeting, voters had approved $408,196 for police services and $27,292 for dispatch services for the FY26/27 budget for a total of $435,488. That is an increase of $95,351 over the current and soon to be finished budget year.
According to Town Manager Jesse Dunbar, that increase breaks down to $3,622 for dispatch services and $91,729 for police services.
Police Chief John Hall attended the June 15 meeting and Select Board member Kevin Buck asked if the department was fully staffed now.
“We are in the process of becoming fully staffed,” Chief Hall said.
The department has offered an applicant from Colorado, who is originally from Bangor, a conditional offer of employment and have another round of oral boards coming up in that process. The applicant was a full-time police officer for a number of years in Colorado and is moving back to the area.
“It seems to be working really well,” Buck said of the policing agreement.
Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett said, “Thank you, guys. I mean, it has worked out well.”
Select Board Chair Jamie Thurlow said, “Ninety percent of people seem to be happy with it.”
During the same meeting, the Select Board also discussed having Dunbar explore the possibility of having the police department perform animal control services for the town rather than having its own town employed animal control officer. The town’s current animal control officer (ACO) is Heath Higgins.
The police department has offered to perform the ACO services for the town as part of the policing services contract at no additional cost to the town.
Member Ben Harper moved to have Dunbar explore the possibility of the police department providing ACO services, Jewett seconded, and Thurlow asked if there was any discussion.
Member Eric Eaton asked how much the town currently pays for ACO services.
Dunbar responded that the town budgets roughly $10,000 for those ACO services currently.
“Is that just for wages?” asked Harper.
“Primarily, there is a small amount for training, a couple hundred dollars, and a cell phone reimbursement which is a couple hundred dollars,” said Dunbar.
Jewett said that the 24/7 coverage of the police department is key to this opportunity.
Eaton then asked Higgins, who was in the audience, if he answers his phone 24/7 for ACO calls.
“I do,” said Higgins.
“I would hate to put it on the police department, where they are understaffed currently. That’s just where I am at,” said Eaton.
Higgins said that he has been waiting over a year for a tablet and an email from the town so that he can keep up on his ACO reports.
Higgins also spoke to his worries about bringing concerns regarding things he’d witnessed in town while acting as ACO to both the Southwest Harbor Police Chief and Tremont Town Manager and not having those concerns acted upon.
“I get that it works out that I disappear and go away because of my complaints, but it’s been 11 years and I have enjoyed doing it and I have helped out a lot of families, but you guys have your job to do,” said Higgins.
A man from Bernard spoke and said that he thinks there is value in having a local resident who has a lot of familiarity with the residents and their pets doing the job and said that he has called Higgins at least twice when he has found loose dogs and Higgins has been able to direct him to the pet’s owners over the phone.
Prior to voting, Thurlow said that it is about saving the town $10,000 for him personally and that this is just a vote for exploring the possibility and not a vote to get rid of the town’s ACO currently.
The Select Board voted to have Dunbar explore the option of the police department taking over ACO services 4-1 with member Eaton voting against.
Asphalt Hot Box
The Select Board unanimously approved the purchase of a four-ton asphalt hot box from Allied Equipment. The cost of the hot box is $65,000 and it will be purchased as a lease-to-own for $14,500 a year for four years. The first year’s payment will come from the town equipment reserve budget. The hot box will be warrantied for the four years of the lease.
The town feels as if the state is not taking care of the roads the way that it used to and the agreement between the town and the state, where the town would perform some repair work and get reimbursed by the state, has not been honored by the state lately.
“There have been so many complaints and people don’t understand that that’s not, well, they are our roads, but they are state (maintained) roads. So, if they (Tremont’s highway department) are going to start doing a ton of patching, then they need to have something to do patching with properly,” said Thurlow.
The hot box will allow the highway crew to purchase multiple tons of asphalt at once and keep it for a number of days as the hot box has an electric heater that will keep the asphalt warm overnight and usable for up to three days.
Currently, the highway crew has to be at the asphalt plant at 7 a.m. and can only get a truck load of asphalt which has already cooled by the time they get back to town. The coolness makes the asphalt harder to work with and the process of reheating it with a torch actually damages the asphalt and makes it less effective for patching.
The idea is to allow the highway department to perform more effective and more efficient patching on town roads, many of which have large and/or numerous potholes, and if allowed, perform some repairs on state roads in particularly bad areas.
Dunbar said that he will pursue reimbursement from the state, at least for the coast of asphalt, if patching work is performed on state roads.
Committee Appointments and Administrative Official Appointments
The Select Board made a number of appointments to various town committees but is still seeking volunteer applicants for the Planning Board, Library Board of Trustees, and the Sustainability Committee.
The Select Board also appointed Dunbar to a number of administrative official positions that he performs as town manager.
Harbor Committee
The at-large seat currently occupied by Larry Albee is expiring. Albee stated that he would like to continue as the at-large member for the Harbor Committee and was voted back into the seat which will next expire on June 30, 2029.
The vote was 4-0-1 with Harper abstaining because he is on the Harbor Committee.
Library Board of Trustees
The Library Board of Trustees is made up of 12 members and seven of those seats are currently up for renewal. The Select Board was prepared to vote on reseating current member Melinda Rice-Schoon, but Dunbar told the board that he had just heard from the Board of Trustees that they may be doing some restructuring so the vote was tabled until the next Select Board meeting.
Planning Board
Newly elected Select Board member Harper was on the Planning Board so his seat is vacant and current Planning Board member Stephen Scott’s seat is expiring. Scott expressed interest in staying on, so he was unanimously reappointed to his seat, which expires June 30, 2029.
No other applications have been received for the Planning Board so Harper’s seat, which also will expire June 30, 2029, is still open. The town will be advertising for this open seat.
Board of Appeals
There are three seats expiring on the Board of Appeals and all three current seat holders, David Edson, Melvin Atherton, and Michael Hays, wished to be reappointed. There were no new applicants for these seats.
All three members were unanimously reappointed and all three seats expire June 30, 2029.
Acadia Advisory Commission
Acadia National Park had requested that the Select Board make its appointment to the Acadia Advisory Commission, by June 15, the day of the Select Board meeting, even though the seat does not expire until November of this year.
Carolyn Gothard, the current seat holder, wished to be reappointed and there were no new applicants. Gothard was unanimously reappointed to the seat on the Acadia Advisory Commission which expires November 6, 2029.
Public Safety Building Committee
There was an open at-large seat on the Public Safety Building Committee and one application from Emma Albee had been received for that position.
Albee was unanimously appointed to the at-large seat on the Public Safety Building Committee which expires on June 30, 2029.
Tremont Housing Authority
There were three seats expiring on the Tremont Housing Authority Commission. There was also a new at-large seat position that needed to be filled. The three current seat holders on the commission, Daniel Reed, Fran Martin, and Bryan Parker, wished to be reappointed.
Reed, Martin, and Parker were all reappointed to their seats with terms expiring June 30, 2031.
Hollie Walker was recommended for the new at-large seat and was appointed to that seat which expires June 30, 2031.
All of the votes were 4-0-1 with member Ben Harper abstaining because he is on the Tremont Housing Authority Commission.
Administrative Official Appointments
Dunbar was unanimously appointed as the Town of Tremont’s deputy tax collector, treasurer, general assistance administrator, road commissioner, and public access officer.
The Select Board also unanimously voted to appoint Matthew Caldwell as the town’s assessor.
The next meeting of the Tremont Select Board is scheduled for Monday, July 6, 2026, at 5 p.m., in the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room at the town office.
All photos: Shaun Farrar/BHS
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