Bar Harbor works on water, breakwater, waste, and public safety projects.

Carrie Jones

Aug 27, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop.

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BAR HARBOR—From safety plans to breakwater construction to traffic counts, last week, during Town Manager James Smith’s update to the Town Council, he laid out progress on multiple items that the town’s staff or other parties have been working on.

Several town projects move forward across Bar Harbor.

Town staff has been coordinating with the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Jackson Laboratory to propose traffic common improvements.

Those are along Route 3 and involve the completion of a sidewalk connection between Schooner Head Road and the lab’s main campus.

“The project is intended to improve pedestrian access and safety while carrying traffic through an area that has frequent pedestrian crossings. This initiative was advanced last year but paused before construction,” Smith said. “Staff are now revisiting it this year to determine whether funding could be secured through MDOT’s business partnership initiative.”

Smith said that no local tax dollars are being proposed under the current funding arrangement because the lab has agreed to reimburse the town for the municipal share required by the state program.

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IRIS HILL WATER STORAGE TANK AND WATER SYSTEM WORK

The Iris Hill water storage tank work continues. The site is off Route 3 and was visited by a project manager from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), August 13.

The EPA helped the town secure approximately $1.4 million in federal funding meant to help strengthen Bar Harbor’s water storage pressure and make the system more reliable while also reducing the burden on local rate payers.

Water rate increases were recently approved by the Maine Public Utility Commission, but had been appealed by resident Charles Sidman and nine others. Those rate hikes are currently being investigated. The Town Council also approved new water and wastewater budgets during its meeting.

“Staff also continue design and procurement work for the West Street dry weather pump station, advanced plans for the next phase of the Main Street project, and they (are making) progress (on) pre-construction coordination for improvements to Glen Mary, Shannon and Cromwell Harbor roads,” Smith said.

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FERRY TERMINAL AND THE BREAKWATER

The ferry terminal master plan, which had been reviewed by both the Harbor Committee and Town Council is also progressing.

“Over at the ferry terminal site, engineering and planning work continues following the Council’s adoption of the ferry terminal master plan. Staff have moved the project into the engineering and implementation planning phase. A multi-departmental tech review team has been working with the project consultants to refine the phase one design, permit and strategies, costs, circulation, public access, work and waterfront needs, and continued ferry operations. Future appropriations and construction authorization will return to the council when it gets to that point,” Smith said.

The breakwater is an underwater structure meant to protect the Bar Harbor harbor.

That harbor hosts whale watches, kayakers, recreational boaters, lobster fishers, nature cruises, and cruise ships and the breakwater helps protect vessels from southerly storms, large wakes, and gales.

It is located near downtown Bar Harbor, running from Bald Porcupine Island toward the Shore Path, a major tourist attraction and local walkway that runs parallel to the coast in front of mansions and inns. Bald Porcupine Island is National Park Service land and part of Acadia National Park.

Agate Construction Company won the bid for the work on the breakwater, which has been occurring since May.

The company will repair two distinct major sections. One is approximately 800 feet and the other is 850 feet long. Minor areas of the “rubble mound breakwater structure” will also be fixed.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, storms damaged the breakwater.

“Tasks include mobilization and demobilization, delivery and placement of new armor stone, removal, re-handling, and resetting of existing stones to achieve proper tie-in and interlocking placement, all performed via water access. The repairs will be constructed with 1.5H:1V side slopes, and no land access or work from the crest of the breakwater is permitted,” the Corp writes.

The new stone for the repair is being barged from Rhode Island where the quarry is located and the work is focused on two major repair sites.

One is between Bald Porcupine Island and the Porcupine dry ledge, which is the area that has seen the most damage.

According to Army Corps representatives, there was a pretty significant hole in the breakwater at that location.

The second repair area is approximately 800 feet southwest of the Porcupine dry ledge.

Beyond that, they told the Council, the breakwater was actually in pretty decent shape.

The replacement stone is brighter due to its new placement and a lack of algal buildup.

Work will continue until the weather turns, which will likely be in October or November. Then, construction will continue in April or May of 2027. The contract should be completed by March 2028.

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WASTE AND COMPOSTING

The town also continues to look at its composting and solid waste needs.

“Environmental services facility planning staff from the town’s consultants toured Municipal Waste Solutions in Hampton and Eastern Main Recycling in Southwest Harbor while evaluating the future transfer station operations,” Smith said. “Their work is focused on the commercial scale or commercial vehicle scales, safer one-way traffic flow, recycling and waste drop off locations, and site layout changes that could preserve future operational options, including a pay as you throw if later authorized by Council.”

Residential leaves and grass clippings for Bar Harbor residents are currently being done through an arrangement with Eastern Maine Recycling. The arrangement is considered temporary.

“The leaf and grass clippings disposal staff continue to coordinate with Reuse Maine and evaluate the options to improve the waste diversion including the handling of residential leaves and grass clippings. The temporary residential disposal arrangement with Eastern Maine Recycling was extended through November 30 while the town evaluates a long-term solution,” Smith said.

The state’s permitting requirements have changed and that means that if it’s feasible for the town to reopen its clipping areas, which it may not be able to because of permitting restraints, that may not occur until 2027.

“The staff are reviewing those requirements, the site design, capital, operating cost, potential locations while working to identify options for service beyond November 30, and a recommendation will return to Council when their review is complete,” Smith said.

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YMCA BROWNFIELD

The MDI YMCA sits on land owned by the town. That land at 21 Park Street is a brownfield, meaning there are toxins in the soil.

“The town is advancing its $510,000 EPA brownfield cleanup grant for the town owned property used by the MDI YMCA,” Smith said. That grant was awarded in May 2025.

Coal ash, arsenic, and lead were found in the top three feet of soil at the MDI YMCA’s 21 Park Street campus, a lot that’s owned by the Town of Bar Harbor.

“The grant will fund remediation of contaminated soil. Three proposals were received for a qualified environmental professional services. Staff completed their initial technical evaluation and their development follow-up questions for the highest ranked bidder,” Smith said. “After the town secured the EPA grant, the YMCA advanced its separately funded expansion project resulting in overlapping timelines and related sequence and challenges. Certain environmental assessments and remediation activities must be completed before related portions of the YMCA’s construction can proceed. So staff are coordinating those projects where practicable, but the town’s remediation work does remain subject to the EPA grant conditions, regulatory requirements, and municipal procurement processes,” Smith said.

Although the town cannot guarantee alignment with the YMCA’s construction timeline, the town is trying to do so.

In 1998, before the Y was constructed, an investigation of the footprint of the building found some unsuitable fill. In 2019 there was discussion about expanding the YMCA’s building to the east, which was related to an initial discussion for the Jackson Lab’s childcare being built there. When tested, they found not just unsuitable fill, but urban fill.

According to the town, “In 2021, the YMCA closed a portion of its outdoor green space after hazardous urban fill was discovered and a 2023 environmental assessment confirmed unsafe levels of heavy metals and hazardous compounds. This grant will allow for the safe clean-up and revitalization of this important community space.

“Once cleaned up, the site will reopen as a safe, green space for youth programs, recreation, and environmental education, restoring a vital resource for families across Mount Desert Island.”

Maine defines a brownfield as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.”

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FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS

July was one of the fire department’s busiest months on record, Smith said, with 151 EMS responses and 93 fire calls.

“During the reporting period, public safety personnel successfully resuscitated patients in two separate out of hospital cardiac arrest incidents while police fire and EMS continued managing sustained peak season demand. The fire department has also placed its new self-contained breathing apparatuses into service and police staff and training continues for two new patrol officers,” Smith said.

One officer entered an 18-week basic law enforcement training program while the other continued through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy waiver process based on their prior law enforcement service.

“Recruitment is still underway for an open dispatch position as well,” Smith said. “So these vacancies and training demands continue to place additional pressure on existing staff and capacities, but departmental personnel continue to rise to the challenge and provide high quality services for the community.”

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MILL RATE CHANGE

The town’s mil rate, which town’s use to calculate how much property taxes are owed by each property owner, has changed.

“The mill rate came in at $10.34, which was a .8% increase over last year. The town’s mill rate was reduced by 14 cents,” Smith said. “The school’s mill rate went up 16 cents. The county’s went up 2 cents and the high school was up 6 cents. The overlay was down 1 cent.”

One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of value assessed on that property.

“The changes,” Smith said, “created a total of a 9 cent increase or less than 1%. So we thought that was encouraging news for the budget and based on our projections I think we beat them.”

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IT UPDATE

The town has completed modernizing its meeting broadcast and streaming systems.

This, according to Ben Stevenson, Bar Harbor’s technology director, is “in response to several ongoing issues with the previous system. These included intermittent failures to connect with streaming providers, inconsistent or poor audio and video quality, and other reliability issues that affected the public’s ability to view and follow town meetings.”

The modernizations included new audio and video equipment, high-definition cameras, and a number of behind-the-scenes upgrades that have greatly enhanced the reliability and overall quality of the broadcasts, he said.

“We are now able to provide high-definition video and audio through both Town Hall Streams and YouTube, giving residents a much clearer and more accessible way to participate in and view town meetings,” Stevenson explained.

The YouTube podcasts automatically generate a transcript and closed captioning usually the day after the live meetings are broadcast there.

“This provides residents with an additional way to access and follow meetings while making broadcast more accessible to our community,” Stevenson said. “We have also incorporated additional redundancy into the system to help ensure that broadcasts remain available even in the event of a streaming service interruption. Overall, these improvements represent a significant step toward the town moving forward and providing a much more modern, reliable, and accessible broadcast experience for our residents here.”

Meetings can be viewed via those two streaming services, but not the public education cable channel.

“Returning to cable broadcasting in its current format would require additional communication, coordination, and investment from the town as the existing cable infrastructure does not currently support the high-definition format without additional changes,” he said.

Town Council Vice Chair Earl Brechlin verified, “So we’re not using the cable channel at all now?”

Brechlin said his only concern was that some people might not be able to stream.

“Could the YouTube be rebroadcast on the cable?” he asked.

That would require additional equipment and hardware to descale the videos.

“Has there been a lot of folks calling up saying, ‘Hey, why isn’t it on cable anymore?’”

“I haven’t heard of one,” he replied.

“Okay. Well, that’s that’s interesting, too,” Brechlin said.

“Thank you, Ben. I just want to say thank you,” Smith said. I know you know these problems that were plaguing were stressful at times for you. But we’re very pleased with the progress and the improvements that we’ve made so far. So, thank you.”

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

The town’s YouTube channel.

The town’s Town Hall Streams channel.

The Town Council packet for the above referenced meeting.

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