Bar Harbor approved agreements with the YMCA and Downeast Transportation, as school officials still seek clearer expectations for after-school transportation.
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BAR HARBOR — With no public comment, the Bar Harbor Town Council approved how it would work with two nonprofits that receive funding from the town through the town’s budget. The approval came during the Town Council’s October 20 meeting.
The agreements are called memorandums of understanding (MOU) and are part of a new process in how Bar Harbor creates its budget.
The MOUs are for the Jesup Memorial Library, Downeast Transportation, and the Mount Desert Island YMCA, three organizations that receive more funding than other nonprofits or agencies from the town.
It’s part of a restructured funding process approved by the Bar Harbor Town Council in October 2025.
The simplest way to think about it, Town Manager James Smith had said at the time, is that those three agencies deliver services that are often delivered by towns or cities.
Bar Harbor residents can use the YMCA, Jesup Memorial Library, and Island Explorer, which are private entities. The library is free. Island Explorer is free. The YMCA has a sliding scale for its use and some free programming.
When the process was approved in 2025, former Town Council Chair Val Peacock had said that the higher level of funding has previously made the process difficult and not allowed the town to have more strategic conversations about the budget, budget process, capacity, goals over time, and that the MOU process will hopefully take care of some of the angst that occurred during the former process where agencies had to present. She said that she believed it would be a more formal and holistic approach.
The MOUs approved retroactive funding for both the YMCA ($180,000) and Downeast Transportation ($310,544). Downeast Transportation provides fare-free Island Explorer buses throughout the area from May to October. Both MOUs draft expectations from the agencies.
Voters approved the library receiving $312,756 for the year from the town.
The town budget itself is approved by voters in July after being created and vetted by town and school staff, Town Council, the School Board, and the Warrant Committee. Property taxes then support most of the budget.
Upcoming fiscal year funding would have to be approved by voters at town meeting.
MDI YMCA MOU
For years, the town’s school board has worried about the YMCA bus service after school to the YMCA for afterschool programs. Roughly 41 students go to the Y after the school day is over. The bus service had previously been provided by the YMCA. That ended in 2022.
Since then the school board has advocated for the service to return. Currently, 10 students are provided the service.
There was no call for public comment during the item before the Town Council voted. It had been taken off the Council’s consent agenda because Councilor Steven Boucher had to declare a conflict of interest because he serves on the Y’s board.
“We are disappointed that there was no public discussion of the MOU by the Town Council. The School Committee and administration have attended all public meetings and all public workshops where the MOU discussion could have taken place over the past year, and have heard nothing, and seen no draft until attached on the agenda,” School Board Chair Marie Yarborough said in an email, Wednesday. “The language and intent of the MOU is unclear, on a number of points, and we’d hoped a public discussion would explain some of the language and obligations.”
The transportation gap created has been being filled to some extent by the bus schedule of the school bus trying to accommodate kids, but it’s hard to do that, Vice Chair Misha Mytar said in August.
The concern is for the younger students who might have to walk. There have been typically 24-27 students who would use the bus on varying days throughout the school year. At times, the need goes down to 12, it was said at an April 2025 School Board meeting.
“We try to make up the difference as much as possible, but it’s not where it should be,” Dr. Webster has said.
”The sudden ceasing of transportation services by the Y in 2022, and the school’s desire for a new MOU to confirm the service—which the Y has been receiving town money for the whole time—has been an important, consistent agenda item for the School Committee and Administration each month, for the past year,” Yarborough wrote.
In the MOU, it states, “The YMCA may provide or arrange transportation when reasonably able to do so. The entity actually providing transportation is responsible for its licensing, drivers, vehicles, insurance, safety, and operating compliance. Nothing in this MOU directs or controls transportation operations. Alternative solution. If the YMCA cannot provide or arrange the designated transportation, it shall promptly notify the Town Manager. Subject to applicable law, procurement requirements, and required approvals, the Town may retain, withhold, redirect, or require return of unexpended designated funds to support another lawful transportation solution. The Town may facilitate or fund a solution, but has no obligation to operate or arrange transportation or assume responsibility for YMCA childcare services.”
Under facility use, it reads, “The Town may make Town-owned land or facilities available for YMCA activities when appropriate, subject to generally applicable Town policies, fees, scheduling, availability, permits, and administrative authority. Town property remains under Town control and available for municipal needs and public use. The YMCA receives no preference over similarly situated organizations. Town funding does not entitle the YMCA to facility use, and facility use does not guarantee Town funding.”
The MOU allows the YMCA full operational discretion.
”As it stands now for this school year, the community need is already not being fulfilled. Out of the 41 students who attend the paid after school programming at the Y, only 10 of them are transported by the Y-leaving 31 students for CES to find spaces for on our already-packed buses,” Yarborough wrote.
DOWNEAST TRANSPORTATION MOU
The MOU with Downeast Transportation is meant to support the regional nonprofit that provides public transportation.
Much like with the YMCA, the MOU does not create a partnership that gives the town operational control.
It requires a service commitment that it specifies, “DTI will provide transportation services that reasonably align with Town priorities and the service framework in Schedule A.”
The seven-page document also states, “Town funding is intended to complement, not replace, participation by other beneficiaries and funding sources, including the National Park Service, Federal Transit Administration, other municipalities, major employers, institutions, grants, and rider revenues where applicable.”
In neither contract is there an assumption of liability nor a list of specific responsibilities.
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