A nonprofit formed to protect the future of a small working waterfront and recreational site on Orr’s Island hopes to raise at least $250,000 to preserve public access to the property and pay off parties to a now-settled legal dispute over its ownership.
Amber Skinner, president of Friends of Barleyfield Point, said the newly formed nonprofit is still waiting for the settlement agreement to be finalized but is moving forward with efforts to raise the needed cash.
“We’re still putting the nonprofit together,” Skinner said. “It is officially an entity; we’ve finalized our bylaws and are just making sure we have all of the administrative things in order.”
The group plans to hold a fundraiser this summer, details of which have yet to be worked out. It also is accepting tax-deductible donations that can be made via the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association website at mainecoastfishermen.org/barleyfield.
In addition to buying out the principal shareholder, John E. “Jack” Sylvester Jr., the nonprofit needs to pay for things like insurance, legal fees and upkeep, said Skinner, who is a co-owner herself. It also needs to create a new access for the point, which requires relocating a utility pole, to resolve a related boundary dispute, she said.
The group’s ultimate goal is to make the site, which includes a small beach with limited parking, available to the public in perpetuity, Skinner said. Contrary to initial indications from the parties’ attorneys, three small fish houses and piers on the property would remain privately owned.
Barleyfield Point is a narrow, rocky projection into Lowell’s Cove that was conveyed by its original owners to 12 local residents in the late 1800s. Since then, shares have been passed down through generations, as well as bought and sold, such that at least 100 people now own fractions of the roughly one-third-acre property.
A lawsuit filed in 2022 by Sylvester, of Orr’s Island, had asked the court to force a sale of the entire site to him. He described the property in court documents as “unmanaged, unsecured and in deteriorating condition” with too many owners.
But many of the site’s other co-owners filed their own joint claim asking the court to force Sylvester to sell his shares to them. They had feared the loss of public access for storage of lobster traps and buoys, as well as swimming, recreational fishing, picnics on the beach and other longtime community uses for the property.
During a May bench trial, in which a judge decides the outcome rather than a jury, Sylvester testified that he never intended to take away that access, but his assurances seemed to leave the other litigants unmoved.
After two days of testimony, the parties came together to work out a deal that involves transferring full ownership of Barleyfield Point to the nonprofit. Amber Skinner and her husband, Ben Skinner, said the first priority will be to pay off Sylvester for his shares.
But the group may need to compensate other part-owners of the property who don’t wish to donate their shares to the nonprofit, Ben Skinner said.
“We don’t know who will want to be bought out,” he said.
The Skinners said the nonprofit can’t take any action until the settlement deal is finalized, after which it would likely have 30 days until the closing, when Sylvester would be paid. They hope to avoid having to take out a loan for that purpose.
The nonprofit hopes to raise public awareness about the situation and encourage local residents who enjoy Barleyfield Point as a recreational site to make a donation to help secure its long-term future.
“We want people to know it’s a big deal to save this kind of access to the water,” Amber Skinner said.
Pam Black-Blampied, who grew up in the neighborhood and whose father is a Barleyfield Point shareholder, said she supports the nonprofit’s goals and would feel “elation and joy” if the community came together to help fund its preservation.
“We have to make it so everyone can enjoy it,” Black-Blampied said. “All humans should be able to enjoy what we are so fortunate to have.”
Another co-owner, Fran Gilfoyle, agreed.
“Barleyfield really has a rich (working waterfront) history,” Gilfoyle said. “It’s been vibrant in its use in the past, and I think it’s been a little bit sleepy in (recent) years. We want to see it brought back to what it used to be.”
Amber Skinner said leading a nonprofit is a new experience for her, but she is committed to doing whatever it takes to protect a local site that fishermen have used and families have visited for generations.
“It would be an amazing thing to know we contributed to something that will be open and enjoyed forever,” she said. “We’ve spent a lot of our time on the point. … It was integral to our daughter’s childhood and truly influenced the person she’s become. Knowing that it will be available to others is a wonderful thought.”
Candi Fabri, of Virginia, who was visiting Barleyfield Point on Wednesday, July 3, said she has family roots in the area and travels there every summer.
“I would be devastated if this place wasn’t preserved in perpetuity,” Fabri said.
UPDATE: This story was updated at 7 a.m. Saturday, July 13, with new information from Friends of Barleyfield Point about the pending settlement agreement, and to correct Pam Black-Blampied’s relationship to the property.
