Harpswell voters approved $7.83 million in spending and the reconstruction of the town dock at Potts Point, but rejected a $5,000 contribution to a fishing advocacy organization in the second attempt to hold an annual Town Meeting at Harpswell Community School on Saturday, March 22.
Voters approved weekend shifts for town firefighters, who currently work weekdays only. They authorized the Select Board to lease the vacant concession stand at Trufant-Summerton Athletic Field to Harpswell Aging at Home. They also OK’d investments in town infrastructure, such as $600,000 for road projects and $200,000 for improvements to the recycling center, for which the town has already set aside $739,499.
Two weeks earlier, extraordinary turnout by voters eager to weigh in on high-profile issues forced the meeting’s cancellation because the crowd exceeded the capacity of the school’s gym. Because the town only had authorization to spend money through March and could not book a larger facility on short notice, the Harpswell Select Board opted to delay votes on three items and hold a scaled-back Town Meeting on March 22.
Voters will decide whether to build a $6 million municipal fire station and whether to tear down a vacant town-owned building at the polls in June. They will decide whether to approve a new comprehensive plan on Election Day in November.
The removal of those items cut turnout at the second meeting to about a quarter of the March 8 crowd. The result was a fast-moving meeting with significant debate on just two issues — the town dock and the contribution to the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association.
The dock was destroyed by storms in January 2024. The town is proposing to rebuild it 2 feet higher and 2 feet wider to make it sturdier.
The town is proposing to spend up to $200,000. Almost half of the amount will come from an insurance payout for the old dock. The town expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse it for the balance.
Melinda Richter, of Orr’s Island, expressed reservations about the project. She was co-chair of the Town Lands Committee when it conducted a review of the facility some years ago, she said.
“Since then I’ve had a concern that, although I think it’s a lovely wharf and I’m so glad the people of Potts Point get to use it, it in essence is a private yacht club,” she said, with few opportunities for others to use it.
She said she does not begrudge the neighborhood the facility, but opposes expanding it and providing more space for boats to tie up, although the latter does not appear to be part of the town’s plan.
Other speakers disagreed with the characterization of the dock as a neighborhood yacht club.
Rebecca Waddle, of Mountain Road, said her husband, a dock builder, regularly uses the facility for his work in the area, “so it’s definitely an important piece of access for the working waterfront.”
The vote to approve the article was nearly unanimous.
Toward the end of the meeting, some residents objected to a first-time request to contribute $5,000 to the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, also known as NEFSA.
The nonprofit has strong ties to Harpswell, where its CEO and multiple board members live. It says its mission is to preserve the ocean and educate the public about how to manage its resources, among other goals.
The organization opposes offshore wind power and most of its funding comes from another nonprofit that supports causes on the political right, according to a report by WBUR.
Opponents of the $5,000 contribution expressed a mix of procedural objections and concerns about whether the town should fund what they described as a “lobbying organization.”
Advocates, meanwhile, said the town has a responsibility to support its fishermen for their contributions to the town’s economy and heritage.
It was the only expenditure on the warrant that was not recommended by Harpswell’s Budget Advisory Committee. It did carry the recommendation of the Select Board. Two of the board’s three members, Kevin Johnson and Matt Gilley, said they belong to the organization.
Jane Meisenbach, a member of the budget committee, said it didn’t recommend the request because it arrived “at the very last minute” and because “there was no precedent for supporting an advocacy group.”
George Prince, a lobsterman who lives on Harpswell Neck and sits on the NEFSA board, said the request was late because the board is new to the process. It recently decided to request funds from towns after receiving $10,000 from Swan’s Island.
Kathleen O’Donnell, of Harpswell Neck, spoke in favor of the request. She said it is time for Harpswell to “support and embrace” its history as a fishing community, and added that the industry “brings a lot of tax dollars into this town.”
The initial vote on the matter, by show of cards, was too close to call. The meeting’s moderator, John Loyd, called for voters to hold up their cards again while volunteers tallied each one. The count was 71-60 against the contribution.
There was little discussion on other matters, beyond brief explanations by town officials and the occasional question from a voter. The meeting concluded in about 90 minutes.
The 2025 town budget totals $7,833,477, an increase of 6.5% from 2024. The town is predicting a 28-cent increase in the property tax rate, from $6.36 to $6.64 per $1,000 of valuation.
Several factors influence the tax rate. The biggest is public education — the town’s share of the budget for the local school district. Next is town government, then county government. The figures for schools and the county are not yet known.
Those expenses are partially offset by non-property-tax income, such as excise taxes on vehicles; and the “fund balance,” or money left over from the previous year.
