Record crowd attends Cranberry Isles vote

CRANBERRY ISLES – Selectmen can’t remember a time when almost 100 voters showed up for a town meeting, but it happened Tuesday, and it’s likely to happen again in three weeks.

The unprecedented turnout underscores the interest islanders have in an ambitious $2.4 million project that would give the island town its first-ever pier and parking facility on Mount Desert Island, according to First Selectman Richard Beal.

A typical town meeting draws half the number of people who showed up Tuesday, Beal said. After about two hours of questions and answers, residents recessed to enjoy a potluck supper together before the official meeting – and debate – started about 8 p.m.

The special town meeting, held in the only church on Little Cranberry Island, “is a prime example of local government at its best,” Beal said. “The people were doing the people’s business. As a former military man, I have served under that altruistic principle, but to see it in practice was just marvelous.”

And the vote wasn’t bad, either, Beal said, while admitting the project isn’t a done deal until residents return for another special town meeting to vote on the final proposal.

After hours of debate, discussion and questioning Tuesday, residents voted 87-10 to approve the project in concept. They withheld final approval after being cautioned by the town attorney and bankers that they need more details on the project in order to give it their unqualified support.

Town Attorney Anthony Giunta of Ellsworth told the packed church room that the proposed purchase and sale agreement does not adequately protect the town in the event that it cannot get the needed permits to construct a major new pier and parking lot on the proposed site in Southwest Harbor.

Giunta agreed with town leaders that the waterfront property near the Hinckley boatyard in Southwest Harbor was already zoned for piers and parking – the two key needs of the island residents. But he cautioned that abutting property owners could easily delay the project, possibly for years, just by objecting to it and triggering the municipal appeal process.

Like many voters Tuesday, Giunta also didn’t like the idea that the town was being forced to act swiftly on the proposal because the property owner had given the town only 21 days to complete the agreement.

“It’s unusual for a project like this to be slammed through in two months,” he said. “That’s not the way it works.”

The proposal was put together quickly this summer in response to growing pressure to find more parking and docking options for island residents, who now use facilities in Northeast Harbor. An advisory committee to the selectmen looked at about a dozen possible sites and considered about 10 more in their six-week effort.

The town auditor, James Wadman, told the meeting that property taxes would increase by 29 percent a year to finance the project over 20 years, not including the cost of operating and maintaining the complex.

But many town residents seemed ready to make the plunge, not only to resolve their present problems, but also to ensure that future generations won’t have the same problems that have dogged the island community for years.

When Junior Bracey, a well-known island native, stood up to speak Tuesday evening, some of his neighbors held their breath, figuring he would oppose the proposal. And oppose it hard.

But he surprised them with unqualified support, and many people cheered heartily when he said, “This is the best thing I’ve seen presented to this town in my life.” He urged the town to buy the land and develop it before they lost the opportunity.

Although only 97 people voted Tuesday, another 60 summer residents also attended the meeting. They were allowed to question and debate the proposal, but could not make amendments to the town meeting warrant article.