Lobster fete steamed over Rockland fees

ROCKLAND ? If the people behind the Maine Lobster Festival seem a little crabby these days, there’s a reason for it.

Morale among volunteers is still stinging from last month’s effort by city councilors to charge park rental fees to the group, despite the council’s 3-2 vote to waive nearly $10,000 in fees, Rockland Festival Corp. president Peter Cella said Sunday,.

City officials could end up picking apart the 58-year-old, all-volunteer, August event if leaders eventually decide to impose fees, vice president Chuck Kruger said on Friday.

The festival has devoted countless hours and $450,000 in cash contributions to the city and other organizations over the years, festival officials said, noting the recent debate may weigh on future gifts to the community.

The five-day extravaganza draws more than 100,000 people to the waterfront, serves up 10-plus tons of lobster, and also gives a boost to local businesses.

“The philosophy has always been to quietly serve the community,” Kruger said.

Last week, festival officers handed out two checks ? one for $60,000 to the Maine Lighthouse Museum and another for $10,000 to the city. The latter was the seventh payment on an $80,000 ambulance, which the festival agreed to fully fund eight years ago.

Cella acknowledged an agreement with the city that waived fees for police and ambulance coverage during the festival in exchange for the rescue vehicle. He said, however, that he thought the deal was of greater benefit to the city.

The festival also has pledged $200,000 to the Gateway Center, where the

Rockland-Thomaston Area Chamber of Commerce and lighthouse museum will soon open.

Now the city is requesting an unspecified donation from the festival for a new $750,000 ladder truck, Cella said.

Not knowing what councilors will have on the table next year, festival officials haven’t decided what organizers can or cannot give toward the ladder truck, they said. Kruger also said he heard there was a possible move afoot to tax festival vendors.

When councilors voted in April to waive the park fees, two councilors, Adele Grossman Faber and Patricia Moran Wotton dissented.

“We all recognize what the festival brings to Rockland,” Faber said before voting. “Rockland shouldn’t have to subsidize an entity that doesn’t need subsidizing, and if we do, who is the next special case?

“When you give something and take something back, it is not a gift,” she said, referring to the police and ambulance coverage for the festival. Faber declined to comment Sunday when contacted about the festival’s unease.

Mayor Tom Molloy could not be reached for comment.

Councilor Brian Harden, who supported the waiver, said Sunday he hopes the fee issue will not resurface “because they’ve given so much.”

Over the years, the festival has donated more than cash contributions.

Volunteers have provided untold hours of free labor ? painting the city’s landmark lighthouse, located at the end of a one-mile-long granite breakwater. The group also has painted other community buildings, Buoy Park buoys and the Fishermen’s Memorial stage. They have paved, seeded and mulched parks each year. For some of the work, visiting Navy ship crews were enlisted to help.

In the past three years, the nonprofit festival brought in the following gross revenues: $771,347 in 2004; $699,330 in 2003; $641,225 in 2002. The net proceeds for those years, respectively, were: $91,488, $41,955 and $77,927.

Operating costs have taken giant leaps, festival officers say, pointing to liability insurance that has climbed from $3,500 at one time to $35,000 today.

In 1985, the entertainment budget was $4,000 compared to $200,000 last year, Kruger said. Those latest costs are for five days of entertainment on three stages for some 40 acts.

In recent years, the Maine Lobster Festival has attracted big-name stars such as Willie Nelson, Dixie Chicks, Ricky Skaggs and Chubby Checker. This year’s headline entertainer is slated to be country singer Jo Dee Messina, who will perform Thursday, Aug. 4.

Festival officials say one or two bad years from rain or the economy could wipe out its savings. This year, inquiries to the chamber and Web site about the Aug. 3-7 event are down 50 percent, Cella noted.

“If we have to go to a complete business relationship, we both lose,” Kruger said.