Town seeks lease with state for waterfront area

LINCOLNVILLE – A cobblestone beach curving around a tiny, snug harbor that is a favorite spot for locals and tourists will be the subject of a special town meeting on Monday, Sept. 10.

Ducktrap Harbor beach and nearly 10 acres of woods that link it to U.S. Route 1 are owned by the state and managed by the Department of Conservation. But an agreement struck with the state would have the state granting the town a 25-year renewable lease for the property, Town Administrator David Kinney said Friday.

Residents must vote to approve the lease at the special town meeting, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Walsh Common in Lincolnville Central School on Hope Road.

Currently, staff at nearby Camden Hills State Park informally oversee the parcel, Kinney said, but the Ducktrap waterfront gets little state attention. The lease would give the town control over the property.

“We, the town, would take over maintenance and upkeep,” he said.

The parcel, accessed from Route 1 by the short Howe Point Road, was sold to the state in August 1971, Kinney said.

Earlier this year, the town sought to take over ownership. Sen. Carol Weston, R-Montville, submitted a bill at the town’s request to transfer the land to the town, but the Department of Conservation opposed the move, Kinney said. The state was receptive to the lease proposal, however.

If the lease is approved, the town could post signs warning users that “Water contact isn’t advised” at the beach when water quality is dangerous, he said.

“Maine Healthy Beaches has been monitoring it for quality. We have had some bad test results,” Kinney said.

Trash barrels and a picnic table or two might be set out, he speculated, if the town gets the lease, and rules for using the area could be developed. Low-impact trails could also be built, Kinney said.

The harbor is also the mouth of the Ducktrap River, which has been the subject of conservation efforts over the last decade by Coastal Mountains Land Trust and its Ducktrap Coalition. Kinney also noted that Tanglewood 4-H Camp is located on the banks of the river, a few miles from the harbor.

These groups might help the town manage the area.

“It’s kind of a natural extension,” he said.

On Saturday afternoon, Pat Hughes, a 17-year resident of Lincolnville, was hauling his kayak up onto the stony beach at Ducktrap.

The shore is a favorite place for launching, he said, and a place where he often sees neighbors also enjoying the shore. Hughes said he supports the town entering into a lease with the state to give the town more control over the parcel, though there are very few problems with the current setup, he said.

Longtime resident and local historian Diane O’Brien, who was beach combing on the shore Saturday, agreed the town should have more control.

“It’s better to have it closer to home,” O’Brien said.

But she rarely sees any trash on the ground, or the results of any vandalism.

Several years ago, the state put out a trash barrel, but that was often overflowing, O’Brien said, so less management might be better, she suggested.

At high tide, the small spit of land affords a great place for older children to leap from the shore into the water as it rushes past into Penobscot Bay. The beach facing the bay is better suited for swimming by younger children.

Seven or eight vehicles can park on the spit of land, and year-round, people often stop there to have lunch.

A sign erected at the head of Howe Point Road by the Lincolnville Historical Society notes that Ducktrap was a thriving industrial area in the 19th century, where a sawmill, gristmill, tannery, brick yard, shipyard, lime kiln and horse-drawn railroad once operated.