February 15, 2025
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Bar Harbor council gives $11,000 to playground

BAR HARBOR – The Town Council has approved a request to fund the last $11,000 a local group needed to acquire and install equipment for a playground in the village of Town Hill.

The council voted 4-2 in favor of the measure, which had been recommended by the town’s parks and recreation committee. Councilors Rob Jordan and Paul Paradis voted against the request, while councilors Ruth Eveland, Bob Garland, Julia Schloss and Greg Veilleux voted for it. Councilor Ken Smith was not at the meeting.

The vote authorized the move of $11,877 from the town’s Barker Park account to a new Town Hill playground account. Though spearheaded by the nonprofit West Eden Village Improvement Society, the playground will be owned and maintained by the town. It will be located on Route 102 next to Union Trust bank.

The village improvement society has raised $86,000 for the project, and the additional funds will give the society the $97,000 it needs to purchase the playground equipment and have it installed. An additional $14,000 needs to be raised for other features at the playground, such as wood chips, benches, trash receptacles and other items.

Jordan and Paradis both expressed concern about taking money away from the eventual renovation of Barker Park, a downtown park on Cottage Street named after former longtime Town Clerk Jean Barker. Paradis said that granting the funding request would circumvent the town’s usual budgeting process, which involves citizen review committees and eventually annual voter approval.

“I think this is a very worthy cause,” Paradis said. “I think it needs to go through the proper process.”

Supporters of the measure pointed out that the vast majority of town parks are downtown and not in outlying areas where many local residents live, such as Town Hill. They also said the council recently granted a similar request to transfer money from the planned Barker Park renovation to Glen Mary Pool, another town-owned recreational facility downtown.

“I do feel like this is a better use of the funds at hand,” Garland said.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

460-6318


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