Growth and development changes the demands placed on municipal services and facilities. Mount Desert’s denser communities are served by public water and public sewer systems. In the more rural areas of Mount Desert, water supply and sewer disposal is an individual responsibility, based on private wells and septic systems. This chapter provides a basic overview of the public water and sewer systems, and at the adequacy of major public facilities in our town. It assesses what impacts population and demographic changes will have on the demands for these services and facilities.
General Government
The Mount Desert Municipal Building serves as the general administration building for the town, including the town manager, clerk, assessor, treasurer, and other offices. The building has a meeting facility in which the Selectmen and other town committees meet. In addition, the Police Department and Fire Department are located in the lower level of the Municipal Building.
The building is located on Sea Street in the village of Northeast Harbor. A public parking lot, tennis courts, boat launch, and marina are adjacent to the building and all of the services in downtown Northeast Harbor are within walking distance. The Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce maintains a visitor center across the street in the marina area for general visitor information as well as showers and laundry facilities for yachtsmen.
The municipal building has recently been renovated and is in good condition. However, the space is generally not adequate, as there is a need for more storage and office space.
Public Works
The Public Works Department is responsible for our town’s four wastewater treatment systems, the road/sidewalk network, our stormwater facilities, buildings and grounds, and the solid waste/recycling program. The department’s office is located in the Northeast Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant and its highway garage is located on Sargeant Drive
There are 17 full-time staff within the department, including a director, five wastewater treatment personnel, six highway personnel, two mechanics, and two solid waste personnel. The solid waste and buildings & grounds crews add, respectively, two and one additional people, in the summer months.
All winter and summer road maintenance is done in-house by Public Works. Our town has approximately 43 miles of roads that Mount Desert maintains (the State of Maine maintains Routes 3/198 and 102). In addition, the department maintains the sidewalk systems in Otter Creek, Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, and Somesville.
Many of the town’s roads are in poor or degraded condition and will have to be repaired. The sidewalk network in Otter Creek is being repaired as part of the wastewater treatment system work. Those in Northeast Harbor, Somesville, and Seal Harbor will need to be improved in the near future.
For solid waste, the town operates a curbside collection program. The Town owns three garbage trucks that, depending on the season, collect waste and recycling and transport the waste to the transfer station in Southwest Harbor. From there, the solid waste is sent to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Corporation in Orrington.
The number of year-round households living in our town is projected to increase, which will allow the town to maintain an optimum refuse collection system.
Public Works’ central garage is at the Sargeant Drive site. Most maintenance and repairs are performed in-house. The garage also services vehicles from other town departments, including school buses and fire trucks (with the exception of specialized equipment such as pumps). A log is maintained on every vehicle making it possible to track those vehicles that are beginning to show their age.
The department also maintains the town’s stormwater collection system. While most of the storm drains empty directly into waterways, some storm drains are still connected to the town’s wastewater treatment facility. These drains can create problems during storm events when the wastewater treatment system becomes overwhelmed by the volume of water in its system. The department has an ongoing effort to identify where the storm drains empty into the wastewater treatment system and eliminate these illegal connections.
The department operates the town’s wastewater treatment systems. These systems serve 1228 parcels in Mount Desert.
Public Sewer Service
The Town of Mount Desert owns and operates the public sewer systems in the community. There are four separate public sewer systems in Mount Desert.
The Otter Creek wastewater treatment plant is currently being taken offline and replaced with a pump station complete with capacity for growth in the area and odor and grease controls. The wastewater from Otter Creek is going to be pumped over to Seal Harbor for treatment.
Seal Harbor’s wastewater treatment plant is currently being expanded and upgraded. As part of the planned expansion, the plant will be able to treat the wastewater that will be pumped over from neighboring Otter Creek. This will allow the Otter Creek plant to be taken off-line.
Northeast Harbor’s wastewater treatment system was most recently upgraded in 1996 with a new clarifier. The capacity of the system is generally adequate to deal with peak demand.
The Somesville treatment facility will require extensive reconstruction within the next three years. Outdated technology is becoming more and more difficult and expensive to repair and replace. The Town recently upgraded their pump station facilities.
There is the potential for private residential groundwater wells in Pretty Marsh and Hall Quarry areas to become contaminated by failing subsurface disposal systems due to the area’s poor soils. As these wells do become contaminated, the demand to extend public water and public sewer to these areas will be great, and the extension work will be expensive.
Public Water Service
The Mount Desert Water District was established in 1994 to operate the public water service throughout Northeast Harbor and Seal Harbor. The Water District is the outgrowth of two water companies that operated separate water systems in these villages.
The Water District is a non-profit public utility that is overseen by a 5 member board, made up of residents. Five staff keep the District operating, including a director, three operators, and one bookkeeper, and a board made up of residents.
The two water systems are still separate, but the water collection, treatment, and delivery networks of the two water systems are similar. In total, the networks service approximately 1,000 residences and businesses.
Both sources of water are surface water. In Northeast Harbor, the Hadlock Ponds are the water source. In Seal Harbor, Jordan Pond is the water source. Both of these sources have approximately 1,000 acres of drainage basin that exists largely within Acadia National Park.
From these source waters, both systems draw water in to the treatment plant. All of the water is filtered and then treated with chlorine and ozone before being released to the delivery network.
In Seal Harbor, the water is pumped into a 500,000 gallon water tower located near Jordan Pond. From there, the water is fed by gravity down into the village of Seal Harbor.
In Northeast Harbor, water is pumped directly through the delivery network. Any remaining water pressure is used to fill a 500,000 gallon water tower located near Lower Hadlock Pond for storage. This stored water is used to complement peak demand and in case of an emergency.
The water systems in both networks have enough capacity to handle peak demand in the summer months (which is three times more than in other months) and allow for expansions to the networks. The Seal Harbor system in particular has excess capacity. Water pressure throughout the system is adequate to meet demand.
The Water District has an ongoing maintenance program. One of the largest challenges is to locate and replace pipes that are in some cases more than 100 years old. These pipes can leak and create other inefficiencies in the network, and let un-potable water in.
Federal water quality standards continue to evolve, and the demands placed on public water suppliers have steadily become more stringent. New regulations requiring another level of treatment are in the process of being adopted, which will require the Water District to add more treatment methods to its facilities.
Expansion to the water system is difficult, especially considering the topography, geography, and fragmented pattern of settlement on the east side of the town. Otter Creek is the most likely location for future expansion, should that community opt for public water service. Expansions to the west side of the island where most of the new development is occurring would be prohibitively expensive.
Public Safety
Our Mount Desert Police Department provides 24-hour public safety services to the town. The department is located in the lower level of the municipal building on Sea Street.
The department has six full-time officers comprised of a chief, a sergeant, and four patrol officers. A full-time employee is hired through the summer months (parking officer). Approximately four part-time officers help fill in the patrol schedule, especially during the summer months when the demand for public safety services increases dramatically.
In addition to the officers, the department has four full-time dispatchers that provide service for public safety (police, fire, highway department, and emergency medical services) as well as other town departments (school buses, water district, etc). An additional five dispatchers work part-time to fill out the schedule.
The police and dispatch operations are currently pressing the limits of adequate space. Evidence room space is already compromised.
The department operates two cruisers and a four-wheel drive vehicle. The primary officer of duty carries an Automated External Defibrillator for emergency care in case of cardiac arrest, and all officers are trained in its use.
In 2003, the department answered 1,127 service calls. These include a wide range of public safety services, ranging from routine traffic violations to violent crimes. Nearly 70 of the service calls responded to traffic accidents, one of which ended in a fatality. A new service call database was created in 2004 to more accurately detail the number and types of services provided by the police department. The number of service calls recorded by this new system will likely be significantly higher than the previous system.
The police department has at least one patrol on duty 24-hours per day. When a full complement of officers is available (the department has had difficulty maintaining its full complement), there are sometimes two patrols on duty during the evening hours.
The department relies on support from neighboring towns to provide back up and/or cover emergency support when the department is transporting prisoners to the Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth. In return, the Mount Desert Police Department provides the same assistance to neighboring communities in addition to its formal mutual aid agreements with Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor.
The department currently has no community policing programs, but intends to create more opportunities for public education opportunities as the staffing levels are filled in.
In the future, the police department has to address:
· staff retention – the department has had difficulty keeping officers for long periods of time and this infringes on its ability to provide community services and programs,
· parking – there are areas of the town that lack sufficient parking space (Seal Harbor Yacht Club, Bartlett’s Island landing). Northeast Harbor’s parking woes are a problem for residents and employees, as well as tourists. Northeast Harbor’s Main Street does not accommodate oversize recreational vehicles, which can find themselves in spots where they re unable to maneuver.
The Mount Desert Fire Department provides 24-hour fire prevention, protection, and rescue services throughout our town. In 2001, the fire department was created by merging the four firefighting organizations that existed in Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor, Otter Creek, and Somesville.
Our fire department has one full-time fire chief. The chief is supported by approximately 36 volunteers. Of these volunteers, 17 meet or exceed the minimum qualifications set by the Maine Labor Standards Board. The remaining volunteers participate in a training program that is funded by the fire department. In addition, several of the volunteers are certified paramedics/EMTs and work for both the fire department and the Northeast Harbor Ambulance Service, Inc.
The department has fire stations located in Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Seal Harbor, and Otter Creek. These fire stations all have adequate space for existing needs. The following apparatus are located at each fire station:
· Northeast Harbor – 2 engines, 1 service truck
· Seal Harbor – 1 engine, 1 ladder, 1 service truck
· Somesville – 1 engine, 1 tanker, 2 service trucks
· Otter Creek – 1 engine (does not qualify as a Class A engine)
Currently, the department is closing the fire station in Otter Creek and is planning to surplus the apparatus stored there. Fire protection for this section of town will be transferred to the Seal Harbor fire station.
In 2003, the department’s budget totaled $253,000. Of this approximately one-quarter was for wages/office expenses, one-quarter was for training and routine maintenance, and one-half was for new equipment.
In 2003, the department responded to 167 service calls. Of these, 14 were fires (buildings, woods, stoves, etc) and 79 were false alarms. The remaining calls were for a wide variety of services, including fuel leaks, broken power lines, assistance to police/EMS, and smoke investigations.
The department has mutual aid agreements with all of the fire departments in Hancock County. These agreements ensure that additional fire and rescue personnel are available in the event that one department is overwhelmed. In 2003, the Mount Desert Fire Department provided mutual aid to 5 fire calls in Bar Harbor and 1 boating accident assist call in Southwest Harbor.
Because the fire station in Otter Creek is closing, the fire department is working on establishing a more immediate response mutual aid agreement with Bar Harbor. This will increase the level of protection for the Otter Creek area.
The fire hydrants on the public water system are generally adequate for the firefighting crews. Some of the hydrants are outdated, but the water department is updating all of its hydrants and changing the threads on the hydrants to National Standard threads.
Response times throughout the community are generally adequate, although response times can lag in Seal Harbor, Otter Creek, and Somesville because there often are not enough volunteers during the day to respond to service calls.
The fire department has created an in-house firefighter training program. This new program has trained new volunteers as well as retrained veterans. Firefighters routinely receive advanced training at dedicated schools throughout the state. The department operates an internship program through the Mount Desert High School.
The department is currently undertaking a long-range planning program to create a plan for its future.
Issues the department has to address in the future include:
· Personnel – recruiting more volunteers, compensating volunteers for their training time, compensating volunteers for their time fighting fires
· Equipment – much equipment needs to be replaced, town has reserve account for apparatus, working on replacing three service trucks with a pumper/tanker/utility truck
· Converting – fire department is only three years old, still working on integrating equipment and culture
Emergency medical services (EMS) are provided by the Northeast Harbor Ambulance Service, Inc. This is a private not-for-profit corporation. Service is provided 24 hours a day by a staff of volunteers with mutual backup agreements with Southwest Harbor and Bar Harbor.
There is only one ambulance to serve the town’s population, but the volume of calls has traditionally been just below 300 per year and the one vehicle has been adequate to date with very few exceptions. In addition, the service has coordinated with each village to make sure there is at least on Lifeflight landing zone in each section of town. The ambulance carries a handheld GPS instrument and has a common radio frequency on which to contact the Lifeflight crews.
At present there is one paramedic, four intermediates, and nine basics regularly responding by a pager system. Firemen trained in Emergency Vehicle Operations may also serve as drivers for the ambulance when necessary.
Education
Our town provides public school services to all residents from Kindergarten through high school. K-8 students attend the Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor and grades 9-12 attend the Mount Desert Island High School on Route 233 in Bar Harbor.
Our schools are organized in a Union 98. Participating in the Union gives us control over our primary school and a consolidated high school with Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, the Cranberry Isles, French Island, and Swans Island.
The Mount Desert Elementary School is located in the village of Northeast Harbor. The school, originally built in the 1950s, has been extensively renovated recently. At the same time, a 10,000 square foot addition added a cafeteria/kitchen, classrooms, and special program spaces.
The elementary school currently has 156 students in grades K-8. Each grade has 1 classroom, with the exception of grades 4 and 8 which have 2 classrooms. There are 21 full-time staff members and specialists working with the students.
Traditionally, our community has provided strong support to all the program needs of our elementary students. The fine arts are a particular strength at the school.
Enrollment has been steadily decreasing in the last decade. In the early 1990s enrollment at the elementary school was close to 300 students. As recently as 1998 it had 240 students. In 2004 enrollment is down to 156 students.
Demographic shifts statewide account for some of this decline – families are having fewer children, parents are waiting longer to start families, and the number of females of child-bearing age is decreasing as the Baby Boom generation ages.
But another factor in our town is likely the primary cause of depressed enrollments. Housing costs have sky-rocketed in recent years. These higher prices, coupled with the very seasonal economy, make buying a home in our town a challenge for most young families.
The school administration projects that enrollments will stop declining as they reach an average of 12 to 15 students per grade. Currently there is an average of 17 students per grade. Under this scenario, enrollments will decline another 20 to 50 students before leveling off.
In addition, the location of the student body is shifting. While no exact numbers are available, anecdotal evidence suggests that the proportion of students in Northeast Harbor and along the south coast is decreasing and those living west of Somes Sound is increasing.
The Mount Desert Elementary School provides services to the community as well. The Neighborhood House uses school facilities extensively in the summer, but also during the school year for some of its programming. Also, a Committee for the School’s Future has organized to decide how the community can make more efficient use of its new facility.
The Mount Desert High School is located off of Route 233 in Bar Harbor. This school educates approximately 710 students in grades 9-12 from Mount Desert, Tremont, Southwest Harbor, Bar Harbor, four island communities, and several mainland communities. A staff of 65 provides education services to these students.
The high school is run by Consolidated School District 7. Mount Desert, Bar Harbor, Tremont, and Southwest Harbor belong to this CSD. These communities have representatives on the School Board that oversee the school’s operation. Other communities sending their students to the high school pay annual tuition fees for each student at a rate that is established by the State of Maine.
The number of students that are being tuitioned to Mount Desert Island High School can vary from year to year depending on the ‘competition’ from other high schools in the region. Making public policy decisions in an environment that can swing rapidly from year-to-year can be challenging. Currently, there are approximately 160 students being tuitioned to the high school.
The high school has recently completed a $7 million renovation and expansion to its facility that increased its available space by 20%. The expansion added primarily classrooms for the arts. These improvements will satisfy the high school’s facility needs for the foreseeable future.
Enrollments in the high school have remained relatively steady. While the number of students from the four towns in the CSD has decreased, the number of tuition students attending the high school has increased (in part due to the quality of education and the new facilities).
In the future, enrollment at the high school could decline to as low as 600 students before leveling off.
Staffing at the high school has been relatively steady, although recently more and more of the staff are likely to commute to the island to work because of the high cost of housing on the island.
As high school enrollments decrease in the future, determining how to adjust the staff to accommodate decreased enrollments will become a larger issue. In addition, the services offered by the high school might have to be adjusted – fewer students in a school decreases the breadth of programming that can be offered efficiently.
Marine Facilities
Town-owned marine facilities are located in Seal Harbor, Pretty Marsh Harbor, and Northeast Harbor. For a more detailed discussion of marine resources, see the chapter on Marine Resources.
Northeast Harbor is the heart of our commercial and recreational marine industry, and as such has the largest number of facilities. The Town owns and operates a 52 slip marina in the harbor, complete with parking, pump-out facilities, a pier, a fish exchange area, and a boat ramp. The Harbor Master’s office is located in Northeast Harbor. Improvements were last made to the harbor’s infrastructure decades ago, and the rip-rap is starting to show its age. Also, the harbor has not been dredged recently and is slowly filling in.
Seal Harbor, located along Mount Desert’s southern coast to the east of Northeast Harbor, is the second largest harbor in the town. Seal Harbor is more oriented towards recreational boaters, and there are several private marine facilities including a yacht club, beach, and park. The town owns and manages a boat ramp and a pier in the harbor.
On the west side of town is a small cluster of marine facilities. Pretty Marsh Harbor has a town-owned pier, and there is a town boat ramp with a small parking area in Bartlett Narrows.
Issues and Implications
1. Declining school enrollments are an issue across the entire island.
2. There is great potential for collaboration and sharing of resources with other island towns that is not currently being realized.
3. Public water and sewer systems have had little impact upon the Town’s growth patterns.
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