BELFAST — The Belfast City Council will hold its regularly scheduled public meeting Tuesday, March 15, at 7 p.m. and address an agenda that includes a discussion of whether or not to return to in-person meetings, among other topics. In-person Council meetings have been suspended since August 12, after councilors adopted an emergency order that the meetings be conducted online, according to Belfast City Manager Erin Herbig’s report. 

Several items appear on the Consent Agenda, including a request to approve facility use to utilize Steamboat Landing Park and the Armistice Footbridge on Thursday nights from July through August, for the popular Summer Nights Concert Series, which brings free live music to the area every week. 

A request from the Maine Irish Heritage Center to fly the Irish flag on St. Patrick’s Day at Belfast City Hall. The request comes as part of their initiative to cover the State of Maine in green, white, and orange to “honor the State’s deeply rooted Irish history and heritage.”

Another item on the agenda is a request from the Parks and Recreation director to change the name of the Four Seasons Recreational Area. The item was tabled at the March 1 meetings, with Councilor Mike Hurley requesting it be placed earlier in the agenda during this discussion. 

The requested name change would see the park renamed as the Belfast Bike Park, as part of an attempt to identify the area as a recreational biking trail. The change was proposed by the Belfast Mountain Bike Club, and could potentially allow the group to access funding from the New England Mountain Biking Association for improvements to the bike park and the possible addition of a youth biking area. 

If the request is approved, the Parks and Rec Department would place park signs designed for roadside identification of the park at the entrance, and would work on improvements to the parking area. Parks and Rec Director Norm Poirier included additional detail in his request, acting also as a representative of the BMBC and will be available at the meeting for questions. 

The annual Keeping Belfast Beautiful cleanup is also listed as an agenda item, with the Council asked to approve a facility use request by organizers form the event, which will take place Saturday, May 7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The group is requesting the use of Belfast Yards as a staging area for the event, and to close parts of City Point Road from 9:30 a.m. through 11 a.m. for roadside cleanup. It is noted this is an annual request, which is recommended for staff approval. 

Organizers are also asking the City to support the clean-up by contributing $1,200 for the purchase of supplies, including trash bags, disposable gloves, and the tipping fee associated with the dumpster. The current KBB account has a balance of $396.44, with organizers stating they expect the account to be replenished by the fathering of donations, as has been the case during previous KBB events.

The meeting will conclude with a special thanks to those who made the 2022 Maine Ice Carving Championship possible, which was a new event to this year’s Belfast Ice Festival, which marked its inaugural event last year.  

“I can think of no better place than Belfast to hold such a spectacular event to embrace the cold and celebrate the beauty of the winter season,” wrote Herbig in part. 

“Our Town Belfast worked diligently with local businesses to make this event smashing and even more incredible than last year. The list of businesses that came together to ensure the success of this event and activities that the event provided was astonishing, and the outcome of the event was more rewarding than I think anyone could have imagined.” 

Belfast City Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. Meetings are conducted online using Zoom and can be streamed on the City of Belfast website. They also air live on BEL TV and on Belfast Community Radio at WBFY 100.9. 

Comments can also be submitted by emailing the Council during the March 1 meeting. Comments will be presented to the Council.

An oral comment can also be submitted during the meeting via Zoom webinar. Information for this method can be found on the City website.

Information and documents related to this meeting are available on the City’s website. 

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com