BELFAST - Front Street Shipyard may start work as soon as today on a series of marine improvements, according to Shipyard President JB Turner, who confirmed that the company has received required permits from Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers. The City Council approved the plans Tuesday night, which would include an addition to the Shipyard's travel lift pier to accommodate a new 340-ton lift. 

The improvements, which are part of an amendment to the contract rezoning agreement between the city and the Shipyard, would also include a new marine wash basin, a reorganization of floats around the travel lift pier and at north end of the property near the footbridge, and a reshaping of the turning basin in the harbor in order to accommodate longer vessels. The improvements are part of a multi-part plan including the proposed construction of a new building that would allow the Shipyard to service larger ships.

The longest vessel the Shipyard has worked on to date is 122 foot motor yacht Atlantide, which Turner described as "a struggle and a half" to raise with the current lift, and not something he would want to repeat often. The new lift will be able to dry-dock heavier ships, the largest of which would be in the 150 to 160-foot range, he said.

Turner said the Shipyard will have to move some boats to accomodate delivery of the roughly 250 pilings for the new pier. In the meantime, he said, Prock Marine will likely be doing the "false work" or laying out the grid pattern on which the pilings will be set.

Route 1 and 141 Intersection

The Council went through a list of proposed safety changes for the intersection of Routes 1 and 141. The T-intersection of the busy roads also known as Searsport Avenue and Swan Lake Avenue was identified by the Maine Department of Transportation as having a higher rate of automobile accidents than the average intersection in Maine. The information was not new to city councilors, many of whom have weighed in on the need to make changes based upon their own experiences there.

The city relocated the crosswalk and added signs and a length of sidewalk on Swan Lake Avenue in an earlier round of grant-funded improvements aimed at pedestrian safety. The new improvements would be paid through a $100,000 grant from MDOT and $7,500 in matching funds from the city and would focus traffic calming.

The Council reviewed a number of options including updates to existing signs to make them more visible and the installation of flashing lights. One resident suggested adding signs  in the northbound lane of Route 1 starting on the west side of Veterans Memorial Bridge to warn of the approach.

Other ideas included the removal of a ledge outcropping on the east side of the intersection that blocks the view of traffic coming from Swan Lake Avenue, narrowing the turning radius for northbound Route 1 traffic to minimize aggressive turns and adding a textured, colored surface at the edges of the wide mouth in the southbound lanes of Swan Lake Avenue to discourage similar maneuvers.

RSU 20 Withdrawal Committee touts potential savings 

Representatives of the city's RSU 20 withdrawal committee told the Council the six towns that comprised the former School Administrative District 34 would have saved $575,000 this year had they not been hitched to the former SAD 56 towns of Searsport, Stockton Springs — both have seen declining enrollment — and to a lesser extent Frankfort, which is in the process of leaving the district to join Hamden's school district.

Councilor Eric Sanders, who sits on the committee said $322,000 of that savings would be in Belfast.

Voters in the city and five surrounding towns passed ballot measures last year seeking to petition the commissioner of the Maine Department of Education for withdrawal from the consolidated school district. Belfast's withdrawal committee, which has spearheaded the secession movement, has submitted a plan to the district and is in the midst of negotiations with RSU 20 officials and the school district's attorney, according to Sanders, who said Belfast is picking up an increasing percentage of the tab for the district and would be better off without supporting Searsport and Stockton Springs.

Steve Hutchings, a Belfast Area High School Teacher who serves on the withdrawal committee, said there has been some friction within the committee between members who believe staying with the RSU is important on the basis of supporting all children equally, and others, like Hutchings, who feel a town's first priority should be its own children. 

Councilor Mike Hurley added taxpayers to the list of stakeholders the argument and Councilor Roger Lee agreed, but Lee questioned the committee's goal of holding a final vote on the withdrawal plan at the midterm election when turnouts are typically very low. By law, the vote on the withdrawal question requires turnout equal to 50-percent of the number that voted in the last gubernatorial race. Lee thought it would be next to impossible in a spring election.

Hutchings said it was necessary for the withdrawal effort's timeline which would have the new district start in fall 2014. Getting out the vote would take a strong grass roots effort, he said. Sanders said he thought it was a "reachable number," noting that Morrill would need a turnout of 100 to meet the requirement.

Lee questioned what would happen to Searsport and Stockton Springs and said, while his interest is with Belfast, he would be concerned if the withdrawal meant taxes would go up by 50-percent in the remaining towns. Hutchings said Searsport and Stockton would have had the same issues if the consolidation had not occurred in the first place.

The next meeting of Belfast's RSU 20 Withdrawal Committee will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

In other business, the Council:

• Approved new charter vessel contracts with rate increases of roughly 10-percent, and added a fee of $10 per season for inclusion on a waiting list for moorings in the inner harbor.

• Approved repairs and replacement lines for the city's fueling station. Harbormaster Kathy Pickering estimated the cost at $35,000.

• Heard from City Planner Wayne Marshall a preview of bids for the proposed Belfast Harbor Walk, a pedestrian and biking promenade that would stretch from Steamboat Landing to the footbridge. Marshall said he was pleased that all 15 bids were from Maine companies. Quotes on the 61 itemized aspects of the projects in the bid package varied widely from one company to the next, he said, but the bottom lines were on par with the city's $1.5 million estimate for the project. Marshall anticipated recommending Hermon-based Maine Earth but sai he wanted to review the numbers first. Marshall said the project could break ground in late March if the approval process, which includes a stop with the Federal Highway Administration, stays to schedule.

• Authorized the city manager to order new signs listing downtown parking limits. The new hours are: Monday through Friday, 2 hours; Saturday, 3 hours; Sunday and holdays, no limit.

• Heard from Seaview Terrace resident Laurie Allen, who charged the city with flooding her property by diverting stormwater to a waterway behind her home. Allen has been fighting for the city to shore up the stream behind her property for several years. The city contends that the stream is a natural waterway and an appropriate conduit for stormwater. Allen has made numerous appearances before the Council. City officials have not responded to Allen's recent statements.

• Informally approved a request for dancing in the street as part of V-Day, an international demonstration opposing violence against women. The event will be held on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m., on Beaver Street.

• Heard from Belfast Creative Coalition Director Kimberly Callas, who talked about the first year of the new organization, including visiting artists and state arts officials, a new website consolidating calendar listings and a directory of artists, and the organization of a Farm and Art Studio Tour. In 2013, Callas said the organization is planning to seek nonprofit status, expand on the Farm and Art Studio Tour with a mobile app geared toward eco-tourists, and use a $10,000 grant awarded in 2012 for strategic marketing of the creative economy.

• Heard from residents of Belfast, Searsport, Rockport and Hope, who urged the City Council to take a strong position against the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminal proposed for construction in Searsport by Colorado-based DCP Midstream. A series of Planning Board public hearings on the LPG terminal resumes on Feb. 11 with a presentation by former presidential advisor and security expert Richard Clarke, whose consulting firm Good Harbors produced a report on risks associated with the development. The report, which was commissioned by Islesboro Island Trust, opposes the construction of the gas storage facility.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com