CAMDEN — On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the Camden Select Board will address a lengthy agenda that includes a review of public access points on the harbor, a consent agreement with Harbor House Condominiums for shoreland violations, a letter from Rockport that terminates the joint Camden-Rockport police chief position, and the Elm Street School lease to the Children's House Montessori School and property disposition. To end it all, the board will then enter an executive session to discuss a personnel matter.

Camden Harbor and Shermans Cove public access to shore

Surveyor Mark Ingraham will deliver his report of Public Harbor Access Points in Camden. Ingraham Land Consulting, Inc., was retained by the town last fall to review deeds and plans along with town records, conduct fieldwork, and analyze the waterfront access points at Beacon Avenue, Bay Road, Eaton Avenue, Harbor Road, Marine Avenue, Norumbega Drive, and Shermans Point Road.

Ingraham's report, plus historical background, surveys and sketches are collected at the Camden website's Harbor Access Points Survey page. The page is to provide, "background information, governing documents, and reference materials related to the ownership, boundaries, and permitted use of this area."

Consent agreement

Camden issued a violation notice Oct. 22 to the Harbor House Condominium at the end of Sea Street and now the Select Board will consider a consent agreement.

The violation notice concerns work done in the intertidal zone that was beyond the scope of issued permits, the town said.

According to a premeeting memo from Camden Planning and Development Director Jeremy Martin, the project of the condominium owners was to reset seawall stones displaced in January 2024 storms.

"Upon inspection it was determined that an area of the intertidal zone was cleared of rocks apparently in order to build access to the site, where a large pile of what appeared to be blasted ledge was placed in the tidal area and on what appeared to be a 45-degree slope from the tidal area up onto the existing seawall," wrote Martin. "Again, the placement of this rock was not permitted as the permits were for resetting stones that were displaced by storm events. The originally permitted work was exempt from Maine Department of Environmental Protection permitting. The work that was done was not exempt and would require full permits from the Maine DEP and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as additional town permitting."

Additionally, the town said the Harbor House damaged town-owned property at Steamboat Landing.

Martin wrote in his memo that Harbor House quickly acknowledged its violations, stopped work and initiated corrective action.

The consent agreement includes a $7,750 fine paid to the town.

Elm Street School lease

The Town entered into a three-year lease with the Children's House Montessori School for the historic Elm Street School, which the Montessori School had been leasing for the last 22 years from School Administrative District 28.

When SAD 28 relinquished the property and returned the real estate back to municipal ownership, the Montessori School and Town of Camden renegotiated a new lease. That lease was signed last August, and is effective for five years. An annual rental fee was set at $20,000. Payments are to be made on a quarterly calendar.

Now, the two entities are disputing terms of the lease and various expenses, including those pertaining to downspouts and the furnace.

In the premeeting packet are a series of emails exchanged between the Camden Town Office and leadership at the school, along with a copy of the current lease, as well as the prior lease between the school and SAD 28.

Town fees

Camden has a list of proposed changes to its town fees schedule, as well as increases to existing fees. 

Included in the changes is a different system for charging for short term rentals. For that, the town is proposing to do away with a ladder of fees attached to whether a short term rental is residential, seasonal or commercial and to institute a new fee schedule that is based on the number of bedrooms inside a given short term rental. See the chart below:

In addition to those proposed rates, there are proposed increases for harbor fees (floats, moorings, daysailer and windjammer), as well as street opening fee increases, and a new fee for false alarms received by police and EMS.

Camden-Rockport Police Chief position 

On Jan. 26, Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke sent a letter to Camden Town Manager Audra Caler concerning the recent resignation of Camden-Rockport Police Chief Randy Gagne.

The letter said:

"Dear Audra,

"In light of Randy Gagne’s resignation as Police Chief of the Town of Camden, please accept this notice that the Town of Rockport will be terminating the Joint Agreement for Police Chief Services. We would like the date of termination to coincide with Randy’s last day as Chief, February 19, 2026. The Rockport Select Board met last evening to ratify this notice of termination and further requested mutually waiving the 30-day notice for agreement termination to reflect Randy’s last day of employment.

"Though Chief Gagne’s departure will mark the end of this particular collaboration between Camden and Rockport, the Rockport Select Board and I are eager to find avenues where future collaboration will benefit our taxpayers."

In 2016, Gagne assumed the helm with the two-town departments — a first-ever collaboration of law enforcement leadership for Camden and Rockport.

Ten years ago, the town managers and select boards were not talking merger, but the concept of a two-town police chief had been tossed around before, going back to 2004 when the two towns broached the topic in a well-attended meeting in the Rockport Opera House meeting room.

“I am looking forward to it,” said Camden Police Chief Randy Gagne, June 27, 2016. “I think it is a great opportunity to see whether we can do this. I want to make sure the citizens are happy with the service.”

The agreement between Camden and Rockport had been modeled on the interlocal police agreement between Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert. He and police department leadership (Rockport Sgt. Travis Ford, Camden Lt. Mike Geary, and Camden Sgts. John Tooley and Dan Brown) worked on the details of the agreement, he said.