ROCKPORT — The Select Board in Rockport will convene at 6 p.m., Dec. 8, to hold a public hearing on whether to designate a home  off of West Street a dangerous building; to hear an update about the Rockport Common park; and to discuss the growing community concern about a section of the old Rock Road now targeted for removal.

The dangerous building hearing concerns an uninhabitable house that was partially destroyed in a May fire. Since then, the property has sat untended and the town maintains that the property is structurally unsafe, constitutes a fire hazard, is unsuitable for habitation, and is a hazard to health and safety.

The Dec. 8 Select Board meeting will be held in the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room downstairs in the Rockport Opera House. It is streamed live on the town's YouTube channel.

The hearing is, "to give interested members of the public an opportunity to comment on a residential structure located on 325 West Street, identified as Tax Map 025, Lot 019, to determine if this structure is a dangerous building or a nuisance and order corrective action. This Public hearing is an opportunity to present evidence as to why the building is not dangerous and to oppose any corrective action ordered by the Select Board," the hearing notice said.

With the determination of a dangerous building, the Select Board could direct its demolition, as well as clean-up of the yard and grounds, to protect the public's health, safety and welfare.

"Due to the existing condition of the building, as well as a littered yard/outbuilding/driveway, constitutes a fire hazard. Code Enforcement Officer Andrew Lowe has been actively involved with this process from the date of the initial fire," wrote Town Manager Jon Duke, in his recommendation to the Select Board concerning the house. 

Lowe is to produce his findings to the Board.

In other business, the Select Board will consider accepting Marilyn McWilliams' resignation from the  Parks and Beautification Committee, as well as appoint Bill Bow to the Budget Committee and Guy Mason to the Library Committee.

According to the notes of Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke: "Bill Bow has stepped up and is willing to fill the vacant position on the Budget Committee due to a recent resignation from Douglas Cole. Bill will finish out Doug’s term, ending in June 2026. Guy Mason’s application for the Library Committee has been submitted as well to replace Douglas Cole. Guy will finish out Doug’s term, ending in June 2028. These are elected positions, but the Select Board can appoint any vacancies that may occur."

The Board is also to meet with representatives of the Friends of Rockport Common and the Lesher Family Foundation, who want to deliver an update on the Rockport Common park construction, and plans for 2026.

And finally, the Board will discuss the current state of the Rock Road, the historic stone road that is now covered with grass, which runs alongside Lily Pond from Limerock Street to Midcoast Solid Waste Transfer Station.

A landowner recently received a Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection permit to remove a section of the Rock Road that runs across the property, but abutters have filed an appeal of the permit with the Maine Board of Environmental Protection.

The neighbors, Sarah Price and Stephen Florimbi, raise the point of whether the Rock Road is actually owned by the Town of Rockport, going back to the mid-1800s.

"The proposed removal of nearly 200 feet in length and 1,700 cubic yards in volume of the stone causeway is a significant undertaking and an extreme measure with potentially damaging consequences to the very wetland the applicant purports to restore as well as to neighboring properties (including our own), to vulnerable Lily Pond (recently from the Impaired Waters list after decades of community work to reverse runoff and expand the natural buffer zone), and to the Rock Road community trail that adds to our and our fellow Rockport residents’ quality of life and property values," wrote Price and Florimbi, in their appeal.

Citizens also submitted letters of concern to the Maine DEP as the permit was being processed.

To the Select Board, in the premeeting memo, Duke wrote:  "Recent reports in area news outlets and a series of emails to Town officials raise concerns regarding an effort by the owner of a Union Street property (Tax Map 31 Lot 170) to remove a former railbed from his property which effectively dams water onto the property. These reports suggest the Town either has ownership of this railbed or has an easement for continued passage on this discontinued railbed.

"While our comprehensive plan calls expanded trail access throughout Rockport, claims the Town already possesses this property appear unfounded. The Town Attorney has completed some research of this topic and thus far this review lacks support for ownership of the property. A more exhaustive effort could be undertaken at significant cost to the Town, and a estimate of that cost will be available shortly.

"While the absence of sufficient evidence of Town ownership of the railbed is significant, the desire of expanded trails within the community can proceed with greater dialog between the Town, volunteers and landowners."