The Isle au Haut Boat Company received a significant increase in funding at the Annual Town Meeting.
Town Meeting members overwhelmingly supported a $10,000 increase in funding for the boat company, by a vote of 23 to 2.
It was one of 92 warrant articles addressed at the March 30 meeting. About 40 people were in attendance, 25 of who were registered voters.
Business commenced shortly after 8:30 am, and the meeting ran a lean five hours, not including an hour-long recess for lunch. Attendees were sustained by the potluck coffee and baked goods. Cash donations in return for the food go to the school’s field trip fund.
The Isle au Haut Boat Company requested $35,000 this year, a $10,000 increase over 2007. George Cole, president of the nonprofit company, explained that the increase was to provide sustainability to a vital service that barely breaks even.
In 2008, 33 percent of the company’s $133,000 operating deficit was covered by individual donations. The balance was covered by the state Department of Transportation using federal funds, a contract with the National Park Service, and $25,000 from the town of Isle au Haut. In this economy, the company can neither forecast the profitability of summer business nor afford to rely so heavily on charitable giving.
Additionally, the board would like to position the company so that donations could increasingly go toward important capital projects, and building a reserve fund. Cole also announced a small fare adjustment: as of June 1, one-way adult passage will cost $17.50, a fifty-cent increase. Resident and school fares will not increase.
Cole described the company as “a model of local control and support” and said they are “continuing to make the company responsive to the needs of the community.”
Ted Hoskins was once again elected as moderator. In the first hour, many town officials were re-elected. Continuing to serve in their familiar positions will be: Belvia MacDonald, first selectwoman; Sue MacDonald, town clerk and tax assessor; Ben MacDonald, treasurer; Lisa Turner, tax collector; Debra Schrader and Tina Tully, tax assessors; William Stevens, road commissioner; and Kirsten Barter and Bernadine Barter, school board members.
Most re-elections were unanimous, though one vote was cast for “Ted’s Wife” rather than Bernadine Barter. Ted Hoskins, in a shocking display of disregard for the secret ballot, noted “and that vote seems to be in Bernadine’s handwriting.”
Electing a fire chief was a more difficult task. Multiple residents declined nomination before the incumbent Fire Chief Ellard Taylor, reluctantly accepted the nomination, saying, “I will serve one more year, but next year, new leadership needs to step up.” Taylor was unanimously voted in, and given a round of applause for the time and effort he and his partner, Kate Hotchkiss, have put in organizing and equipping the island’s volunteer fire department.
This year there was some shuffling of the board of selectmen. Jason Barter, formerly third selectman, was nominated and elected as second selectman, relieving Steve Schaffer. Nathan Clark was elected to the seat of third selectman. Barter and Clark, aged 30 and 23 respectively, are a sign that a younger generation is stepping into leadership roles on the island.
After all the elections, School Superintendent Robert Webster addressed the meeting. The federal stimulus package will have a modest impact on the school, with $19,500 of state and federal aid coming to the school, rather than the anticipated $15,000, Webster said. He also noted that the projected decline in student population over the next couple of years might entail eventual cuts in staffing. The total school budget is $259,797, up 0.57 percent from the previous year; it passed easily.
Another budget item that increased from 2007 was for roads and bridges. Multiple washouts last spring required unexpected work on roads and culverts, leading to a deficit of $17,134. Outside aid was unavailable because of Isle au Haut’s distance from the bulk of Knox County. And while the island was hit badly by several storms, the same storms did not do enough overall damage to Knox County to qualify Isle au Haut for state and federal assistance.
The final article of the day addressed the dissemination of town information. It was agreed that agendas and minutes from the town’s various boards should be posted on the town website. The meeting moved that the town should appropriate $400 to build a new bulletin board, to be placed in a prominent, high-traffic location. Several residents mentioned that their lawn would be convenient. This article, like all others at the meeting, eventually passed, the total town appropriations totaling over $500,000.00.
By 2:30 p.m., the minutes were being read back, and residents began to disperse into the heavy afternoon fog.