For the upcoming election, there are several major ballot questions receiving most of the media coverage.
These questions are important. We want to make sure, however, that several projects that are crucial to the state’s coast and islands are not overlooked
The projects are all contained in Question 6, a $71.25 million transportation bond issue.
The money would be used for port improvements, capital projects for the state ferry system, improvements to island airports, a new wharf at a marine research institute and new technology for the state’s rescue helicopter system.
The Port of Eastport is requesting $4.5 million to build an automatic bulk cargo handling system for the port. Christopher Gardner, executive director of the Eastport Port Authority, said he sees the future for Maine ports in bulk commodities and raw material. But because the Port of Eastport does not have an automatic bulk cargo handling system, potential customers have been turned away. Expansion of the port is critical so that the facility will not continue to rely on the Domtar Mill in Baileyville, the port’s major customer “Diversification is the key,” Gardner said about the port.
The state is asking for $1.25 million for a dredging of the channel into the Mack Point Marine International Cargo Terminal in Searsport. The channel will also be deepened from 35 to 40 feet, according to Rob Elder, director of the Office of Freight Transportation for the Maine Port Authority. If the money is approved, it will be the state’s contribution for the next phase of this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project. The total project cost is $16 million.
A request for $1 million was made by the LifeFlight Foundation, the nonprofit organization that raises money for LifeFlight of Maine, the statewide emergency medical helicopter service. This money would expand LifeFlight’s ability to serve Maine’s islands and would be used to upgrade radio systems and build weather stations and helicopter approaches on certain islands. Private money will be used to match state funds.
Right now, there are times when helicopter pilots cannot tell what conditions are at landing sites on some year-round islands. Pilots must have a 500-foot ceiling in order to land, according to Christopher Hamilton, director of development at the foundation. But without a weather station on the island, pilots cannot be sure of conditions before they take off.
With the $1 million, the foundation could buy automatic weather observing stations for certain islands that tell pilots how high the clouds are at the landing site, Hamilton said. “It will give us another 300 flights a year” along the coast, he said. The money would also be used to expand LifeFlight’s helicopter global positioning system that guides pilots to within 500 feet above a landing site. Lifeflight original $1.8 million proposal included weather stations for four islands and GPS for 18 coastal and island sites. If the $1 million request is approved, there will be a new process to determine which sites would get the new technology.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute has asked for $1.5 million to rebuild a bulkhead and new wharf.
There is also a $1 million request from the state to pay for ongoing capital improvement projects by the Maine State Ferry.
And there is a $400,000 request that would pay for grading and draining runways at airports on Matinicus and Swan’s Island and on North Haven, Vinalhaven and Criehaven.
Finally, there is a $400,000 request for the second phase of building the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. The center will include a bus storage, fueling and administration building to be used by the Island Explorer bus system, the free seasonal bus that serves Mt. Desert Island. That project has already gone out to bid. The $400,000 would be for a bus stop, where inter-city buses and local buses would connect. Later phases of this project include a visitor’s center.
The total amount being requested for these projects is about $10 million; a small part of the total bond issue, but vital funding for these coastal and island communities.