I want to commend the selectmen of Harpswell, for a job extremely well done in negotiating for us residents, the best possible deal with Fairwinds. If our state legislature, which in my opinion has been malfunctioning since the 1950’s, took its responsibilities half as seriously as our current selectmen have taken theirs, then Maine would not be in its final financial death throes with no tax base, and we Maine citizens would not be the highest taxed in the nation…
One factor in Fairwinds’ favor is the fact that natural gas is clean; it is not oil. The ships are double hulled and draw about 36 feet, which should not affect the bottom of Middle Bay because of the depth, except perhaps around the dock which the chart measures around 47 feet. The ships also will be moving at a very slow speed while docking so I feel the bottom will be safe. In fairness the bottom is very much affected by the hauling of lobster traps and other forms of dragging. If one tries to track schools of fish by air one must fly at first light in order to spot them because after the lobster traps begin to be hauled or dragging commences the coastal waters become so murky as to make the sighting of fish an impossibility. I really don’t think the bottom can be used as a viable argument against Fairwinds…
It may be only a short time before we see the end of the lobster fishery. Sadly, by that I mean the disease (at least it is a presumed disease) that has, I am advised, totally wiped out the lobster industry off the coast of Rhode Island. This problem, which makes it impossible for the lobster to form a new shell after it sheds, is being studied feverously with no answer as yet. Meanwhile it marches north…
The last 15 years have been good to our fishermen but I see the tide turning, partly because of what I just said and partly because of the mentality of some of those who fish the seas the world over because they share a common thread. A species will be pursued until it becomes extinct. In our own waters we fished out the cod, stripers, pollock, haddock, halibut, etc…right here in Casco Bay in my lifetime…
If we keep the Fuel Depot property for ourselves it will be a sinkhole into which we will need to throw many tax dollars… That means additional tax dollars from you and me and frankly, our tax burden in our state is already way beyond the ridiculous. We now have the opportunity to turn an area that will be a tax burden into one that will turn a handsome tax profit. Plus there would be employment – a rare commodity that our state government does its best to eliminate…
If Fairwinds should pass, an even bigger challenge presents itself: how to care for the monies in such a way that we do not repeat the Wiscasset debacle and our state government’s inability to function in a fiscally appropriate way…
I would submit for thought the following considerations. First of all, we need some sort of homestead act that would reward those Harpswell residents that choose to keep Maine as their primary residence and have lived in the Harpswells for a minimum of one, two, or three decades. There should be, I believe, no tax relief for non-Maine resident property holders…
Step #2 would be a formation of a trust that cannot be dipped into by future Harpswell whims. The proceeds from the trust over time could provide the following function in order of their importance.
In fairness, further tax relief could go to those whose property owners whose values may be lowered because of Fairwinds, if that proves to be the case, or to those whose livelihood is or may be negatively affected.
Wil Vachon is a resident of Orr’s Island.