Renata Moise, of Friends of Frenchman Bay, writes: Hello Friends of Frenchman Bay, Last night the Town Council of Bar Harbor voted 7-0 to accept the Ferry Terminal Advisory Lead Committee recommendations for a multi-use marine based facility with optional tendering. This option would include: commercial dock space for commercial fishing, ferry, tenders, or tour boats (not cruise ships), all tides launching ramp, beach access for hand carry boats, breakwater, moorings, lighting, winch, fuel, water, wifi, security cameras, showers, bathrooms, parking for resident permit holders,and be a spot that tour buses could leave from for folks brought to the site by tenders or ferries. (This was written with local ferry in mind, not the CAT, as the CAT option came at the last minutes - what the Town Council decides to do about the CAT remains to be seen), Information and education center, possible future multi level parking and solar farm/green space on the roof. The Town Council also voted to pay the 3.5 million dollar purchase price for the land, which is the "no strings" option, with no "take back" clause from the State of Maine. This option 3.5 option was recommended by the Ferry Terminal Advisory Lead Committee, and recommended by John Nass, the Deputy Commissioner of MDOT. We are proud of the citizen involvement that evolved out of this issue, and we thank the many people from Bar Harbor who worked so hard over the last months to look at all the ramifications of the concept of a Large Cruise Ship pier for Bar Harbor. Many more people are now aware of this issue, and have entered the conversation about the effects such a large scale project would have on Acadia National Park, health of the Bay, and the quality of life. Several issues remain as concerns: * The project now goes to Bermello and Ajamil (Miami based cruise ship port developers) to make a development plan. Public comment at the final public meeting of the Advisory Committee did inquire why B and A needed to be used, rather than a more local choice, the answer given by the Town Manager was "we have a contract". * The CAT has expressed interest (within the last two weeks) in returning to Bar Harbor. Who would pay for the infrastructure is uncertain, and as we know from Bangor Daily article yesterday, there are Federal requirements to the tune of 7 million (in renovations to customs facilities ) which have not been done in Portland, and may force the CAT to leave Portland. The financial history and ridership of the CAT is shaky, and currently subsidized by the Canadian provincial government to the tune of 5.5 million per year. The dispute over how to pay for millions of dollars worth of work could sink Bay Ferries Ltd.’s 2018 season, even as the Canadian company has begun to rebuild ridership that was low even before the ferry’s previous operator went out of business and had its ship seized in 2015. Local officials have been working with Bay Ferries and the federal government to put together a plan for preliminary upgrades to the Ocean Gateway terminal. But with six months to go before The Cat is scheduled to return to Portland, it is unclear whether it will have a functional port of entry into the United States. http://bangordailynews.com/2017/11/21/business/dispute-between-feds-and-portland-could-kill-the-cat-ferry-service/ * The Port Authority Bill (LD #1400) is still set to come up in the Transportation Committee in January of 2018. A Port Authority, in our view, paves the way for any sort of pier infrastructure (CAT pier which morphs into or shares with Cruise Ship Pier, Cruise ship pier, etc..) A Port Authority is not needed for the multi-use marine based plan that the people of Bar Harbor have chosen as the use for this property. * This vote by the Town Council does not preclude a Cruise Ship Pier completely, as the zoning is in place for a pier of indeterminate length, and an investor could be brought in to finance the pier. Next meeting of Friends of Frenchman Bay is on Friday December 1st, 5pm potluck snacks/discussion, 5:30 to 7:30 meeting, Lamoine Town Hall. Please come! Thank you all for your love of the Bay and this beautiful area. Renata Moise