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Special Town Meeting Warrant

09/29/2025 (Select Board, Town Meetings, Warrants)

As has been previously announced, the Town of Blue Hill will hold a Special Town Meeting on Election Day, November 4, to consider two referendum articles.

The official warrant for the meeting is available here.

Since this meeting will be held via referendum (secret ballot voting while the polls are open), absentee ballots will be available at the Town Office for registered voters who will not be able to vote in person on Election Day.

Partial Closure: South Blue Hill Wharf

09/23/2025 (Harbormaster, Select Board)

The South Blue Hill Wharf may be partially closed this Thursday and Friday (September 25-26) for up to four hours to allow the dinghy “finger floats” to be relocated to accommodate a large barge’s access to the boat launch area. Although the wharf will be available during these times for use by the public, there may be increased traffic and ramp utilization during these times (details below).

Continue reading “Partial Closure: South Blue Hill Wharf”

Wharf Redesign Recap

09/22/2025 (Marine Resources Committee, Presentations, Public Hearings)

A public engagement meeting was held last week to review conceptual designs to make the Town’s wharves more storm resilient and less prone to flooding. About 20-25 attendees were presented with a description of the issues facing the wharves and some design examples (see the presentation).

At the meeting, it was agreed to share a summary of comments made at the meeting, and to solicit any additional comments or corrections, for two weeks. Please review the attached summary and email any additional thoughts to smiller@bluehillme.gov for inclusion in the final report and feedback for the engineers.

Blue Hill Wharves Meeting Presentation

09/17/2025 (Harbormaster, Marine Resources Committee, Presentations)

A public engagement meeting was held on Tuesday, September 16 to review conceptual designs for protecting Blue Hill’s town wharves from sea level rise and damage from increased storm intensity. Roughly 20 Blue Hill residents, including ~8 commercial fishermen, attended.

Attached is the presentation, prepared by GEI Consultants, that was reviewed as part of the meeting; a document describing some of the audience questions, comments, and discussion is in the process of being prepared and will be posted at a later date.

Toddy Pond Dam Cost Calculator

09/13/2025 (Five-Town Dam Committee, Town Meetings)

With the legislation to authorize formation of a Toddy Pond Watershed Management District complete and the question and appropriation to be on Blue Hill’s November town meeting ballot, many people have asked what the cost would be for them personally–whether they own waterfront property on Toddy Pond or not.

The Watershed Management Districts

Under legislation passed earlier this year, voters in the four towns abutting Toddy Pond and Alamoosook Lake will vote in November on whether to form two Districts, the Toddy Pond Watershed Management District and the Alamoosook Lake Watershed Management District, and to appropriate taxpayer funds for the Districts’ first fiscal year.

Estimated Costs of Ownership

Everyone involved recognizes that most property owners and voters want to understand what the likely costs of assuming ownership of the dams creating those water bodies will be. To assist waterfront property owners and other town voters in understanding these costs, and putting them into perspective, volunteers have prepared two “Dam Ownership Cost Estimators” — one for the Towns of Blue Hill, Penobscot, and Surry and another for Orland. (Orland is more complicated because it has properties abutting both Toddy Pond and Alamoosook Lake.)

You can access the cost estimators here:

https://damcalc.bluehillme.gov

Before the Town vote…

There will be a public hearing on the referendum question scheduled during the second half of October. Watch for the announcement.

Blue Hill Wharf Meeting: Tuesday 6:00pm

09/13/2025 (Harbormaster, Marine, Marine Resources Committee, Public Hearings, Select Board)

There will be a public meeting to review conceptual designs for providing long-term protection of Blue Hill’s Village and South Blue Hill wharves against damage from increased storm intensity and for enhanced access for commercial fishermen and recreational users.

This is the Town’s opportunity to understand the alternatives for this potential project and to comment on design, timing, and next steps for the town’s future investment in the wharves. The work reviewed in this meeting will likely guide the Town’s investment in its wharves over the next decade–an investment that could represent several million dollars. So taxpayers are encouraged to educate themselves, regardless of whether they use the wharves.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 16 at 6:00pm in the Town Hall Auditorium. Presenting their research and designs will be GEI Consultants, a Portland-based engineering firm retained to help the town assess the risks to our waterfront infrastructure and to apply their expertise to assisting the town in evaluating strategies for protection of these assets.

Village Wharf during “king” tide
South Blue Hill Wharf with “king” tide and strong winds

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