Section I, Page THREE
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Passenger Count Up at Airport Entitlement Funds Likely By Jennifer Osborn ELLSWORTH — The good news is enplanements at the Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport during 2013 were up significantly over 2012. The total number of enplanements was 9,557, which is short of the 10,000 needed to ensure the airport qualifies for $1 million in
Matthew Foster Joins Race for District Attorney ELLSWORTH — Local lawyer Matthew Foster has announced his candidacy for district attorney for Hancock and Washington counties. Foster and First Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh, who announced his candidacy last month, are Republicans. Foster’s an n ou n c e ment sets in motion a primary race. Also in the running is AssisMatthew tant District Foster Attorney Bill Entwisle, a Democrat. Carletta “Dee” Bassano, first-term district attorney for Hancock and Washington counties, said last month that she will not seek re-election. March 17 is the deadline for candidates to get on the state ballot for the June primaries.
entitlement grant funds from the Federal Aviation Administration. However, Airport Manager Brad Madeira does not yet have enplanement figures from charter flights, which last year totaled 1,257. The addition of charter enplanements was the result of Madeira making “very aggressive phone calls to all the charter operators” asking them to submit their activity to the FAA. “All were able to amass those 1,257, which helped us get our full entitlement,” Madeira said. The charter companies don’t have any obligation to report their enplanements to the FAA, so Madeira has to request it, which he will do in the fall. “I’m pretty comfortable thinking that I’m going to be able to come up with at least 443 on the charter side of the house,” he said. For 2012, the airport had 8,749 enplanements, which combined with the 1,257 charter enplanements gave the airport a total of 10,006 enplanements, thus meeting the requirement for the $1 million in federal funding. “It’s a pretty big deal for us to pass 10,000 in 2012,” Madeira said. “It was only by six, but that was enough.” There is a two-year delay between the year the airport qualifies for funding and the year it is received. So, entitlement funding from 2012 will be available this year, 2014. Entitlement money from previous years is funding the current $3-million terminal expansion project.
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10 Seek Post of Ellsworth School Supt. Continued from Page 1 and Brenda Thomas from the school board, City Councilor Marc Blanchette and City Manager Michelle Beal representing the city, Hancock County Technical Center Director Amy Boles and Ellsworth Elementary Middle School pre-K through Grade 4 Principal Amy Peterson-Roper representing school administrators, teachers Andrea Beardsley (science at Ellsworth High School) and Kiersten Jester (special education at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School) and Karrie Alley from the Parents Teachers Friends group. The timeline for the search process going forward, as outlined by Barker and Turcotte, is as follows: • The search committee will meet today, Thursday, Feb. 13, to select candidates for an initial round of interviews and come up with interview questions. • The first round of interviews will be conducted Thursday, March 6, and Friday, March 7. • On Tuesday, March 11, the search committee and school board will meet to discuss which candidates should come to the board for a second round of interviews. • Candidate interviews with the school board will then take place Wednesday, March 19. • Reference checks, tours of Ellsworth and the city’s schools, possible site visits at the candidates’ current places of employment and meetings with stakeholder groups will take place the week of March 24. • Contract negotiations will take place the last week of March, with the goal of selecting a new superintendent by mid-April. Barker said most superintendents have a clause in their contract requiring them to give 60 or 90 days notice, which is why the board
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must act in April to get someone onboard by early July. Barker stressed that board and search committee members must adhere to strict confidentiality requirements during and after the process of hiring a superintendent. He said state law requires that confidentiality. He said if names got out it would jeopardize the whole process. “I can’t emphasize it enough — you will lose good candidates,” he told board members at a workshop at City Hall on Saturday morning. Regarding the search committee, Barker said it plays an important role in the process but does not have the ultimate say in who the next superintendent will be. “Their job is not to select,” he said, regarding search committee members. “Their job is to weed out.” He said the committee likely will recommend two to four candidates to the school board for the second round of interviews. The school board held its
first regular meeting Tuesday night at City Hall. Turcotte — a former superintendent in Ellsworth — called it a “very special night” and a “tribute to the people of Ellsworth.” Hudson was elected chairman of the board and Thomas was elected vice chairman. The board agreed to hold its regular meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. That will allow meetings to be broadcast on the city’s public access channels (channels 5 and 7 for Time Warner subscribers) and streamed live on the city’s website. The board authorized Turcotte to advertise for 10 fulltime positions for central office staff, ranging from an administrative assistant for the superintendent to a food service director. Turcotte said he has been asked if that is more staff than the city needs. In response he said, “I hope it’s enough.” “I’m not building an empire,” he said. “But I do
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Ellsworth School Board members gathered for a workshop Saturday morning at City Hall to learn about the process for hiring a new superintendent. From left are Marcia Jude, Dawn Hudson, Ron Barker (a consultant working with the board), Paul Markosian and Andrea Perry. The five are listening to Jack Turcotte, startup administrator for the city’s school department.
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think you need these people.” Board member Paul Markosian asked about the possibility of sharing any services with Hancock or Lamoine, the two other communities that withdrew from Regional School Unit 24 in November. Turcotte said there are ongoing discussions on that subject, but no decisions have been made yet. Turcotte also told board members he is working on a lease agreement with Camden National Bank to use space in the former Union Trust building on Main Street for the school department’s central office. When finalized, the agreement will be brought to the board for its approval. There were 15 audience members at Tuesday night’s board meeting, at least a third of whom are school officials. The board’s next meeting is set for Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hancock County Technical Center (112 Boggy Brook Road). That meeting will be a budget workshop where the board will review the proposed budget for the technical center. ellsworth.fenceviewer.com
Corrections The Feb. 6 news story about East Blue Hill resident Suzanne Massie, who advised President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War, listed an incomplete website for her newly published memoir. The correct one is www.trustbutverifybook.com. The publisher is Maine Authors Publishing in Rockland. The Feb. 6 edition of Health Quarterly misstated Robin Larson-Clarke’s title. She is the Down East Family YMCA’s fitness director.
Lecture Series Starts Feb. 17 BLUE HILL — Deer IsleStonington Adult and Community Education is launching a series of programs at Parker Ridge called “Aging in the 21st Century.” Each program runs from 2 to 4 p.m. and there is no charge. Please call 374-5789 so organizers know how many guests to expect. The series will kick off Feb. 17 with a focus on Living with Parkinson’s disease. Anne Cushman, organizer of a local Parkinson’s disease support group, will give the talk for caregivers and people with Parkinson’s. The other programs and their dates are as follows: March 18, Hospice Care; March 31, nutrition for seniors; April 14, Lambert and Coffin Attorneys at Law, Advance Directives; April 28, Elder Law; and May 12, Caring for the Caregiver.
Lack of Title Cancels Review Of Project BLUE HILL — A Planning Board review of a 9,600-square-foot commercial development on South Street was canceled Monday because the developer’s purchase and sales agreement had expired. Blue Hill Code Enforcement Officer Judy Jenkins said the developer, David St. Germain, didn’t have a signed current contract or a right to title. “When they get that, they can come back and apply,” Jenkins said. St. Germain had obtained Planning Board approval for the project in 2012, but the permit expired, so he was to appear before the board Monday night for a new permit.
GOP Meeting Scheduled Feb. 21 ELLSWORTH — The Hancock County Republicans will be meeting at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School on Friday, Feb. 21. There will be a social at 6:30 p.m., followed by a meeting at 7. This is the last meeting before the county-wide caucus on March 1. Besides the caucus, the agenda will include the election of new officers. Email sandi04472@ gmail.com for more information.
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