Maine
Lubec will explore short-term rental ordinance
Lubec will create a committee tasked with crafting an ordinance to manage short-term rentals, a step officials say is necessary to help manage the impact of rentals on the housing crisis in the area.
Towns across the state, including in Washington County, are facing a housing crisis, with low- and middle-income Mainers often priced out of their communities.
At their meeting late last month, the Lubec Select Board discussed the impact that short-term rentals have on the housing crisis in Lubec, ranging from driving up rents for working people to increased burdens on town services like parking.
At that meeting, Selectman Dan Daley, who owns rental properties himself, floated the idea of implementing some sort of a moratorium on short-term rentals to give the town time to come up with a plan to address the issue, and this week the town’s code enforcement officer, Alex Henry, came back to the board with a short presentation about potential next steps.
After consulting with the Maine Municipal Association, Henry recommended the town form a committee to work on crafting an ordinance similar to one the town of Stonington passed in 2023.
The Stonington ordinance defines short-term rentals as any rental contracts under 12 months, and requires that owners register and pay yearly registration fees to the town. The Stonington ordinance differentiates between owner-occupied rentals held by Stonington residents and those owned by out-of-state residents, with different fees for each category.
The Lubec board voted to approve Henry’s proposal, and the “Ad-Hoc Short-Term Rental Ordinance Committee” will consist of two members from the planning board, two members of the public, two members of the selectboard, and Henry.
Later in the meeting, during public comment, Lubec residents Birgitte and John Delaney brought the town an update on the Ocean Provider incident from last month. They said they had contacted the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Belfast and learned that the Coast Guard had opened an investigation into the incident.
Reached by phone, the Coast Guard confirmed that they have opened an investigation. Petty Officer Ethan Hull explained that the incident falls under the Code of Federal Regulations, which requires any collision that happens at sea be reported to the Coast Guard.
Hull said such investigations can take weeks or months, depending on the complications involved, and said that the resulting report will be used to determine whether any laws or regulations were broken.
On the morning of Feb. 10, the Ocean Provider, a Canadian-owned, approximately 80 foot steel-hulled vessel operated by a Cooke subcontractor, collided with Lubec’s recently-repaired commercial pier, cracking three pilings. The Provider did not report the collision at the time, and the incident only came to light when a local fisherman noticed the damaged pier and reported it to harbormaster Ralph Dennison, who then contacted Cooke and confirmed their responsibility.
Reached by phone after the meeting, John and Birgitte said they were pleased with the board’s response, but that they remained upset over the incident. “Damaging a commercial pier and leaving without reporting the crime, even 17 days after the fact, is not acting like a good neighbor,” John said. Brigitte worried about a precedent being set for a double standard. “If a local lobster boat did the same thing, what would happen to them?”
On Thursday, Cooke Aquaculture compliance officer Jennifer Robinson told Selectman Dan Daley that repairs for the pier will cost $40,000 and will take about four weeks.
Devin Prock of Prock Marine Company, who Cooke hired to make the repairs, said he hopes to start work in the second half of April. The new pressure-treated pilings are being shipped from Maryland, and their installation will require a boom truck, work boats, and divers.
Based in Rockland, Prock Marine Company did the last round of repairs to the pier, work that was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a resiliency grant from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. That round of repairs finished late this past January, just two weeks before the collision.
Smokehouse relocation, marathon discussed
Two members of Lubec Landmarks made a short presentation about a project to relocate the McCurdy Smokehouse to land currently occupied by the Peacock warehouse complex on the southern end of Water Street.
Sandra Teran, Lubec Landmarks’ secretary, explained the proposal and asked the board to sign a letter of support for the project that Lubec Landmarks plans to use in their application for federal funding. Teran said they will submit the letter, along with their application and many other letters of support they have received, to Sen. Susan Collins’s office next week as part of pursuing funding from the federal office of Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development.
Teran said that, if approved, the project will ultimately take about three years from start to finish, with spring 2027 as the earliest potential start date. Teran described the THUD Economic Development Initiative as a very competitive grant process, with thousands of applications coming in from all over the country, but said that the McCurdy Smokehouse is one of only three buildings of its type remaining nationwide, and the last remaining building of Lubec’s once-vibrant sardine processing history.
Teran and the board discussed potential benefits, including the new building’s potential as a tourist attraction and an opportunity to reduce blight and improve parking downtown.
The board also heard a presentation this week from Dan DeLuca about the plans underway for this year’s Bay of Fundy International Marathon. DeLuca said registrations this year are at 574 participants, already exceeding last year’s figures.
He said that the Maine Sports Commission and the University of Maine are conducting an economic impact survey on the event, but shared that the marathon raised $19,200 last year for local non-profits.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
PORTLAND (WGME) — The third annual Celebration of America 300 is set for Thursday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.
This race was a favorite of NASCAR star Kyle Busch, who tragically passed away back in May. He was just 41.
Now, a Maine-born driver who worked on Busch’s team is ready to take the 8 car into victory lane.
For the past five years, Windham native Derek Kneeland was Busch’s eye in the sky, working as a spotter for the cup star. Kneeland says his relationship with Busch was like a brotherhood.
“I was fortunate enough where I got to have a personal relationship with him,” Kneeland said. “He came up, and he ran several races with me in late models and stuff at Oxford and Lee Speedway, and we got to do a lot of cool things together.”
Kneeland says dealing with the sudden loss has been both painful and difficult.
“It’s still hard,” Kneeland said. “I’m having a hard time with it. The weekdays are the hardest. At the track is where I’m most comfortable.”
Kneeland will be at the track and behind the wheel Thursday night, competing in the Celebration of America 300, driving the number 8 car.
“You know, a few days after everything went down, his dad called me, and his dad is a man of very few words, and I said, ‘You know, I’m thinking about running the 8 or 51 as long as I have your guys’ blessing, I would like to do that.’ And he said, ‘Short track world knows him as 51, but the world knows him as 8,’” Kneeland said.
Kneeland says it will be an emotional race, but he’s confident he’ll have a special co-pilot leading the way.
“Hoping he’s going to be on my shoulder and give me the guiding way and but to win it for Kyle, I think that would put the stamp on it,” Kneeland said.
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