BELFAST — The Belfast City Council will hold its regularly scheduled public meeting Tuesday evening, June 20, at 7 p.m., to address topics that a new parks and recreation director, City committee restructuring, and improvements to be made to intersection of routes 1 and 52, among other topics. 

The first item on the agenda is a request to appoint Zachary Dozier, of Searsport, as the new parks and recreation director for the City of Belfast. Former Parks and Recreation Director Norm Poirier, who served in the role for close to 10 years, is retiring this month. 

Poirier announced his intention to retire at the April 4 council meeting, and the position was subsequently posted to the community. In total, 17 complete applications came in by the May 1 deadline, with Dozier ultimately selected as the new director. 

Dozier has a bachelor’s degree in recreation and tourism management with a concentration in park interpretation from the University of Maine Machias. Dozier worked for the Mount Rainier National Park in Longmire, Washington, before he returned to Maine. 

Since his return, Dozier has worked for Camden Hills State Park, Acadia National Park, and the Maine State Museum. 

“Although big shoes to fill, the City of Belfast is fortunate to have Mr. Dozier stepping in and bringing with him the educational and work experience to our team and community,” according to Herbig’s report. 

If the request is approved by the Council, Dozier would be anticipated to begin July 5. It is noted that Poirier has offered to work part-time to help with the transition. 

A discussion regarding addressing the accessibility within the City of Belfast is the next agenda item. Two Belfast residents, Neva Allen and Ayne Ames, addressed the Council at the Nov. 1, meeting, expressing their concerns; the pair came back to discuss their proposal in further detail at the Dec. 6, meeting. 

At the December meeting, it was recommended that Allen and Ames form the Accessibility Working Group to work with other interested citizens to finalize a list of the proposed handicap accessibility projects for the year; this is something already done by the Pedestrian Biking and Hiking Committee annually following the fiscal year. 

A financial figure of $25,000 is being requested for the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget, which would fund the proposed projects. 

Aynes and Allen will be present at the June 20 meeting to answer any questions. 

There will be additional discussion and action on the restructuring of City Committees, something that has been discussed multiple times by the Council. The topic was most recently discussed June 6, where the Council decided to table the issue until the June 20 meeting, partially to allow for the impacted committees to be contacted to share the information and invite them to tomorrow’s meeting. 

Following the discussion and possible action on restructuring committees, and update will be given from the communications assistant on various openings on City committees and boards. 

A full list of the openings is available to view in Herbig’s pre-meeting report, and on the City’s website. The committees with openings include the Cemetery Trustees, Harbor Advisory, Library Board of Trustees, and Energy Committee, among others.  

Later in the Council meeting a request will be heard to authorize City staff to apply to the Municipal Partnership Initiative grant program for the Route 1 and Route 52 intersection improvement project and to commit to required local matching funds. 

The MPI was created :“to address transportation infrastructure issues on state and state-aid highways, encourage economic opportunities, increase the useful life of critical infrastructure, and/or correct safety deficiencies. Eligible projects include, without limitation, road surface treatments, road reconstruction, drainage improvements, and intersection improvements on state and state-aid highways that have a useful life of at least ten years.”

The MPI program, which is administered by the Maine Department of Transportation, currently awards approximately $7 million each year. MDOT then reviews the applications, choosing based on how each proposed project addresses existing safety concerns; provide an infrastructure benefit; ranks in the corridor priority system; reduces funds; and improves roads in poor conditions, among other considerations. 

Belfast’s project valuation means it would classify as a tier 3 community for this program, which means the MDOT’s maximum cost share would be 50 percent, with a maximum grant size of $625,000, according to Herbig’s pre-meeting report.

Belfast’s proposed application would be to make improvements to the southern portion of the intersection of U.S. Route 1, and State Route 3. The primary improvement requested would be the addition of a left-turn lane to State Route 52 approach. 

It is noted in Herbig’s pre-meeting report that the same intersection has already been slated to receive other improvements that are being funded through a BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grant previously awarded MDOT. 

“The types of improvements that will be made to this intersection, funded by BUILD, are anticipated to include total traffic signal replacement including infrared detection, new advanced traffic controller and cabinet, new signal head and wiring; pre-emption for emergency vehicles; adding back-plates with 3-inch-wide reflective striping; adding accessible pedestrian signals, including pedestrian countdown heads; and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements at pedestrian crossings,” according to Herbig’s pre-meeting report. 

The anticipated BUILD-funded work is expected to begin Nov. 1 of this year, with completion expected by Oct. 1, 2024. This means the work would be “almost assuredly be completed before the City’s MPI-funded project could take place,” Herbig’s release reads. 

Additional information regarding this project and other agenda items, the full agenda is available on the City’s website.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com