Tue, 11/10/2015 - 04:42 pm

From the "History of Camden and Rockport, Maine," by Reuel Robinson.

Camden and Rockport leaders will meet Nov. 12, for the third joint town workshop in two years. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Tucker Room at the Camden Opera House. The two boards of the two towns which once comprised one municipality will address property assessments (the two towns have the same assessor), and collaborating on parks and recreation.

The boards will also talk about upcoming birthdays — Rockport’s also marks the 1891 break-up of Camden into two towns. Rockport will be 125 years old (Quasquicentennial) and Camden 225 years old (Quasquibicentennial).

Camden was incorporated as a town on Feb. 17, 1791

Rockport separated from Camden and was incorporated as a town on February 25, 1891

At one time, Camden and Rockport were one town. Then, in the late 1800s, issues of public infrastructure funding arose, including that of the electric railroad, which would make for heated public conversations. A warrant article had been placed on the 1890 Camden Town Meeting asking whether the two villages should split, a proposal that that did not go quietly away.

"Meetings were held in both villages to arouse the people for and against the division, sectional feeling ran high and sectional virulance became so acute that for a time it was hardly safe for a Rockport man to favor the proposition to 'divide' or a Camden man to oppose it," wrote Reuel Robinson, in his History of Camden and Rockport, Maine.

The fight went to the Legislature, which enacted the town's division in 1891.

Since then, there have been more genial meetings of the two towns, several held over the past decade by select boards and public safety departments, which have sought to air mutually beneficial fiscal and policy issues.

While the Jan. 15. meeting has been postponed, the list of potential topics to discuss has been growing. They include:

1. Sharing information about projects, as well as infrastructure/transportation needs.

2. Sharing information about Legislative issues (the most recent includes Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to discontinue municipal revenue sharing, a consistent funding source for communities around the state).

3. Coordination of both towns' capital improvement plans regarding fire apparatus. Could each town focus on a need (forestry truck, fire boat, foam truck) that would serve the interests of both towns and eliminate duplicate or redundant purchases? There is not talk of merging departments, the chairmen emphasize.

4. Collaboration among police departments. Are there some shifts that are commonly very quiet and during which one town's department could cover both towns (maybe overnights during the winter, possibly other times), thereby allowing both departments to shift resources to busier times? Again, the chairmen emphasize there is no talk of merging departments.

5. Possible coordination of recreation issues.

6. Discussion of the joint pathways committee and what purpose it serves the two communities.

7. Explore a combined economic development advisory panel.

8. Getting together quarterly, or at least regularly, to keep discussion topics of general interest.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@PenBayPilot.com; 706-6657.

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