Well, the meeting with the Bar Harbor Town Council on October 21 covered more ground than expected. Besides giving a thorough update of fundraising progress, general activities and reports regarding the temporary ramp repairs needed–Karen Svenson, our Board Chair (and Katie Churchill) also responded to many questions about the upcoming renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Town of Bar Harbor. MDISA had scheduled to discuss this at the November 17 Town Council meeting. The current MOU expires November 15, but was extended to November 17.

Karen put up a good fight to keep the temporary ramp up for youth to continue using until just before we break ground, but it became evident that wisdom dictated being open to removing it. Paul Paradis asserted that the current MOU states that we agreed to remove the ramp by November 15 (in preparation for breaking ground this fall), a motion ensued to remove the ramp and it passed.

Because $43,832.75 in cash is now in hand, with pledges to be fulfilled totaling $21,425, the amount that can go towards construction is $65,257.75. This means we are getting very close to Phase I to begin (once negotiations with Pillar Designs are finalized and additional funds are raised with the fall campaign).

Therefore–as we remove the ramp, we ask everyone to celebrate the event We give thanks to Dave Lavalle and Jon Ho and their team who built it and Deborah Page for the fundraising impetus that helped raise the $8,000 for materials. It provided youth and adults alike with a place to skate, scooter, BMX bike and roller blade for a number of years as we progressed toward our goal.

The “Ramp Deconstruction Party” will be Sunday, November 1 from 1 – 5 pm! Here is our poster for the event!

Ramp DeConstruc Poster 2015