CAMDEN, MAINE – Lyman-Morse presented a Camden Harbor Improvements Plan to the Camden Select Board on March 9, outlining near-term and long-term strategies to upgrade municipal and working waterfront infrastructure and make the harbor more resilient to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.
The plan, presented by Lyman-Morse President Drew Lyman and Special Projects Director Joshua Moore, proposes revising the town’s existing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program to include specific private and municipal harbor-improvement projects that have been proposed in recent years. Incorporating the harbor projects into the TIF program would incentivize waterfront property owners, including the Town of Camden, to make upgrades necessary due to the effects of climate change, but without impacting the town’s Mil rate.
“Sea level rise is forcing the hands of every waterfront property owner, whether that means replacing bulkheads or raising buildings out of the flood zone. But without the right funding mechanism in place, most necessary projects have not started or have gone uncompleted,” said Lyman. “This plan combines public benefits with dedicated TIF funding to get a lot of work done quickly.”
Identified municipal projects include the rebuilding of the public landing, improvements to the Harbor Park seawall to make it less prone to flooding, and movement forward on the long-discussed breakwaters to shelter the Outer Harbor from increasingly violent storms. Lyman-Morse proposes to include several of its privately funded projects, such as the Inner Harbor Boatyard Improvements project that is about to begin construction, in the TIF program. Including these projects would allow Lyman-Morse to offer additional public benefits on its property, including a new public walkway on the company’s Outer Harbor property adjacent to Steamboat Landing.
In addition, Lyman-Morse’s proposal includes a new public-private partnership that would see Lyman-Morse construct and manage a new town-owned pier and dock system off its property adjacent to Steamboat Landing. In 2019, Lyman-Morse was awarded a $1.5 million Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Maine Department of Transportation to help fund this pier and dock system, which is designed to accommodate deeper-draft and larger transient yachts and to alleviate crowding in the Inner Harbor. The new pier and dock would have the additional benefit of protecting the town launching ramp at Steamboat Landing Road, which has seen increasing damage due to the more frequent and violent storms caused by climate change. It would also bring additional working waterfront jobs to Camden and attract a new group of boating visitors who would not add to the town’s traffic or parking issues.
“We are looking at adding up to 35 good-paying working waterfront jobs through these projects, and our tenants are expected to hire even more than that,” Lyman said. “This proposal combines economic development with public benefits and climate change resilience. I’d call that a win-win-win.”
The company asked the Camden Select Board to request the staff and committee reviews necessary for the proposal to move to a Town Meeting vote this summer. Such a vote is required before September 2021, when Lyman-Morse must lock in its BIG funding with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and MaineDOT. Construction of the new pier and dock system would be expected to begin once all local, state, and federal site plan reviews and approvals are in place.