Seven people are in the running for three open seats on the Bucksport Town Council this year.
At least two new councilors will be elected this fall and begin serving their terms on Jan. 1. Councilors Paul Gauvin and Daniel Ormsby are not running for re-election. The only incumbent looking to win another term in November is Paul Bissonnette, who as the board’s current chair holds the title of mayor.
The six other candidates in the race are former state legislator Ralph Chapman, Sarah Falvey, Paul Rabs, Stephen St. Peter Jr., Jennifer Therrien, and Joseph York. Rabs and York both previously served on the council, while Therrien previously served on the local school board.
It is not the only contested municipal race in Bucksport this fall. Ryan Stackpole is challenging incumbent Scott Frazier for one available seat on the RSU 25 school committee.
Bucksport voters also will be asked to make a change to the town charter. Currently, any bond issue or capital improvement project of $300,000 or more must be approved by voter referendum. Town officials are asking voters to change that amount to $500,000 or more, which would give the council the sole authority to approve such projects or bonds of $499,999 or less, without a referendum vote.
At a recent candidates’ forum, which all but Falvey attended, the council candidates appeared to be largely in agreement on several issues, including the need to focus in the coming year on finding a good successor to Sue Lessard, who has said she plans to retire as town manager when her contract expires at the end of 2025.
The candidates also agreed that the town needs to protect its interests in making sure American Iron and Metal, which bought the former Verso Paper mill in 2015, properly maintains the former Verso landfill and properly disposes of its former dams in Bucksport and Orland.
There were slight differences among the candidates’ responses on how the town should encourage redevelopment of the 104-acre former mill site, which salmon aquaculture firm Whole Oceans bought from AIM in 2019. The Iowa-based salmon company has been permitted to construct a land-based salmon farm on the waterfront property, but years later has yet to begin construction.
Bissonnette and Therrien struck patient tones, saying that the company has maintained its permits and continues to pay the town property taxes on the large parcel, and that the town has only so much control over private property. Other candidates said that the property has potential for development into other uses such as a data center or some industry with low environmental impact.
Rabs, who said he is “very optimistic” that the site can be redeveloped, was the most skeptical about Whole Oceans ever building on the property.
“I don’t think we’ll ever see a salmon farm down there,” Rabs said. “If they are not going to come in, it’s time to fish or cut bait. Let’s be optimistic and hopefully we’ll get a good process industry that will come in and take over from Whole Oceans.”
