The town of Castine intends to continue renting the keeper’s cottage at Dyce Head Lighthouse to a local schoolteacher.
The Select Board approved a motion Monday to negotiate a two-year lease with the current tenant. Members said their priority is to continue leasing it residentially in the future.
For the last 13 years, the building has been rented on mostly three-year terms to Tracy Lameyer, a teacher at the town’s public school who serves as a de facto ambassador for the lighthouse, the grounds of which are open to the public.
Some residents have suggested in recent years that the building instead be turned into a shorter-term rental or tourism opportunity to generate more revenue for the town.
Board members said Monday that they don’t necessarily agree with those ideas and stressed that they had not discussed the subject together before a town meeting vote earlier this month authorized them to negotiate another lease.
The two-year term would give the town time to decide what the future of the lighthouse and a residential lease for it should look like while providing stability for the current tenant, board member Amy Gutow said.
At the meeting, residents who spoke were mostly supportive of the motion but referenced some confusion about the warrant article from the town meeting. One raised the prospect of increasing the $1,200 monthly rent, but at $600 per bedroom it’s comparable to other units in town, according to the board.
