You might have noticed that the island is practically crawling with deer this year. The Select Board has noticed too, and has been bugging the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to offer some solutions. They will be here on 12/15, and the Select Board encourages residents to attend.  

Several Westport Island Limited Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) licenses are up for annual renewal. The public can comment on these renewals until 11/30/25. Please see this list for which sites are up for renewal, and the notice for more information on how to submit comments. 

Remember when the trees had no leaves last spring? Yeah, that's winter moth. And the time to stop the little buggers is now! Check out this handy guide from the Town of Harpswell on how to protect your favorite trees before winter moth mating season starts in November. If you want to learn more about the life cycle of winter moths and the longer term solutions for checking the spread of this pest, check out this video of a great talk given by State Entomologist Tim Schmeelk. 

Every ten years or so, the town must undergo a process called "revaluation" where a professional assessor looks at every property and determines its current market value. Our last revaluation was in 2015, so we are due, and have hired the professional assessment firm, RCS Assessment Services, to do the job. They have already begun the work, starting with tax maps 1 & 2 on the south end of the island. Please see the RCS Revaluation Informational Flyer for details on their process and how to contact them. They will be in vehicles with an RCS decal on the side, and the names of the staff doing the work are Brock Frederick, Kevin Nilsson, Josh Pelletier, and Tyler Siering-Bean (click for pics!). It's a tough job, so please be courteous! The new property values will be reflected in your 2027 tax bill. 

The Planning Board and Select Board have been looking at ways to be more consistent about following our own ordinances regarding business regulation for the sake of all residents (and the businesses too!). One requirement of our Building Code Ordinance, is that any businesses that can be seen or sensed from outside a residence (via traffic, lights, noise, smells, stuff, buildings, signs, etc.) are required to obtain a permit and may need to undergo a review with the Planning Board. If you have such a business, and have not done this before, that's okay! But now that you know, please complete our Business Registration Form to find out next steps. For the handful of businesses that have already gone through the process, please fill out the form if your business has expanded since then. Even if you have a business that you think wouldn't require a permit or Planning Board review, we encourage you to complete the form to make sure, and to qualify to be listed on our town website businesses webpage. We field A LOT of requests for referrals, and this is where we send folks!