Interview with Christopher Hyk, for City Council

How long have you lived in Belfast, and what's your favorite thing about living here?

I've lived in Belfast for 28 years, and my favorite thing, I'd have to say it would be either my garden or the walk down Allyn Street to the public access onto the bay and the view from the bay over to Islesborough and Blue Hill, and the view is spectacular. 

What motivated you to run for city council?

I was attending the city council meeting when the city council voted unanimously to take Judith and Jeffrey’s property by eminent domain. And then they voted unanimously to take the conservation easement by eminent domain. And I really couldn't believe what I was hearing, quite frankly. The city councilors are all rational and seem to be ignoring sound legal advice that was offered to them. And it was thrown out of court…the law court just saw it for what it was. And when they voted to do the perambulation of the border between Belfast and Northport…2 of the councilors were against it, and then my opponent, who's a lovely person, voted for the perambulation.

Between the seizure by eminent domain and the perambulation, I just couldn't take it anymore. These are 2 of the loveliest people, Jeffrey and Judith. It was unjust, dishonorable, and expensive. All of this is costing money. We've just had our taxes go through the roof, and people are having difficulty making ends meet. And so far, the perambulation for a border that's been there since 1813 has cost $7,500. It's probably gonna end up being $10,000 or $12,000.

It's probably being done for one of two reasons. The first being, Nordic is suing the city for not surveying the border. And so the city may just be trying to cover their backs with a new survey that they can use in court, or they may be going for another shot in eminent domain. I can't imagine that they would try it again, but so much has happened that I couldn't have imagined to begin with. They've now entered into some sort of an agreement with Nordic, sort of a mutual defense agreement that would seem to indicate there's really no end in sight for this. And I'd like to bring it to a conclusion as rapidly as possible for as little money as possible. 

But it's going to be a difficult slog, I'm afraid. The water district here increased the rate by 30%. I did manage to get to the public hearing that they had. I was the only person there. The notification went out to everyone in Belfast, close to 7,000 people, and…there wasn't a city counselor there. And that's a 30% increase in the hydrant rate, which is taking us to almost half a million a year. 

What the relationship is between the Belfast City Council and the Belfast Water District, I've not been able to discern. The Water District also has been in this relationship with Nordic Aquafarms, and they've built a new headquarters. They've bought new trucks. They've built a new garage. They've sort of put the cart before the horse with expenditures, anticipating great sums of money coming from the aquafarm. And so far that hasn't happened, and the rates are going up because it hasn't happened. 

And when I asked their accountant at the meeting why we hadn't applied for Bipartisan Infrastructure Act funds, which are designed for replacing pipes, which is theoretically the reason for the increase, I was told that Belfast per capita income was too high, which strikes me as unusual. I think the per capita is about $41,000 in Belfast and the national is about $68,000. And I think about 20% of Belfast lives below the poverty line. So I'm not sure that this is reasonable to assume that we aren't eligible.

What would you do as a city councilor to wrap Nordic up, as you say “as rapidly as possible”? 

I'd be inclined to get a new city attorney, frankly. The last city attorney was behind the eminent domain disaster. The Law Court gave them 6 months to vacate the order. And they never did it.

Not only did they not apologize to these people who they put through the ringer, they didn't vacate the order for eminent domain until the attorney for Harriet Hartley brought another lawsuit demanding that they take action. I'm not sure why the city attorney would have prevented them from vacating the or why she wouldn't have advised them to vacate the eminent domain sooner to avoid yet another lawsuit. I would seek better legal counsel.

There's this complex and sort of incestuous relationship between the Belfast City Council, the Belfast Water District, Nordic Aquafarms, and Maine & Company…it's disturbing that these entities are acting in sort of an interlocking way to, I'm not gonna say industrialize Penobscot Bay, but there might be something to that. CMP wants to put a giant power line that would run the fish factory when and if it's built. 

And there is this attempt to industrialize Sears Island, when there's a perfectly reasonable spot at Mack Point to put these wind turbines…and it's a little concerning. I live here because the air is like champagne, and the views are spectacular. And just the carbon footprint of this fish factory is going to be astonishing. And the city council won't let the Climate Committee even investigate the ramifications of the carbon footprint of the factory.

Between the eelgrass being knocked out if they build the Sears Island thing and this factory in Belfast if it's built, I'm concerned. 

What do you see as the most important issues facing the city now? 

Beyond that, I would say probably housing because no average person can afford to live here anymore. And I have also heard from people down in the harbor about the cruise ship. Housing has to be the number one issue other than the fish factory, because it's very difficult. It would be lovely if some 40 year old or or 30 year old were on the council just to sort of give their perspective. But they're all working 3 jobs just to pay rent and taxes and food. And if they have children, it's very rough for young people here.

Airbnb…might be a factor in the problem. Camden is reviewing their Airbnb ordinances and it strikes me as they're taking a pretty wise approach down there…there'll be fees for if you're a commercial Airbnb person, you know, real estate investment sort of thing. I think it's like $1,000 a year to register. And for people who live in the house and rent part of it, I think it's something like $350 or something. Maybe this money could be put towards affordable housing or rent control or something of that nature.

What experiences and skills would you bring to the council?

I was one of the founding members of TBNT, which stood for Thanks But No Tank. It was a group that formed to stop the world's largest propane tank from being built on Route 1 in Searsport about 10 years ago. And so I do have some insights as to the workings of law firms and state government.

[Belfast] is a very nice community. I think everybody's sort of on the same beam. It's just difficult to get past the animosity…there is something sort of abusive about conversation concerning any of these topics, and I would try to tone that down. That would be maybe my most important contribution.

I think we just sort of all have to pull together and be polite. As I said, the thing that tipped me into running was the seizure by eminent domain of private property and a conservation easement for the profits of a foreign corporation. CMP is owned by a Spanish company and Hannaford is owned by a Dutch company. We have these fabulous natural resources that are going to be exploited by foreign corporations because they think we're a bunch of bumpkins, and we're not. We're blessed with so many things, and we have to protect the natural resources we have.

What is your stance on broadband?

We have to have it because so many businesses depend on it for business and family communications, but it's not terribly good here in Belfast…I'm sort of blessed that my business and my life don't really depend on it, but I know a great many people who do. And, so I think we've got to sort of buck that up a bit. 

And your stance on climate change?

It's here, and I don't see how anybody's going to argue that it isn't. Just the last few days, few weeks have been eye opening. Asheville is mind boggling…I think we can all just cut back and try to conserve energy as much as possible. We keep our house at 55 degrees in the winter so that we don't burn too much fuel. I don't drive. If I drive 3000 miles in the course of a year, I'd be astonished. But my lifestyle is not your average lifestyle. So I think if people just cut back as much as possible, it might help enormously. 

The wind turbines, I wish they had put them in Eastport, which is desperate for jobs, and would welcome them. Searsport, there's no place for anybody to live now, and they're gonna have 1,300 people coming to work on the turbines. How much commuting will be required? They can't afford to live there. When FDR was putting in the water turbines up in Eastport before World War 2 and the Depression and whatnot, they were building dormitories to sort of house people when they were working on the project. May come to that.

I don't see how we can go wrong with solar. Wind is good. I'm not sure that this project in Penobscot Bay is the answer, but we have to try everything we can because we've reached the tipping point, and we've all just got to do our bit.

Turning towards your potential role as a city councilor, how might climate change play into your actions? 

There's an argument that I'm hearing about the fish farm providing inexpensive protein, and I just don't see that argument. My idea of inexpensive protein is legumes, and I can't see salmon as something that we absolutely have to have in our diet. We're getting to the point where the carbon footprint of this thing is going to be massive, and the water consumption of freshwater and seawater. And I just don't see how it's viable in terms of climate change. As I say, the city council has forbidden the climate change committee from even looking at that. 

We've got to save Sears Island. And I think Belfast, as the shire town, should speak up and say, if you've gotta do it, put it at Mack Point. Don't put it on Sears Island.

If you would like to support Chris for City Council, there are yard signs at The Green Store at 71 Main St until Wednesday, October 23rd. Inquire at the front desk.