BREMEN, Maine — Nine months after damaging storms in January heavily impacted Maine's coastal communities, recovery is still top of mind. The issue is being put back at the forefront for state legislators.
In Bremen on Tuesday, the Island Institute hosted a roundtable between leaders from Maine's working waterfronts, Sen. Angus King, and Rep. Chellie Pingree.
"We really experienced it firsthand," Brendan Parsons, who attended the event on behalf of Blackstone Point Oyster Company, where he works, said. Since the storms, the Damariscotta oyster farm has been trying to rebuild, but the work is far from done.
"We haven't been able to fix our own personal dock that we've lost."
Parsons can identify a lot of challenges standing in the way of the recovery. "It's hard to say exactly what the issue is. There's the funding, there's finding the people to actually fix it, and scheduling because it's a seasonal area."
Parsons joined the group of waterfront leaders in identifying and explaining those needs to Sen. King and Representative Pingree.
"You can begin to see what the puzzle pieces are that need to come together to make sure we're building a much more resilient coastline for the future of Maine," Kimberly Hamilton, president of the Island Institute, said.
Hamilton hopes hosting the discussion will put these issues back on the center stage for legislators. "We want to make sure folks who can help influence the direction of policies and resources are really hearing from the folks who are most affected."
"I may have to go back to the drawing board," King said following the discussion. King said he plans to take ideas into account when introducing legislation to support the recovery.
"We've got to get them back on their feet, but we've also got to talk about, how do we prevent the kind of damage that was seen here?"
Those in attendance left with the hopes that they are one step closer to a recovery they can rely on. "I'm just hoping that we can, you know, build back better," Parsons said.