Another Powerful Meeting!

The April 10, 2010 meeting of Save-Our-Beaches had another standing room only crowd (over 135 people!) —folks, we are going to need to rent a Civic Center soon!

Thanks to all of you who attended another lively and informative meeting. The meeting featured guest speakers, lively questions, and two major themes.

First, all Kennebunkport residents who want to ensure recreational beach use for their families MUST vote for the unanimously approved budget item to fight the lawsuit brought by a few beachowners, which, make no mistake, can prohibit you and yours from enjoying recreational activities on one of Maine’s most beautiful beaches.

The citizens of Kennebunkport see numerous benefits from an open Goose Rocks beach, from economic to social implications. This meeting began a Get Out the Vote Drive for the June 12 meeting, from 9 AM to noon, at the Consolidated School, to let our residents, by a show of hands, support the Town’s legal fight for our access.

The April 10 meeting, with great thanks once again to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust folks, reminded everyone that this fight is NOT about intent, but about legal principle. The 25 or so homeowners CAN keep you off their beach for ANY reason if they choose, but only if they win this suit and the Town loses.

You will see a great deal more about this vote drive, with yard signs, shirts, buttons and more in the weeks to come. If you are a registered voter in Kennebunkport, or know any, and would like information packets, window clings, buttons, or a ride to the Consolidated School on June 12, please comment below with contact information! If you know anyone that we should call and speak with, let us know below.

Folks, this is not a politician asking you for a vote. This is a group over 2000 strong saying that you have friends and support in a cause worth the effort to stand up and be counted. The April 10 meeting reminded us all how much we love and value this community treasure, and I can only think that our forefathers would have been proud of a community banding together to protect resource for future generations.

The second part of the meeting was sharing resources for folks who want to legally protect their own private prescriptive rights established over a 20 year period of recreational use of Goose Rocks beach by family and friends. It appears that a large number of individuals will be joining the defense of the Town of Kennebunkport, along with the Surfrider Foundation, the State of Maine, and other individuals already in the suit.

For more information, email info@save-our-beaches.org, or comment in the space below, and we’ll follow up. Momentum is strong–our letter to each of the 25 homeowners in this suit may have been strongly rebuffed by their spokesmen, but your collective voices cannot be ignored, and our Save-Our-Beaches team is honored to have this much support and enthusiasm.

However, it all comes to naught without a vote to support the budget items on June 12. If you are not a registered voter, but want to support the vote, send us an email to info@save-our-beaches.org and we’ll get you a colorful yard sign. Keep checking out this website for further details as we get closer to June 12!