Parking in Boothbay Harbor has never been so easy. During a Sept. 14 selectmen's meeting, Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Doug Snyder said 2026's summer parking was the smoothest yet. So far, BHPD has issued 283 fewer parking tickets than last year.  

He credited the success partly to the town's new paid parking partner, ParkMobile, citing its easy interface and likely vistor familiarity due to the system's nationwide ubiquity; 8% more people used the ParkMobile app rather than the kiosk this year. Boothbay Harbor Police Department's community resource officers, who are mostly holdovers from last summer, also got a shout-out for their hard work. 

"To be honest, they ran the program," said Snyder.  

Arrest numbers are up this year. In a post-meeting interview, Snyder said there have been 66 arrests so far, compared to 47 for all of 2025. No specific offense saw an increase. Snyder was unsure what is causing the uptick but believed it may be the increased BHPD staff, allowing more extensive coverage. 

As reported in the Register, BHPD has been tracing speed data on Atlantic Avenue and Middle Road using the Watchdog System, a portable radar unit temporarily placed along roadways to measure vehicle speeds, traffic volume and travel patterns. This is not real-time data. The radar's Bluetooth communication requires a BHPD computer to be close by for information to be transferred.  

The system does not record drivers, license plate numbers, photographs, or videos. Its radar beam hits a car and then bounces back, allowing speed to be calculated. However, it does get confused by large vehicles, often clocking them as going twice their actual speed. 

Snyder explained, "When we look at the speeds, and we see one that's 102 miles an hour, I don't know if it was actually someone going (that speed) or if it was the radar not calculating it correctly. I don't really believe that someone could do 102 on (Atlantic Avenue)." 

Considering the amount of speeding complaints, Snyder was shocked to find that, on average, drivers were only going about five miles over the speed limit. BHPD plans to put the radar in other locations to gather more data and identify where personnel are needed.  

In other business, the board approved sending used bricks out to bid, and the donation of a 5-inch, 100-foot hose to Searsmont Fire Department. Boothbay Harbor Fire Department recently bought a new 4-inch hose to be compatible with surrounding stations.  

Selectmen elected Town Manager Julia Latter interim code enforcement officer/licensed plumbing inspector until a replacement is found.  

The town is looking for applicants for the Boston Post Cane, given to the town's oldest resident. Apply by Oct. 14.  

The plans for a 125th anniversary celebration for the footbridge are moving ahead, Kate Sullivan told the board. Details are being ironed out, but the local schools are getting involved by creating birthday cards and interviewing community members about their bridge-related memories. The celebration will be on Saturday, Oct. 24. The rain date is Oct. 25. There will be a tree planting ceremony at 1 p.m., and the main event runs from 3 to 6 p.m. Times subject to change.  

Full meeting recording on BRTV's Facebook page.