The building at 212 Main St. in Damariscotta on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The owners of Barn Door Baking Co. plan to open a breakfast and lunch restaurant in the building. (Evan Houk photo)
Barn Door Baking Co. will open a breakfast and lunch restaurant in the 212 Main St. space recently home to Crissy’s Breakfast & Coffee Bar. The company will continue to operate its 158 Main St. cafe that adjoins Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop.
The Damariscotta Board of Selectmen approved a liquor license for Barn Door Baking Co. LLC to serve beer and wine in the new space after a public hearing with no comment on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Crissy’s Breakfast & Coffee Bar closed in September 2020 after a 10-year run in the space.
Barn Door Baking Co. co-owner Annie Leck said by email on Tuesday, Feb. 23 that nothing will change at the bookstore cafe. She and co-owner Crystal Berg have not yet set a date to open their restaurant.
Barn Door Baking Co. opened in 2016 in the attached barn at 212 Main St., and the bakery portion of the business remains there.
Police union contract
After an executive session at the Feb. 17 meeting, the selectmen approved a collective bargaining agreement with the police department’s union that raises officers’ wages.
“We’re fully staffed with experienced officers. We want to pay them a prevailing rate that is in line with the rest of the county,” Town Manager Matt Lutkus said by phone on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Robin Mayer, chair of the board of selectmen, was the only member to vote against the agreement. She said her vote does not indicate a lack of support for the police department.
“I do think it’s a wonderful police department,” Mayer said.
Mayer declined to explain her no vote during a phone interview Wednesday, Feb. 24, saying she could be violating negotiation agreements. But she said she wholeheartedly supports the police department and everyone who works there.
A new patrol officer who has yet to attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy would make $18.65 per hour under the previous agreement. Now the same officer would make $21.74, a 16.57% increase. A patrol officer in his or her ninth year with the department would make $23 under the previous agreement. Now they will make $27.29 in their 10th year of service, an increase of 18.65%.
The collective bargaining agreement is renegotiated every three years.
