WILLOW CREEK — A developer from Portland has offered to purchase Homan’s Pond and the surrounding 40 acres for $60,000, proposing to build a summer camp that would employ up to 30 people during the peak season.
The proposal has divided the town.
Supporters see the sale as an economic lifeline. “We’ve been bleeding jobs since the mill closed,” said Selectman Robert Cheney. “Thirty summer jobs might not replace the mill, but it’s a start. And $60,000 would be a welcome addition to the town budget.”
Opponents — led by Ezra Homan, now 67 — see the sale as a betrayal of the town’s heritage.
“This pond is not a piece of real estate,” Homan said during four hours of debate at the January 23 town meeting. “It is where this town gathers. It is where the Ice-Out happens. It is where my father taught me to fish, and where my father’s father taught him. You cannot put a price on that.”
The developer’s proposal would include a private beach, a boathouse, and a dining hall, all located on the north shore of the pond. The Ice-Out observation buoy would need to be relocated.
“The Ice-Out is 46 years old,” Homan continued. “It is older than almost everyone in this room. If you sell this pond, you sell the Ice-Out. And if you sell the Ice-Out, what is Willow Creek?”
The meeting, held at the Community Hall, drew 140 residents — the largest turnout for a town meeting since the mill closure debate. Speakers were limited to three minutes each, but the time limit was repeatedly waived for residents who had owned property on the pond for more than 30 years.
After four hours, the proposal was defeated by a vote of 73 to 67 — the narrowest margin in the town’s recent political history.
Ezra Homan stood at the back of the hall, silent, as the vote was counted. When the result was announced, he nodded once and walked out into the January night.
“The pond stays,” he said to the Gazette on his way out. “At least for now.”