Harpswell Harbor and Waterfront Committee
Minutes:
September 5, 2006
MEETING
MINUTES
HARBOR &
WATERFRONT COMMITTEE, HARPSWELL, MAINE
September 5,
2006
Attending
Jim Hays, Harbormaster
Amy Haible, Selectman
Committee Members:
Present: Burr Taylor, Bill
Bartley, Toby Tobin, Peter Darling, Len Duda
Absent: Bill Blood, Steve
Rowe
Activities
Meeting called to
order at 6:00 PM.
Agenda per Burr
Taylor: Review of last meeting’s minutes, Announcements,
Harbormaster report, Marine Resources Inventory (future activity
for the committee), Grant discussion (Burr passed out a list of
consultants from Jim Conners), and Changes to Ordinance
discussion (7 page handout from Burr).
Motion to accept
minutes for 8/15/06 made by Toby Tobin, 2nd by Burr Taylor,
approved unanimously.
Len Duda’s
application has been approved, and he has been sworn in as a new
member on the committee. Peter Darling’s application has been
accepted but he still needs to be sworn in.
Harbormaster’s
report: Any inputs to the media (Harpswell Anchor, The Times
Record, and etcetera) have to be reviewed and approved by the
town management. The Questions and Answers piece for the
Harpswell Anchor has not been submitted. The Harbormaster boat
engine will not shift into reverse and is in the repair shop.
There are about 250 moorings left to be GPS’d. There were 164
new moorings approved to date with 10 still pending approval.
Jim passed out copies of "Harbor Management, A Legal Guide for
Harbor Masters and Coastal Officials".
Old Business
Ordinance
modifications: Burr’s handout highlighted 11 issues. We
discussed three: Rental moorings, Moorings that are registered
but not used, and Mooring application approved but not paid for
the first year and new application submitted the following year
(Does this allow the first year free without penalty fee?
Loop-hole?).
A) Moorings that are
registered but not used discussion: Installation should be
completed within 30 days of the Harbormaster’s approval. After
reviewing the Ordinance, the committee decided that the
Ordinance covers this issue sufficiently and does not need to be
changed.
B) Mooring
application approved but not paid for the first year and new
application submitted the following year. Loop-hole discussion:
The Harbormaster will review the approval procedure with the
Town Clerk and implement a fix to close this loop-hole and
prevent it from happening again.
C) Rental moorings
discussion: We looked at examples from Freeport and Mt. Desert.
Freeport is very strict in that it does not allow any leasing
except by Marinas. Mt. Desert allows rental of privately owned
mooring, however, they also have the ONE BOAT – ONE MOORING
RULE. The Harpswell Ordinance covers Rental Moorings in sections
4.10, 5.3, and 8.1.9. State Statute 38 states "Assignment may
not be rented unless the provision for rental was part of the
agreement when the mooring was assigned." Also, a site plan
review and approval is required if a person applies for 3 or
more rental moorings for a commercial operation.
New Business
Memorandum, dated
August 11, 2006, from Kristi Eiane for the Selectmen
requested us to review mission statements and develop a list
of priorities. The committee has reviewed and accepted the
mission statement as written. We are in the process of
developing a list of priorities and goals for the rest of
the year. Burr Taylor will respond before the September 22nd
deadline.
Goals discussion:
Listen to
Harbormaster. Determine actions are needed?
Conclude
Mackerel Cove Mooring Plan.
Amend
critical parts of the H&W ordinance.
Rental moorings
Registered but not used moorings
Update the priority list
Add
section on Appeal process
Floats in Mackerel Cove
d. Develop a
Harbor Management Plan for all Harpswell waters.
e. Refine the
Harpswell Classification Map for harbor, anchoring, and
mooring areas.
f. Rewrite the
entire ordinance.
3. Opportunity
for $25,000.00 Grant from the Maine State Planning Office.
Town would have to agree to match 25% cash or in-kind of the
total project cost. Apparently there are no deadlines;
therefore, we can apply anytime. Now we need to think of an
appropriate project.
4. Harpswell
Anchor, August 2006, article. We decided to respond by
providing the most asked questions and answers asked about
moorings. Issues 6 to 11 on Burr’s handout are material for
more questions. We will present to the Town Selectman and
Administrator for their review and approval before we give
it to the newspaper.
Next Meeting (s)
Tuesday, September
19, 2006 at 6:00 PM, Harpswell Municipal Building.
Discuss list of
priorities and goals for the Selectmen to review.
Continuing discussion
of the Ordinance Rewrite, and Harbor Management Plans.
Continuing discussion
of Water Classification Plan Map: Review Special Anchorages,
Anchorages, and Harbors.
Adjournment
7:35 PM
Minutes will not be approved
by the committee until the next meeting.
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