Members
Present:
Kerry Adams, Heather Bruce, Melville Cote, Gerard Irmer,
Members
Absent:
Beverly Dwyer Ormston,
Advisory
Staff:
Jon Gilmore
Harbor Master: Chris Flavell
Pier Manager: Rex McKinsey
The
meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m.
Handouts
were passed to all members including; list of committee members, annual report
as compiled from past meetings; last weeks minutes; Harbor Plan Subcommittee
amendments
Review and
approve minutes of January 7th and 14th, 2004
Although
there was no discussion on the minutes, it was thought best by all to not
discuss them without the member responsible for the minutes present.
Motion: Table
discussion and review of minutes from January 14 and January 7th
meetings as Beverly Dwyer Ormston was not present to revise them.
Chris Flavell
seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.
None
None
Beverly,
Jon, and Gerard made amendments to the Harbor Plan. They are now ready to present the plan to Truman Henson to review
for next meeting.
In
reviewing changes and issues the committee questioned if they could seek legal
advise on Chapter 91 legal language.
Gerard spoke with Ben Lynch, Acting Chief, Waterways Program, DEP in
Boston, who said they had “nothing available” for legal aid to the town or
committee, that they could aid individual claims further in the process. Heather Bruce emphasized the need for legal
assistance in translating the complex Chapter 91 regulations and the committee
agreed an inexpensive form of professional advice would be welcomed yet hard to
find, and that advise may not be needed immediately.
Heather
Bruce discussed her “Chapter 91 subcommittee recommendations for harbor plan
amendments”. Discussion was generated
from the wording used and meanings implied by the document. Discussed at length were the consequences of
which Mean High Water Mark to use when defining property boundaries. Heather Bruce discussed “as stated by State
Regulations the Schofield Line is currently used, however a more accurate 1939
MHWM is available and more accurately represents waterfront property lines
before harbor-dredging affected them.” The impacts of these discrepancies are
the basis for property owners activism on the issue as emphasized by a
bystander to the meeting, Jim McGowan, who stated “The town needs to defend
property owners and not allow Chapter 91 to take away property rights by
drawing a bad line.”
Chris
Flavel, although wanting action seen on improving the MHWM delineation,
suggested that “the way to solve this issue isn’t through the Harbor Plan,
because the Schofield Line is adopted by the State and our town regulations can
not ignore that.” It would be very easy to strike any language that amends the
Schofield Line from the Harbor Plan and that the State sees this as an
individual issue, not a collective town issue.
Jon
Gilmore suggested that they suggest to property owners to submit a petition
article on the issue.
Rex
McKinsey suggested to “serve a public records request for the original
Schofield Line Report to find how they determined the line and then look for a
flaw or a way to defend its position, and that may help to make the State change
their regulations.”
The
committee agreed legal assistance would be of great help in interpretation of
these issues. And that they would keep the language about the MHWM Line in the
amendment document.
Rex
McKinsey and Chris Flavel left the meeting at 5:20pm to attend another meeting.
Heather
Bruce continued with the discussion and raised the need for communication
between State, Town and Residents on the billing and payment of Harbor Fund
Fees, including clear justification for fines, and documentation of incoming
fees by the Town and committee. A
strong point was made to add to the document that the Harbor Committee should
serve property owners with grievances instead of oversee all property owners’
transactions.
Gerard
stated at a past meeting Rex McKinsey “felt we could not change mooring fees
after they were approved by the Board of Selectmen. Bylaw 6-6-3 states: No fee can be changed more than once per
calendar year. However we are in a new
calendar year, so we can change our fees.”
Discount
for multiple moorings?
Motion moved
by Heather Bruce: Not to provide any discount for multiple moorings.
Kerry Adams
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously
Mooring
increase tied to inflation?
Motion moved
by Heather Bruce: The mooring fee increase should be tied to inflation
increase.
Melville Cote
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Truro
resident same as Provincetown resident?
The
topic was brought up and discussed. All
agreed when qualifying residents for discounts there was a difference between
commercial and private use and felt they needed more perspective on the
definitions and usage of residents and non-residents before making decisions.
Motion
moved by Kerry Adams: Table the item of whether Truro resident mooring fees
should be the same as Provincetown resident mooring fees.
Heather Bruce
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Senior
Citizen discounts?
Gerard
presented a letter from Bob White who “believed that Senior Citizens over the
age of 70 should have free mooring, as they already receive free licenses to
hunt, park, and fish.” Kerry suggested
a senior citizen discount would be a sign of good will.
Motion
moved by Kerry Adams: Approve Senior Citizen discount for mooring fees.
Melville Cote
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Alice
Brock and Melville Cote wanted to keep the discount consistent with price and
age to other Provincetown fees, for example that it is free to park at age 62,
and free to clam at age 65.
Motion
moved by Kerry Adams: Senior Citizens 65 years and older will pay 50% less of
their individual mooring fee.
Melville Cote
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
It
was decided to email Chris Flavel will all amendments by the committee in a
timely fashion and he would review them and pass them on.
None
Heather
Bruce discussed some specific wording of the proposed report and suggested
adding a line of language that was refined to “Some content is unwelcome and
inappropriate to Provincetown Harbor and the committee wants to work to change
that.”
The
document will be forwarded to the Town Clerk.
Motion
moved by Melville Cote to accept the annual report as appended.
Kerry Adams
seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Americorps-Cape
Cod Volunteer research projects – William P Shepa Jr.
William
Shepa was absent; there was no further discussion.
Monday
January 26th, 2004 at 4:30 p.m. in the Caucus Hall at 260 Commercial
Street, Provincetown.
Wednesday
February 4th was set as the date of the following meeting.
Motion
moved by Kerry Adams: Adjourn Harbor Committee Meeting of January 21, 2004.
Heather Bruce
seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
The
meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Alison
Boutin
Gerard Irmer, Chariman