Meeting Minutes
Members Present: Alice Brock, Heather Bruce, Gerard Irmer
Members Absent: Beverly Dwyer Ormston, Melville Cote(Excused), Kerry Adams (Excused)
Advisory Staff: Jon Gilmore (Absent)
Harbor Master: Chris Flavell
Pier Manager: Rex McKinsey
The meeting was called to
order at 4:30 p.m.
Review and approve minutes of January 7th,
14th, 21st and 26th 2004
Discussion was raised on the
minutes, however it was thought best not to discuss them without the members
responsible for the minutes present.
Motion by Heather Bruce: Table discussion and review
of minutes from January 7th, 14th, 21st and 26th
meetings as Beverly Dwyer Ormston, and was not present to revise them, and
other members not present to approve them.
Alice Brock seconded the motion and it was
unanimously passed.
Jim McGowan suggested an
additional stipulation for the Harbor Plan.
He wanted to add “no agency, department, state or federal may do
anything to the harbor without bringing it to the Harbor Committee first. This way the Harbor Committee will know all
that is going on with anything that affects the harbor. For example the Macmillan Pier Corporation
would need to go to the committee to get additional floats before state or
federal departments could issue a license.
The committee agreed that this is a good guideline to put in the Harbor
Plan, even though it will be a guideline not a law.
Welcome to the newest
inducted member of the Harbor Committee Alice Brock.
Jerry also passed out an
email letter from the Army Corps of Engineers replying to the question of why
the breakwater doglegs were never completed.
Alice called the office of
Ben Lynch and spoke with Michael Girvan of the DEP Waterways Program to seek
out the documents of the original development of the Schofield Line. Mr. Girvan said, “he could not send the
document because he had no secretarial help and suggested either going to
Warren Alexander, the building commissioner of Provincetown, or to travel to
Boston and Xerox them herself.”
Although the members of the committee discussed the best way of
obtaining the documents, all agreed this was a good first step in understanding
the line in order to challenge it in the future. Alice said she looked forward to understanding the definition of
the Schofield line so they could better inform the public as to what is going
on and in time, work to amending it.
Ms Bruce brought out the
Water Use Section of the Harbor Plan and wanted to make comments on wording and
ask questions of Chris Flavell. On page
2 she clarified the definition of Aquaculture with Mr. Flavell to understand
that it is meant to justify the use of a float for shellfish transfer.
She requested the committee
elaborate on the definition of the Harbor Access Gift Fund to define and limit
the Gift Fund uses.
She also wanted to clarify
in Section V-12 that the use of the wording of ‘fin fish pen’ does not lead to
the acceptance of fish farming, all agreed the idea of fish farming was bad,
but that the language was sufficient in explaining the Harbor Committees
intents as is.
Section V-13 – Recreational
Boating was discussed to clarify for all that the intent of any Harbor
Committee allowances for aiding recreational boaters would be moderate, and
that improving the existing limited town facilities in small ways would be all
right.
The language used to
describe the subjects of water taxis, waste dumping and ramps, launching and
parking areas was discussed and all agreed that minor changes in then wording
was acceptable and the intent of the Harbor Plan was moderate and congruent
with the committees wishes. Jerry Irmer
and Heather Bruce suggested the purchase of a larger pump-out boat and
supporting staff for commercial size boats as well as the development of
frequent water quality testing throughout the harbor.
Ginny Binder was absent and
was rescheduled to attend on the meeting of February 18, 2004.
Motion made by Alice
Brock to Table this item until the February 18th meeting.
Heather Bruce seconded
the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Chapter 91 Amnesty License Application, 655 Commercial St, Pressman property
Maintain bulkhead and
stairs, which are existing structures.
Rex McKinley explained that this application was before the committee
during its public comment period, and that the committee should review the
applications before meetings and discuss concerns or objections of the
application and submit that in writing to the DEP.
Heather Bruce expressed
concern about the definitions of this applications bulkhead becoming
compromised upon further Chapter 91 pursuits; she would draft these concerns in
a letter and bring it before the committee at the next meeting.
Motion was made by Alice
Brock to Table this item in order for Ms Bruce to draft her comments to the DEP
and discuss the statements with the other members at the next meeting on
February 11, 2004.
Heather Bruce seconded
the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Heather Bruce suggested to
ad a “caution” sign on top of a pole on each end of the groin for safety. Rex McKinley agreed that the groins were of
great aesthetic appeal and should be preserved safely, however that the local
motor boaters knew where to avoid the structures. He suggested using the Harbor Access Gift Fund to purchase new
‘top stones’ that would be visible on the groins at high tide. All agreed.
All discussed this topic
during Member Statements to satisfaction.
Residency defined: Chris Flavell pointed out that residency is well
defined by the town for matters of taxes and property, and that those should be
the basis of any committee decisions.
Protected vs Unprotected
Moorings:
Chris Flavell explained
there is not currently a definition of this to base fees on, but they are in
the process of assessing it now and will begin to define it soon. They have started the idea of giving away
‘choice’ moorings to those who need it most and develop a waiting list.
Inshore vs Offshore
Moorings:
Jerry Irmer and Chris
Flavell agreed that a low water mark boundary should be used for assigning
greater or lesser mooring fees.
Mr Shepa was absent; Alice
Brock said she would make an effort to contact him. The committee redefined what they wanted out of an Americorps
Volunteer. They needed to continually
request work grants and annually ask for volunteer help, in the past this help
was used for small and large beach cleanup projects. There had also been a large-scale historic research study done,
however it was not solid enough to be used for legal action. The committee discussed possible future
projects for the Americorps of Cape Cod.
The next meeting will be in
Caucus Hall on Wednesday February 11th, 2004 at 4:30pm. The agenda for the meeting still needs to be
finalized.
Motion moved by Alice
Brock: Adjourn Harbor Committee Meeting of February 4, 2004.
Heather Bruce seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at
6:05p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alison Boutin
Gerard Irmer, Chariman