HARBOR COMMITTEE

Provincetown Town Hall

Judge Welsh Hearing Room

June 8, 2005

4:30 p.m.

Members Present: Kerry Adams, Alice Brock, Heather Bruce,

and Gerard Irmer.

Members Absent: Ann Colbourn and Melville Cote (both excused)

Advisory Staff: Rex McKinsey, Maxine Notaro, and Doug Taylor

Chief Meyer (excused absence)

AGENDA

The meeting was called to order at 4:33 p.m.

Review/amend/approve minutes of 5/18

After a great deal of discussion, it was decided to remove (at the bottom of page one) the sentence that began Alice wondered and replace the whole thought with “Everyone inquired about when the Harbor Plan will be approved.”

Motion: Kerry Adams made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Alice Brock seconded the motion and it was approved 4-0-0.

Public Statements

There were none.

Unfinished Business:

Nothing was presented.

Old Business:

Beach Cleanup on June 15 - - - - Alice report

Alice Brock reported that Manuel Araujo was not treated well by Ann Colbourn when he went down to Flyers Boatyard after the May 18^th meeting. Alice showed the group a copy of the donations that have been made for the beach cleanup. Manuel further told Alice that he has whole page of volunteers. The cleanup will start at 10:30 a.m. and Alice’s question was: When they arrive at the MPL comfort station at 10:30 – who oversees the group? There is an ad in today’s paper and Manuel has a bunch of rakes, gloves, etc. to help in the clean-up. It was thought that PERHAPS the Police Dept. would oversee the group?

Alice said these people have to be given direction i.e., where to leave the bags when filled, what should be picked up? Alice is opposed to ordering property owners to pull out seaweed, etc. from under their houses. She opined that some property owners would be unable to do this and thus it would become a hardship for them. Alice also told the group that Manuel’s only means of transportation is a bicycle so he needs help logistically in getting materials down to the start place. This was noted but no decision on help, etc. was made by anyone.

New Business:

Review 2005 Amendments to the Harbor Plan status

Jerry still hasn’t heard from the state about the 2005 amendments to the Harbor Plan. Heather Bruce said, “So Jerry – why don’t you write a letter to the state and ask?” Jerry said he will do just that.

Combined Meeting with the Board of Selectmen

June 13^th was the original date for the Harbor Committee to meet with the Board of Selectmen (BoS) but the BoS’ agenda is jammed for this meeting. Alternative dates were given by the BoS and the Harbor Committee decided on June 27^th. Everyone was reminded that a quorum would be needed for the June 27^th meeting.

David Ditacchio Request

Jerry Irmer said he had received a memo from David Ditacchio requesting copies of all the meetings that the Harbor Committee has had over the last 12 months which discussed mooring fees. (David, as a legal resident of Truro, must pay the mooring fee for a non-resident.) Rex McKinsey said he will assign the chore of going over the past 12 months’ worth of meeting minutes to one of his assistant harbor-masters.

Harbor Committee’s Goals

Jerry thanked the members of the Committee for their input on Goals. He found them very valuable.

Storm Management Plan

So far Jerry has asked Sandy Turner for hand-outs regarding the Storm Management Plan but has received none.

Board of Health Meeting

Jerry Irmer told the group about Harbor Committee representatives who would be put on the June 16^th meeting agenda of the BoH. The members who will be representing the Harbor Committee are Ann Colbourn and Heather Bruce. (Doug Taylor mentioned that he is working on the inter-connection amongst the Boards but he’s not quite there yet.) Jerry said that one big concern he has is that he wants to get test results of the water in the harbor.

Any other business that shall properly come before the Committee

Chapter 91 License Determinations

Much discussion took place about receiving the written determinations on Chapter 91 licenses and not having sufficient time to digest information and make determinations.

Motion: Kerry Adams made a motion to request the DEP to send correspondence regarding the Chapter 91 licenses to each member of the Harbor Committee. Heather Bruce seconded the motion and it passed 4-0-0.

The culmination of all this was that Doug Taylor, who says he has a great deal of rapport with the DEP, suggested that he personally ask to have these written determinations sent to the home address of each and every member of the Harbor Committee. Thus, when the members come to the meeting they wouldn’t be forced to scramble through all the findings and make sudden decisions. Heather Bruce also requested having the names of original owner on things

Motion: Kerry Adams made a motion to delete the previous motion and direct Doug to call Louis Gitto and request from him that Harbor Committee members be notified individually regarding the Chapter 91 licenses. Alice Brock seconded the motion and it, too, passed 4-0-0.

The four properties currently pending since the notifications were JUST received are:

51 Commercial Street

53 Commercial Street

553-555 Commercial Street

661 Commercial Street

It was felt, by all, that the above four applications would require more time.

Heather Bruce repeated her findings about Chapter 91 licenses. It was felt by all that Chapter 91 is basically a way to extort money from shore owners.

Setup next meeting: 6/22

This was done.

Kerry Adams’ Contacts

Kerry said that he was approached by both Jim Downey and David Ditacchio; they both felt they are being unfairly treated regarding the non-resident mooring fees. “What position are we going to take?” asked Kerry.

Rex said that this has happened first in Boston and came up two years ago and now the law has been changed. Rex said the original law was poorly written. The HC was also advised by Rex to not go against policy decision made by the BoS. “Do you really want to go against BoS and side with David Ditacchio in this?” It has already gone through the senate and with a vote of 53-5 it passed the senate. Rex further advised to make the decision slowly and let the state legislators duke it out.

Kerry also wanted to know who sets the dinghy dock fees? Rex patiently answered that the Pier Corp. decides on the fees. He also informed the group that Provincetown harbor is the only town on the Cape with room for moorings.

Kerry Adams then jumped to another subject. He wanted to know why – when there were 10 applicants for Pier Manager – only 4 people were interviewed. The response was simple. Always the applications serve to define a group who is interested and then applicants are selected from this pool. Not everyone who applies for something is interviewed; it’s the way of the world! Still on the same topic, Kerry wondered why applicants for Pier Manager were interviewed by the Pier Corporation?