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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-12-5Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, Dec. 5 2017 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road 0 Members present: Andy Lowell, Ken Gullicksen, Frederick McClure, Joe LiPuma, P* Brace 4� Members Absent: Bill Blount, Ken Kuntz Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept: Others: CALL TO ORDER 5:03 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft minutes of Oct. 17, 2017 Unanimously approved. Draft minutes of Nov. 7, 2017 Unanimously approved. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Mr. Lowell updated the board on the efforts of the Nantucket Shellfish Association from their November 2017 meeting. Mr. Brace asked the board if it wanted HSAB televised. The board indicated it did, so Mr. Brace agreed to follow up with Assistant Town Manager Gregg Tivnan for the Dec. 19 meeting. Mr. LiPuma said the larger issue over the public not attending HSAB meetings is the Marine Department's and Natural Resources Department's infrequent attendance of HSAB meetings. Mr. Lowell agreed that this is an issue that needs to be addressed. Mr. Lowell said it couldn't hurt to have HSAB meetings filmed to be shown later. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: General Marine Department report - Sheila Lucey No report. Harbormaster not present. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT General Natural Resources Department report - NRD staff No report. NRD staff not present. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT OLD BUSINESS Cruise ship anchorage — Discussion Mr. Lowell said the board should wait until Mr. Blount could make it to a HSAB meeting, since he raised this issue, to discuss this issue. He noted that it would be a great idea to have a couple of giant moorings on the east end of the mooring field for larger vessels such as cruise ships. Mr. Gullicksen said there could be a liability aspect to this if these moorings drag. Mr. Brace said Ms. Lucey should really push for cruise ships to anchor in the Cord of the Bay, what with cost of a new mooring and the hassle of getting out there. Mr. LiPuma said the board needed to hear from Natural Resources on where these moorings should be where they'll cause the least amount of damage to eelgrass. Mr. Brace said the number of these large moorings should be limited to a certain small number. Mr. Lowell suggested recommending to the Board of Selectmen that the town should try moorings 2,500 boats outside of the harbor for one summer to see if less boats in the harbor might relieve congestion. Mr. Brace suggested having moorings on the west side of the west jetty. Mr. Gullicksen asked which boat owners would want have their boats moored outside of the harbor. During this discussion, the board briefly discussed harbor water quality maintenance efforts both in the harbor and on land with outflow pipes emptying into the harbor. Mr. Brace suggested the Cord of the Bay continue to be used as overflow for the megayachts parked at the end of Straight Wharf and the large sailboats east and northeast of Hussey Shoal. Mr. Lowell questioned the capacity of the harbor. The board agreed that the board should have this number for the continuation of this discussion. Mr. Gullicksen said Nantucket can't deny boaters from coming into the harbor to anchor for up to 48 hours. He added that mooring capacity in the harbor is a separate issue. Mr. Brace suggested that the HSAB move this discussion to workshop meeting specifically for this topic and invite mooring handlers, the harbormaster and other stakeholders. Mr. Lowell said he would track down Mr. Blount to get the lengths of the cruise ships in question. Local commercial fishing dragger survival - Discussion Discussion continued to the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS Status of M/V Nautical Lady - Discussion Mr. Lowell noted that a recent story in the Inquirer & Mirror was inaccurate in stating that this boat was neither a safety hazard nor an environmental issue. He added that the boat is anchored not moored, which makes it a safety issue. Mr. Lowell said the owner intends to keep it where it is so he can live on it during the summer. Because the boat is in in violation of the town's 48-hour anchoring limit, the owner is being fined S 100 a day for every day beyond this limit, said Mr. McClure. Mr. Lowell said this boat and its owner needed to be dealt with expeditiously and that it was up to the town to take action regardless of cost. Mr. McClure stressed that this is a Marine Department issue and that it should be dealing with it ASAP. Mr. Lowell said it was HSAB's job to recommend that to the Board of Selectmen that they get the Marine Department to deal with the Nautical Lady. Mr. Brace recommended that the HSAB not go around Ms. Lucey to the selectmen and that the HSAB work with her and her immediate supervisor, Nantucket Police Chief Bill Pittman, to learn the status of the vessel and what the town is doing about getting it out of the harbor. Mr. Lowell said he would speak with Ms. Lucey and Mr. Pittman. Mr. Brace said he could reach out to Dwayne Dougan, owner of the boat. Mr. LiPuma lamented a certain level of lawlessness of Nantucket's harbors that allows such a violation of town regulations to exist for as long as it has. The board agreed that before it could make any sort of recommendation to the Board of Selectmen, it needed to hear from Mr. Pittman and Ms. Lucey on how the town is working with Mr. Dougan to solve the issue with his boat. Follow-up discussion on Department of Public Works director Rob McNeill's Q&A at the Oct. 17 HSAB meeting Mr. Lowell expressed his dismay over the town's using of what is in his view, too much salt on town roads during snow and ice storms. Mr. Brace said he hopes the town finishes the Consue Springs watershed cleanup project, but he added that Mr. McNeill appears to be on a fast track to get this project done. Mr. McClure agreed and added that Mr. McNeill has a long list of projects that he's actively working on. Environmental educational outreach program for island newcomers, visitors — Andy Lowell — Discussion Mr. Lowell the Nantucket Shellfish Association has been talking about how to deal with this issue for a while now. He added that the town needs to do a better job on this front. He then asked the board for suggestions on how to get this information out to the public. Mr. Brace explained that the forthcoming publication of the Nantucket Blue Pages would meet a lot of the town's public education needs. Mr. Lowell and Mr. Gullicksen offered/asked about distribution ideas. Mr. Brace explained that he was awaiting printing quotes and working on getting the blue pages converted to Spanish version. Mr. Lowell reiterated the importance of getting the message to year-round residents and those from other countries who may not speak the language and who may not be aware of who Nantucket operates with the regards to keeping hazardous waste materials out of the groundwater, ponds, harbors and wetlands. Mr. Lowell said the shellfish association might be able to help with whatever additional funding needed to complete the blue pages. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN 6:43 p.m. Future Meetings: Dec. 19 and Jan. 3 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Secretary