HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-15Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road
Members present: Peter Brace, Ken Gullicksen, Dr. Peter Boyce, Bill Blount
Members Absent: Michael Glowacki, Wendy McCrae, Andy Lowell
Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey, Tara Riley
Natural Resources Dept:
Others: Matt Herr, Nantucket Police Chief Bill Pittman
CALL TO ORDER
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Unanimously approved
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Unanimously approved
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Mr. Brace informed the board that the Board of Selectmen designated the HSAB as
special municipal employees at its April 15, 2015 meeting.
MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT:
General harbors update — Sheila Lucey
Ms. Lucey informed the board that the marine repair crew working on the town pier had
demolished everything on the "floater ", 60% of the cross - bracing and the buckled
sections of the fixed dock. The work barge is expected in the harbor early next week. She
noted the seven - person crew would work on the floating slips pier first and hope to have
it done by early June.
On the slip lottery, the selectmen voted to roll over the lottery until next year and then
move the lottery to October.
She also informed the board that she's hired 50 lifeguards, enough for the season, that
beach week training for head lifeguards starts on June 15 and the rest of the lifeguards on
June 22. The town now has four ATVs; two for trash pick up, two for patrols. She added
that she's hired the town pier staff and that she arranged for additional lifeguard housing
at 39 Washington St.
Ms. Lucey said the Marine Department is starting a junior lifeguard program for 14 and
15 -year -olds to try to hire more Nantucket lifeguards.
NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT
General report from Jeff Carlson and or Tara Riley
Ms. Riley reported that the town opened Sesachacha Pond on April 13 and Hummock
Pond on April 16, and that both ponds were both still open. She said the NRD had settled
on a final design for the renovation of the marine lab at Brant Point, that they're getting
ready to put out 73 spawn cages with scallops in them in Nantucket and Madaket harbors
and that spat bags around the Head of the Harbor. Ms. Riley also said that water quality
sampling in Nantucket Harbor would begin in May.
Dr. Boyce asked Ms. Riley where she plans to put the spawning cages in the harbors. Ms.
Riley said she'd be consulting fishermen for possible locations. Dr. Boyce suggested 5`h
Bend.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES
REPORT
OLD BUSINESS
*Draft mooring /slip regulations — discussion and recommendations
Mr. Blount expressed that he wanted to change 250.5.4.5 of the proposed regulations;
transient dockage fees to a more affordable rate. Mr. Blount then recused himself and sat
in the public seats. He then represented that under the proposed regulations, he'd end up
paying $20,000 a year for dockage fees. He recommended making the transient dockage
fee $1.50 per foot per night for non - Nantucket commercial vessels and then no more than
$25 per foot annually for commercial vessels owned and operated by Nantucket residents.
Mr. Brace reminded the board that it agreed to this recommendation at its April 7 meeting.
Mr. Blount also asked that the word "fishing" be stricken from in front of "commercial
vessel" so that all commercial vessels must pay this fee. Ms. Lucey indicated that the use
of the term "commercial fishing vessel" is part of an effort to protect the local fishing
industry, but she said she would ask at the April 22, 2015 meeting of the BOS if this
recommendation would work.
Mr. Gullicksen questioned whether the selectmen had the power to adopt the regulations.
He recommended striking the definition of "gray water" from the regulations because it
isn't used anywhere. He also added a definition for the word "moor" and changed its
definition to clarify it. With these two changes, Mr. Gullicksen is attempting to make a
distinction between moorings and docks. For 250.2.1, Mr. Gullicksen changed the word
"vessels" to "vessel ", on 250.2.2, he reworked the wording for this item. On 250.2.7, he
changed the word "vessels" to "vessel ". For 250.2.12, he struck all the new language and
replaced it with "There shall be no Liveaboards at any Town Pier or Wharf', but he
qualified this change and confirmed with Ms. Lucey that transient mariners could spend a
few nights in their boats at the town pier, but the couldn't live in their boats at the town
pier.
Ms. Lucey explained that the purpose behind this item is to require liveaboard boat
owners to get moorings instead of using anchors because most of them live in boats with
no power that frequently end up washing ashore during storms and end up being
abandoned. Also, there's no way to track anchored boats to get them to use town holding
tank pump out services. Since moorings are registered with the Marine Dept., unlike
anchoring, there is contact information on file. She added the town can't afford another
Miss China incident Mr. Gullicksen said he changed this item along with 250.3.1 for
"when you need a mooring permit" to limit the amount of time a vessel can anchor in the
harbor to 30 days after which time a current mooring permit is required for a continued
stay to prevent transient boat owners from permanently anchoring in the harbor. Ms.
Lucey noted there's a regulation allowing boaters to anchor for up to two weeks in one
spot in the harbors before they have to move to another anchoring spot. She added that
although she liked Mr. Gullicksen's recommendation, she felt it didn't allow the town to
level enforcement actions on these scofflaws. Essentially, Ms. Lucey wants to limit
anchoring in Nantucket Harbor to two weeks, boats to be able to move under their own
power and then get a mooring after that point.
For item 250.3.1.1, Mr. Gullicksen rewrote and tightened up this section. For item
250.3.1.3, he replaced "the town" with "Nantucket watereways ". Mr. Gullicksen
questioned the large increase in moorings weights in this item. Ms. Lucey explained that
the mooring handlers say boats are getting bigger and Ms. Lucey noted that 47 boats
dragged on their mooring during Hurricane Arthur in July 4t' weekend 2014 and all
washed ashore. She added that the workgroup recommended the increase in mooring
weights and that most likely, this will be enforced when each mooring's inspection
happens so that if the mooring isn't heavy enough according to the revised regulations, its
owner would have to replace it with a new one that meets this regulation based on the
size of their boat.
Mr. Herr suggested a change to the proposed mooring weight increase that would reduce
mooring weight dependent on where in the harbor the mooring is and the size of the boat.
Ms. Lucey noted that it already says in the language that these criteria are subject to the
approval of the harbormaster. She added that the July 2014 hurricane proved that in
Monomoy and off Hulbert Avenue, heavier moorings are needed. Mr. Herr also asked
whether length of mooring chains was considered because he felt that since too many
boats were being crammed into the mooring grid, if the chain lengths were too long, there
could be boats crashing into each other. Ms. Lucey assured him there is a provision for
Mr. Herr's concern in the proposed regulations.
Mr. Gullicksen proposed that in section 250.3.1.4 the word "mooring" be capitalized and
that the word "mooring" be removed from the phrase "mooring chain" wherever this
phrase appeared in this section In section 250.1.3.5, he recommended that the proposed
pennant length be half the length of its boat instead of eight feet long. Ms. Lucey agreed
with Mr. Gullicksen's suggestion, but she added that the town was trying control boat
owners who use pennants that are way longer than necessary.
In section 250.3.1.6, Mr. Gullicksen proposed to increase the number of years between
mooring inspections from two to three because the proposed increase in mooring weights
means tougher, thicker and stronger mooring tackle would be used that could potentially
last longer. Ms. Lucey said a shorter period prevents boat owners from having faulty
mooring tackle in the water break on them and their boats washing ashore during storms.
Ms. Lucey and the rest of the HSAB board present agreed with this proposed revision.
Also in this section, Mr. Gullicksen capitalized the word "permit" in the phrase "mooring
permit ".
In section 250.3.1.9, Mr. Gullicksen added the words "removed or" in the second
sentence between "must be" and "outfitted" and then added the words "prior to October
15" at the end of this sentence. In section 250.3.1.10, he asked for clarification on what is
meant by "small buoy ", so he proposed deleting the word "small ". In section, 250.3.1.14,
he removed the word "acquired" so this bullet item now reads: "A Nantucket based
Mooring handler has the required equipment to properly install, remove, relocate and
service Helix Moorings ". Mr. Gullicksen proposed to remove completely sections
250.3.1.17 and 250.3.1.18 because the above recommendation cover these.
Mr. Gullicksen proposed to add a new section, section 250.3.2.2 that reads: "Mooring
Permits shall be issued only for Vessels for which Mooring space is available" to clarify
that boat owners can't get a mooring permit for an anchor. In section 250.3.2.3, Mr.
Gullicksen submitted the following revision by adding the words in bold: "applications
for a Mooring Permit in any Nantucket Waterway shall be submitted to the Town on the
Mooring Permit Application form. All information requested on the form must be
supplied or the application may be rejected."
He then asked Ms. Lucey whether the town needs exceptions from these proposed
regulations for rental moorings since the Army Corps of Engineers issues them to the
town and then the town holds them. Ms. Lucey said she consult with Deputy Police Chief
Charlie Gibson on this one. For section 250.3.2.4, Mr. Gullicksen clarified it by replacing
the word "boat" with the word "vessel" in the second and third sentences, and adding "or
renewal" after the word "application ", "Mooring Permit" after the word "a" and "to be"
after the word "is" in the first sentence. For section 250.3.2.8, he added the word
"Mooring" to the beginning of the first sentence and then removed the words "for the use
of mooring spaces" from that sentence.
Mr. Gullicksen proposed rearranging section 250.3.3.1. Ms. Lucey cautioned him that
this section is a real touchy issue for realtors who are marketing waterfront property with
moorings in front of it as a selling point. Mr. Gullicksen explained that his proposed
change gives the harbormaster more discretion in dealing with private waterfront
moorings.
Mr. Gullicksen remarked in reference to the Fees section, that there needs to be a
connection between the cost of the fee and the service it provides instead what the market
bears.
Mr. Pittman explained that the fees collected go into the Waterways Improvement Fund,
which pays for all marine facilities maintenance and repairs. The WIF brings in roughly
$320,000 to $340,000 annually. He added that maintenance of marine facilities, namely,
the town pier, have put the WIF in the hole. Mr. Pittman said the reason for fee increases
is to hopefully fund the marine facilities maintenance with the WIF in the black and at the
same time, do a much - needed dredging of the Polpis Harbor channel and commit to a
schedule of regular dredging with the hope selling the dredged sand to help compensate
the WIF. Mr. Gullicksen asked if boat owners who trailer their boats are getting out of
contributing to the WIF. Mr. Pittman added that in previous years, the WIF was used
inappropriately for needs beyond the scope of this fund so that there was never enough
money it to make the repairs needed or do the maintenance required for the town's
marine facilities.
The HSAB voted unanimously to have Mr. Brace write a letter to the selectmen outlining
the HSAB's major revisions to Chapter 250 Harbors And Town Pier Regulations Town
Of Nantucket. Dr. Boyce thanked Ms. Lucey for working with the HSAB on its revisions
and he thanked Mr. Gullicksen for his diligence in going through the regulations.
After the fact, Mr. Herr asked if there was a way to glean fees from boat owners who
trailer their boats. Mr. Lucey said the workgroup voted against this idea. Mr. Gullicksen
suggested the board might want to revisit this idea at a later date. Mr. Pittman said this
would be extremely challenging to enforce.
NEW BUSINESS
No new business
PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT
RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
ADJOURN
Unanimously approved
Future Meetings:
April 21 and May 5
Respectfully Submitted,
Peter B. Brace, Chairman
*While reading these minutes, have on hand the Chapter 250
Harbors And Town Pier Regulations for the Town Of Nantucket as revised by HSAB
member Ken Gullicksen on April 22, 2015 for complete proposed by the HSAB.