Waterways Committee Meeting

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, June 21, 2017

TOWN OF       HARWICH

WATERWAYS COMMITTEE

Harwich Fire House Conference Room

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

6:30 PM

Waterways Committee Minutes 6/21/2017

 

Members Present: Roger Peterson, Tom Themistos, Steve Root, Matt Hart, Mort Terry, Dan Hall, Joe Johnson, Dan Casey.

Members Absent: James Walpole.

Others Present: John Rendon, Harbormaster; Heinz Proft, Natural Resources Department Director; Bill Neiser, Deputy Harbormaster; Michael MacAskill, Board of Selectmen Chairman; Fred Clancy.

 

Call to Order: 6:32pm

 

Minutes: Motion made by Joe Johnson to approve the Minutes of April 19, 2017. Seconded by Tom Thermistos. Approved by all.

 

Consent Agenda: Discussion about finding someone else to take the Minutes the next three months.

 

Financial Report YTD & Monthly: Presented by John Rendon and Steve Root (copy included with Minutes). This is the first time the Harbormaster Department has hit $1,000,000 in revenue by the month of May. Increase mainly attributed to an increase in visitor dockage and offloading fees from winter transient commercial vessels. 

 

Open forum: Nothing this month.

 

Old Business:

  1. Harbormaster update on the Saquatucket Harbor (SAQ) Waterside Rebuilding Project. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) Public Comment period ended on June 2nd. Waiting for ACOE to issue 408 Permit. ACOE is finishing up an Impact Statement and a decision is anticipated by early August. Still planning to begin demolition mid-October and hope to be ready for boats by Memorial Day 2018.
  2. Harbormaster update on the SAQ Landside Project. The Harbormaster sent a memo, and will be going in front of the Board of Selectmen, to explain an increase in the final estimate. Intend to go out to bid with three separate contracts. One for buildings, one for septic, and one for general site work. Still need to go in front of the Board of Health and Conservation Commission. Expect to start advertising for bids by July 12th. Three different grants have been applied for but the awards will not be out until after the project has gone to bid.
  3. Round Cove Ramp Restoration Project is still scheduled to be done at the end of the season. The project is being funded with money left over from past projects. There was some discussion about potential, nearby, additional trailer parking.

New Business:

  1. The Harbormaster gave a report about a State funded oil spill response training exercise held on June 12th at the Herring River. The State supplies and maintains a pollution control trailer that is stored at the Harwich Fire Department. The training exercise began with a classroom session followed by hands on training with the equipment in the trailer and then by deploying an oil diversion boom in the Herring River. The exercise was attended by members of the Harwich Harbormaster Dept., Chatham Harbormaster Dept., Harwich Fire, Dennis Harbormaster Dept., MA DEP, and the Barnstable Sheriff’s Department. The training was a great opportunity to practice working and communicating among different departments during a large scale incident.

Monthly Reports:

Board of Selectmen: Nothing this month.

 

Harbormaster: The Allen Harbor dredging is completed. The shoaling there was the worst it has been in        a while. Unfortunately, due to a break down and bad weather, SAQ will not be getting dredged this year and some private beaches will not be getting the sand they had bid on. It is hoped that the dredge may be able to return to do SAQ in the fall.

 

Natural Resources: Final herring count at Johnson’s Flume is 282,000 compared to 343,000 last year.

 

Correspondence: Nothing this month.

 

Next meeting: Wednesday July 19, 2017

 

Adjournment: Motion made by Tom Thermistos to Adjourn at 7:48 pm. Seconded by Mort Terry. All voting in favor.

 

Minutes recorded by Bill Neiser

 

 

 

Chairman:      W. Matt Hart                                                             Date: June 30, 2017

                       Matt's Signature2_Pic1

Signed:

 

 

 

The committee may hold an open session for topics not reasonably anticipated by the Chair 48 hours in advance of the meeting following “New Business.” If you are deaf or hard of hearing or a person with a disability who requires an accommodation, contact the Selectmen’s Office at 508-430-7513.