TOWN OF CHATHAM
Waterways Advisory Committee
Thursday, April 13, 2009 – 4 pm
Permit Office, George Ryder Road
Present: Ed Conway, Stephen King, Don St. Pierre, Peter Taylor, Dave Davis
Absent: Bob Hamblet, Tom King, Tim Linnell
Others: Ted Keon, Director of Coastal Resources; Stuart Smith, Harbormaster
Carole Ridley; Bob Becker
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm
Item 1: Minutes of the March 12, 2009 meeting
The minutes of the March 12, 2009 meeting were approved with the following change:
Change “Stage Harbor” to “Chatham Harbor” in Item 2, Page 1.
Item 2: Correspondence
Ed Conway reported receipt of copies of letters from Town Manager Bill Hinchey to several citizens regarding appeals for mooring assignments. The letters indicated that the mooring holders had not renewed their permits in accordance with the regulations and were seeking a special waiver of the regulations. In his response, Mr. Hinchey indicated that the Waterways Committee and the Harbormaster were preparing an amendment to the mooring regulations regarding the grace period for applications and renewals. This item was tabled in order to discuss with the Harbormaster upon his arrival.
Item 3: Pleasant Bay Discharge Area – Carole Ridley
Carole Ridley provided information about the proposed no-discharge zone in Pleasant Bay being pursued by the Pleasant Bay Alliance. She indicated that standards for no-discharge areas require one pump-out facility for 450 boats. In the Pleasant Bay area there are 3 pump-out options (Nauset East marina, pump-out boat in Round Cove, and Chatham pump-out trailer) and only 109 boats (46 of these in Chatham waters) inventoried in a recent survey.
In discussion, the following points were made:
- Public education will be required – this will be done by the Pleasant Bay Alliance
- Designating Pleasant Bay as a no-discharge zone is in keeping with current efforts to reduce nitrogen levels in local waters
- The Pleasant Bay Alliance is seeking support from the various town’s Waterways committees. This has already been endorsed by the Orleans Waterways Committee.
- Stage Harbor is already a designated no-discharge area and it has been successful.
- Most Pleasant Bay boats will not be affected since the vast majority do not have on-board sanitary devices.
- Discharge of any non-treated sewage is already prohibited in all state waters
- Enforcement will be at the discretion of the Harbormaster.
- The State may be ultimately designate all Massachusetts waters as no-discharge areas anyway
- Cape Cod Bay has been designated as a no-discharge zone
Stephen King made the following motion, seconded by Don St. Pierre: That the Chatham Waterways Advisory Committee endorse the application by the Pleasant Bay Alliance to create a no-discharge zone in Pleasant Bay.
The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Ted Keon agreed to draft a letter on behalf of the committee.
Item 4: Haul Out at Ryder’s Cove
There was discussion of the continued need for haul-out facilities and winter storage for larger fishing boats and whether to formally pursue designating portions of the new parking area at Ryder’s Cove for this purpose. Current conditions attached to the Order of Conditions currently prohibit this type of use in the new parking area. Concern was expressed that formalizing specific designations of haul-out areas could result in increased involvement and review and may ultimately be counter-productive to continued. The WAC decided to not pursue this further for Ryder’s Cove at this time.
Dave Davis reported that the Harwichport Boat Works will now allow pull-out of larger fishing boats, so that is an additional facility available to local commercial fishermen.
Stuart Smith indicated that a long-term solution to haul-out problems is needed. Dave Davis suggested again exploring the use of the MCI property (campus parcel) for this purpose. Stuart Smith suggested possible collaboration with other groups who might be able to use a facility (building and/or paved surfaces) on the MCI grounds during the summer when not being used by the fishermen.
It was also noted that Chatham Boat Company in the past had considered providing haul-out facilities if the problem of overhanging wires along Crowell Road could be solved.
This will be discussed at a future meeting.
Item 5: Request to amend Mooring regulations to create a deadline grace period
The procedure for mooring applications was reviewed:
- Letters sent to all mooring permit holders with February 28 deadline
- Reminder letters sent to those who had not responded (approximately 90)
Stuart Smith indicated that he also had one of his staff make phone calls to as many as possible regarding the failure to renew mooring permits.
It was noted that this was the first year with new deadlines and perhaps a mechanism could be created to waive the regulations for those who had failed to renew. After discussion it was agreed that the Harbormaster’s Office has already taken several steps to ensure that all permit holders were aware of deadlines and consequences.
Stephen King made the following motion, seconded by Dave Davis: That the Waterways Advisory Committee agrees that the current mooring regulations regarding mooring assignments, waiting list and renewals are appropriate.
The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Item 6: Other Business
Letter from Bob Fogelman regarding speed limit areas in Pleasant Bay:
Mr. Fogelman has written a letter requesting that 5 mph speed limit buoys be located in Pleasant Bay near Scatteree and Cotchpinicut Landings.
Stuart Smith indicated that all waters within 150 feet of mooring fields, docks, and swimming areas have automatic 6 mps speed limits according to State regulations. The CMR states that all marked channels have 6-mph/no-wake zones unless otherwise marked.
Stuart Smith agreed to provide a map of mooring areas and docks in Pleasant Bay to illustrate how additional speed limit buoys would impact that area. This will be discussed at the next meeting.
CBI Parking Lot at the Fish Pier:
Stuart Smith indicated that an agreement may have been reached with CBI for this season. This will allow for the exchange of 9 parking spaces in the lower lot for 9 parking spaces in the Town’s upper lot. Other long-term solutions are being sought.
New Floats at Ryder’s Cove:
There was discussion of optimum times for installing and removing the newly permitted floats. This was only for the two new floats which are to be attached to the ends of the current float. It was generally agreed that June 15 and September 15 were appropriate dates.
Item 7: Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 14 at 4 pm in the Permit Office.
Ted Keon suggested that each member read the Town Landing Master Plan for discussion at the next meeting.
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
Notes by Marie Williams
| 
